Cuban Party at Mosaic

Mosaic's Cuban night is TONIGHT, Thursday (2/12) and not next week, as I had mistakenly listed on the calendar. This has been corrected!

Don't miss Tambor Vivo's sets of live drumming @ 10:30 and 11:30 pm, with DJ'ed dance sets in between. FREE. See calendar for details.

(Last month's poster:)


UPDATE added Friday (2/13):

A pretty full house at Mosaic last night, although it's morphing into a different crowd from the one that started this party last summer. The sweaty, folkloric Paso crowd has stepped out of the limelight, and an elegant, nightclubbing mambo/salsa crowd has checked in. A little more South Beach, a little less Santiago de Cuba. Still, it was good to see the throng bringing mirth and revenue to the venue so that the (still free) event can continue.

People seem to enjoy hearing live drums, even if folkloric rhythms are a little esoteric for hardcore salsa addicts, some of whom matched salsa turns to Tambor Vivo's bell and drum patterns. The whole place got tribal to Jim's thundering cajon, and I did see some tight rumba moves on the floor. Mosaic's owner was snapping photos like crazy, so maybe some of those will turn up on their website soon?

DJ Keith has big ears, and is one of my faves for pushing the usual boundaries of taste in the club scene, by mixing Puerto Rican bombiplena with Cuban timba and Latin American viejoteca. Keith digs high energy tracks with lots of fire and pretty solos, like the pianos of Alfredo Rodriguez in Cubanismo's "Descarga de hoy" and Gilberto "Pulpo" Colon Jr. in a house remix of Hector Lavoe's "Alejate." Gorgeously atypical mixers included Roberto Roena's "Con los pobres estoy" and Mongo Santamaria's "Cuidado." I had the rare pleasure of dancing to Candido Fabre and other seldom-heard sounds. Keep bringing the love, Keith.