Thursday, November 13, 2008

Charanga Carolina & ELM Collective Friday

Charanga Carolina opens for the ELM Collective at the Carrboro Arts Center this Friday (11/14).
¡Feliz cumpleaños!
Here are some details from Charanga director David Garcia:

Charanga will start at 8:30 pm followed by jazz-world music fusion group ELM Collective at 9:30pm.

Charanga Carolina will feature guest artists Nelson Delgado, Pako Santiago, Alberto Carrasquillo, Ramon Ortiz, Jay Kaufman, and Brevan Hampden!

Charanga's set list will include music by Eddie Palmieri, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Tipica 73, Orquesta Aragon, Soneros del Barrio, and other salsa dura music from NYC, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Tickets are $15 general; $12 for ArtsCenter Friends and UNC students (w/ One Card)

The dance floor will be open!

ELM Collective
I'm excited to hear ELM Collective for the first time, which brings together musicians from Lebanon, Italy, Suriname, the Ukraine and the U.S. Several of their members also play with Children of the Horn.

UPDATE, added Saturday:

ELM Collective - what a cool band. These guys are each heavy musicians in their own right, and they pool their virtuosity and international influences in really interesting ways. It's a unique palette to begin with--flutes, oud, keyboard, guitar, percussion, drumset and bass--but what I also liked about it was that each tune had rhythmic integrity from identifiable, different sources like James Brown funk, middle-eastern odd meters, samba blues, etc. combined in seamless, intricate ways. After only one year of playing together in this format, these guys have great synergy and momentum. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them.

The "chemistry" with Charanga musicians was palpable in backstage conversations, it would be cool to get these musicians together on stage to sit in or jam in an "all star" setting. The connections have been made.

el vacilon

(click on photos to see more)

Charanga was gorgeous, the new student violinists this year are bearing the torch of their predecessors, and it was flutist Christina Smith's second-to-last gig with the group: Smith graduates from UNC in December and moves to Atlanta. Charanga is in her blood now, I'm pretty sure some Latin band in Atlanta will be inheriting her stage presence and her talent. You can swing with Christina one last time, at the Charanga Carolina's December 2 show at UNC. See calendar!

pretty christina

1 comment:

David Garcia said...

Of all our performances since Charanga's start in 2004, last night's at the ArtsCenter was by far the best in terms of energy and excitement from the musicians and dancers. Sylvia, thanks for your great photos! A Charanga performance would not be complete without your presence and support.

An update regarding our last performance of the semester on Dec. 2: Charanga will perform with the UNC Jazz Band under the direction of Jim Ketch at the NEW music rehearsal room in the Kenan Music Building (not the Student Union's Great Hall). Swing and salsa dancers will have plenty of hardwood dance floor to "break in." The Jazz Band will start at 8pm followed by Charanga around 9:15pm.