FIESTA Preview & Updates...

It's here, La Fiesta del Pueblo, the largest 2-day Latino festival in the Carolinas. It will take place this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 29-30, at the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh in the same indoor/outdoor exhibition spaces used last year, in and around the Jim Graham Building. Admission is $5, and admission to the soccer tournament in the Dorton Arena will be an additional $2.



Full Stage Schedule for La Fiesta del Pueblo HERE

Headliners include "hurricane" salseros Orquesta GarDel, Peruvian rocker Santino and punta/soca band Kazzabe. I'm working on my preview of the musical highlights, so check back later today!


UPDATE added Friday night:

Buzz: I just got word from an alert tipster that Santino will be backed by Raleigh rockers Wrecking Season. (Thanks, Melinda!) I just checked out their myspace, and that's some sweet rockin' goodness! I can totally hear Santino with this, returning to his hard rocking roots with Peruvian hair band Fragil.



SANTINO performs Saturday 7pm and Sunday 4:30 pm


UPDATE added Sunday am:

Saturday headliners Orquesta GarDel really upped the ante, adding twists to their old arrangements and throwing a bolero into their set for vocalist Nelson Delgado. Pianist/keyboardist Eric Hirsh played around with new synth tones, adding celeste for example to "Boranda" (evoking memories of Charlie Palmieri's Alegre sessions). Some new, killer horn lines with bari sax jumped out at me on charts I've heard repeatedly. That was a real delight. Always giving us something new to listen to. The funk of "Eric's Timba" (still untitled) resounded with the old school dancers; it was great to see el pueblo dancing, mingling and having a good time.





La Tropa de Tierra Caliente--of Durham--have steadily improved their game as well since I saw them at last year's La Ley fest. This techno banda from the "hot regions" of Guerrero and Michoacan runs on valve trombones, synth tuba and aftershave. A male vocal trio harmonizes and bounces in a massive front line with the live brass, sandwiched by sythmeisters and backed by a lonely drumset on the back bandstand. Witness the energy:



With a quieter kind of attention, rapt crowds at the Cafe Teatro devoured the Colombian harp mastery of Pávelid Castañeda Sr., a real find at La Fiesta this year. (Brava to Fiesta programmer Margarita Correa-McAvoy who always manages to add new talent to the roster.)

A transplant to this area from Long Island with his own folk group Los Llaneros, Pávelid currently plays three days a week for afternoon tea at the Umstead in Cary. Pávelid is a long-time music educator and, if I'm not mistaken, the father of another amazing harpist who is making waves in the Latin jazz world: Edmar Castañeda. I heard Edmar play an unforgettable rendition of "Obsesion" with Cándido Camero and a Cuban ensemble led by Sonny Bravo at the NYC Blue Note in 2007. The manzana doesn't fall far from the tree! Pávelid did a one-man arrangement of Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" (yes, the one made famous by Santana) that filled the senses. Colombian harp is a rare specialty in these parts, here's hoping we will hear him playing out in the Triangle more often.



Until I can get the full name of this 16-year-old musician in the Andean folk group Amerikantu, I'm going to dub him The Charango Kid. [His name is Jacob Cortez.] Big talent. His father Cesar Cortez plays guitar (far left) and the group is led by artist and musician David Sovero (center):



Sunday picks: 12:45 Mariachi Los Galleros, 1:30 Grupo Sarengue, 3:15 Bravo Norteño, 4:15 Kazzabe, 4:30 Santino.

Full Stage Schedule for La Fiesta del Pueblo HERE

Triangle, we got sabor!