“Bolero Beats and Jazzy Treats” I n Ajijic: now the sky’s the limit
I love it when band experiments. Of course bands experiment all the time – the swap out members, the jam with other bands, the try new songs. But what is especially exciting is when an exalted band decides to get out there on stage with a new lineup and a whole new take on their music. It may just be for the night, or they may be road testing a new approach.
I was treated to such an experiment last night, Sunday July 14, when a group of Mexican jazz players added a great multitalented American guitarist to their lineup and moved from their usual progressive jazz to a mix of Mexican and American standards, with a beat.
The event was “Bolero Beats and Jazzy Treats: A Tribute to Our Musical Heritage. at the La Cochera Cultural, one of Ajijic Mexico’s prime venues for jazz, Mexican music, flamenco, and folk dance. The group – which didn’t have a name for the night -consisted of vocals by Ari Loyola, guitarist Ross Hubbell, drummer Isael Angulo, double bassist Gilberto Rios, saxophone player and musical arranger Eleazar “Chuco” Soto.
All the musicians are familiar faces in the local music scene. Soto and Rios have played together for years and formed a number of jazz ensembles and recorded under the name of Trialogo (catch them on Spotify). Ross Hubbell is a familiar rock and country and jazz guitarist around town who plays solo and with other groups.
The set list was exactly as advertised: a tribute to Mexican musical heritage with one American standard added to the mix. The set list was familiar to any fan of Mexican music: Tres Palabras, Mañana de Carnaval, La llorona, Algo contigo, La Gloria eres tú, Laws, Historia de un amor, On the Sunny side of Street, Toda una vida.
They played each song in the vein of progressive jazz with Ari Loyola singing not so much words, and as sounds that mimicked notes and words at the same time – a remarkable skill. Then she would slide smoothy into lyrics, and then back into notes. It gave the music a quality I have not heard anywhere else and it worked. Her vocal control, guided by Soto’s compositions, was really a jazzy treat.
This, laid over a percussion section of Rios and Angulo that moved along with a consistent beat – not a feature of progressive jazz but very audience pleasing. The addition of bongos to Isael Angulo’s drum kit and his use of snare drum rim hits to mimic a cowbell added a toe-tapping dimension to the songs that was impossible to resist.
I look forward to more experimentation from this “music sin fronteras “group. With this kind of talent and imagination, the sky’s the limit.
