Salsa De La Bahia – A Salsa Explosion

Northern California is still rocking from the tidal wave of support for Salsa De La Bahia – the recently released 2 CD anthology of SF Bay Area Salsa and Latin Jazz artists. On September 12 the dance floor was packed and the music was hot and steamy at the nearly sold-out CD release party hosted at Yoshi’s Oakland. The mambos and cha chas of Edgardo Cambon Y Su Candela, flanked by Bay Area icons Wayne Wallace, Roger Glenn, John Calloway and Anthony Blea fired up the dancers so much that nobody wanted to go home at the end of the set.

Special thanks for this stellar event go to Luis Medina, guest DJ and music director at KPFA 94.1 FN who delivered infectious, hard core salsa grooves and Chuy Varela, master of ceremonies, who is known around the globe as an enthusiastic Latin Music, DJ, historian and music director for KCSM 91.1 FM

Final kudos to Andy Gilbert, whose elegantly written article Salsa de la Bahia Anthology Shows Evolution of Latin Music in Bay Area tapped into the public’s hunger for this land mark project and vaulted the album in to the #1 favorite load for Latin Jazz and Salsa on Amazon. Check out his article ‘Salsa de la Bahia’ Anthology Shows Evolution of Latin Music in Bay Area

Patois Records

Patois Records announce today the signing of filmmaker/dancer Rita Hargrave.

Patois Records and Ms. Hargrave are currently in production of “Salsa De La Bahia Vol.,1″ a musical compilation of the San Francisco Salsa/Latin Jazz communities to be released this summer. The CD features world renowned musicians John Calloway, Pete Escovedo, Edgardo Cambon, Roger Glenn, Karl Perrazo, John Santos, Orestes Vilató, Benny Velarde, Wayne Wallace and many more luminaries of the San Francisco Bay Area Latin music scene.

Also in production is the DVD “The Last Mambo” due to be released in early 2014. “The Last Mambo” explores the world of Salsa/Latin Jazz in the San Francisco Bay area from the diverse perspectives of dancers, DJs and musicians. The film discusses how the dance aesthetic, musical presentation and cultural context have changed in the wake of Afro-Cuban music’s growing popularity and commercialization. “The Last Mambo”, punctuated with interviews, photographs and concert footage captures the spirit of Salsa/Latin Jazz, celebrates its rich cultural heritage and debates the nature of its future.

Patois Records looks forward to sharing this legacy of great music with you!

Who Killed Salsa?

In the old days Salsa for me was as wild and exciting  as a homecoming  party filled with joyful friends, sizzling live music and unbridled  fun.  Today those heady moments that we call “salsa highs” are hard to find.   Has the  soul of salsa slipped away?

Check out this article by Amaranta Wright,

"Did Salsa Dancers Kill Salsa Music?" on a website devoted to Latino Life UK Latin and Spanish News, Events, Arts, Culture, Reviews and Music

http://www.latinolife.co.uk/arts-culture/dance/did-salsa-dancers-kill-salsa-music

Let me know what you think.

Rita

Rebeca Mauleon

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

In 2012  I had the pleasure of chatting  with Rebeca Mauleon–a Bay Area music legend and currently director of education for the San Francisco Jazz.

Rebeca Mauleon spent her youth hanging out at Mission Cultural Center absorbing  Afro-Caribbean music and arts.  With the support of her family and the Bay Area music community she has emerged as  an internationally acclaimed musician, bandleader, composer, GRAMMY-nominated producer and educator as well as author and reviewer. As a pianist Mauleon follows a long-standing tradition of Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz performers, and her expertise in Afro-Caribbean and Latin American music places her at the forefront of the musicological community, resulting in a multidimensional career spanning over three decades.

Rebeca’s hard-rocking approach to  the piano and her high-energy musical direction have been dubbed “visceral” (Billboard Magazine), “fiery” (Utne Reader), and critics have lauded her as “one of the hippest band-leaders in Latin music today” (Allmusic).

I can’t wait for you to check out  her interview when it appears in “The Last Mambo.”  Stay tuned for more on Rebeca and the opening of the new home of  San Francisco Jazz.

Rita

The Last Mambo and Bahia Son

Hi All,

What a great summer of music.  The San Jose Jazz Festival as usual was a blast. I shot some great footage of Avance, a perennial favorite and Team Bahia (hard-rocking timba by local Cuban musicians).  I can’t wait to include some fo this in the film.

Want to get a sneak preview a snippet  of “The Last Mambo?”

Join us on Sunday at The Jazzschool in Berkeley.

THE LAST MAMBO and BAHIA SON
When: Sunday, August 19, 4:30 pm
Where: Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St, Berkeley, CA, 94704
Admission: $5-10 sliding scale
OPEN DANCE FLOOR AND MOVIE PREVIEW AT 5:30PM

The Last Mambo is a documentary film that explores the salsa/Latin jazz community in the San Francisco Bay Area from the diverse perspectives of dancers, DJs and musicians. The film traces the 60-year evolution of the West Coast Latin sound to show how the music and dance act as powerful force for community building. The film is still in production but come check out the latest clips.

Bahia Son plays Cuban son, salsa and Latin jazz for your dancing and listening pleasure. Bahia Son is: Rita Hargrave (timbales), Phil Montalvo (congas), Manuel Mejira (bongo/bell), Vicki Marinko (vocals and percussion), Tala Ibabao (vocals and percussion), Ahni Robinson (flute), Michael Commer (tenor sax), Kit Robinson (tres guitar) and Bob Camp (bass).

See you on the dance floor,

Rita

The Last Mambo

Hi all,

My relentless search for more Bay Area salsa history continues.  I just stumbled on to a great resource–the San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive. A moving image collection which  presents sixty years of social history and cultural revolution in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over 4000 hours of local newsfilm, documentaries and other programs have been donated to the J. Paul Leonard Library by broadcasters, production companies and private individuals, to be preserved as an academic resource.  A special thanks to Alex, the archivist, who is really helpful

Check out Cuban inspired art exhibit at the Video Room 4364 Piedmont Ave Ste A, Oakland ·Sketches, paintings and photographs that will put you in the mood for mambo. Open every day until 8 PM until end of August.

Then dig in at OUR CUBAN KITCHEN, “pops up” at the Guerilla Cafe, 1620 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, PH: 510-336-3085, Saturday, July 28, 6-9:30 p.m., These guys cooked up some great ropa vieja at Cock-a doodle last year.

Finally work up a sweat at Will Campa performing at Yoshi’s. It’s all good.

See you on the dance floor

Rita

Hazel’s Mambo Meets Manhattan

Hazel Hankin, a renowned photographer and devoted mambo dancer, has contributed some of her stunning photos to The Last Mambo.  Recently her long-term photo project, Mi Mambo, is featured in a post on the NYTimes Lens Blog.

Below there’s a link to it on the front page of New York Times with a thumbnail slideshow.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/hazel-hankins-mambo-madness/?hp

To see more images from this series and others, please take a look at her new website www.hazelhankin.com.

I’ll see you, Hazel and all the other salsacrazies on the dance floor.

Rita