Speakeasy launches with hot Latin Jazz Rock
I missed the Latin Grammys last week (will catch them on YouTube) but I did go to the new Speakeasy the night before – a moving musical feast just launched by saxman Eleazar “Chuco” Soto and a group of his very talented friends. His idea is to assemble an ever-changing group of musicians around a core band (presumably Chuco and his long-time musical partner bass player Gilberto Ríos) and put on a music party once a month in a different place with a differnt cast and different songs.
Sort of like a house concert series, except without the houses.
The first Speakeasy was at the Pedro Rey School of Mariachi, a 200-year old adobe building with an expansive lawn, good acoustics and really, really high contrast lighting. There was no mariachi involved, although one of the percussionists was “Chuni” Medeles, a manager and sound engineer for the school led by Danny Medeles (music tend to be family affairs in Mexico).
The place opened at 8pm – well actually people began trickling in before then and socializing -and the music kicked off around 9. Somewhere between 200 and 300 people attended. It was hard to count as it was crowded, people moved in and out and around.
The band kicked off with an electrifying version of “Cumbanchero” , originally written and recorded by Puerto Rican Rafael Hernandez in the 1940’s. The band proceeded to knock out eight more wild horn-heavy jazz standards with Latin beats.
One of the those songs was the Jamaican singer Dawn Penn’s 1993 “You Don’t Love Me” delivered by Ari Loyola, known to many as the best jazz singer in town, The band kept the reggae beat but inserted gut-grabbing sax notes and guitar riffs and colored it with horns while Loyola soothed us with her voice – which held up nicely despite the crowd noise, thanks to a great set of tower and acoustics of the adobe and brick.
A word about horns. The band leader, Chuco Soto , is a renowned saxman. But for Speakeasy he brought in slide trombone player Aldo Ortiz., trumpet master Arne Wernink, and alto sax player Eliel Reyes. The result was a complexity that sounded simple, but was brilliant. Ortiz’s slide trombone added harmonic support and rhythmic accents that enhanced the groove. Arne’s trumpet brought a brightness and energy that drove the songs forward, and Reyes’ alto sax added another layer of musical depth and a vibrant, lively atmosphere. When combined in each song, they were like a laser that injected energy into the music, the players, and the audience.
Other band members Wednesday night were Isael Angulo on drums, Gilberto Ríos on double and electric bass, Álvaro Martínez on lead Guitar, and Omar Hernández also on percussion. They were joined later by rapper Jorge Eduardo A.K.A “Churro”. Songs included “Cumbanchero”, “Boggie stop shuffle,” “You don’t love me,” “Frankenstein,” “Kingston town” “, Haitian fight,” “Skallowen,” “Don’t stay away,” and “Swing easy”.
Chuco tells me, the first night’s music was from a universal repertoire of music but at some point there will be original songs. That point is likely the next Speakeasy December 18, with the location to be revealed a few days before.
