Capacity crowd last night at Motorco for Orquesta GarDel's CD release party; David Garcia gave a nice introduction, and GarDel took no prisoners as they launced into the first track from their EP, "Para El Mundo Entero":
Two new songs on the EP, never before performed in public, came out last night. I danced during "Gracias Te Doy," a cha cha chá with great solos by Al Strong and Andy Kleindienst. Already lush, I expect that one will really open up over time. Nelson thanked his wife Cookie for the idea to dedicate the lyrics to his mother, who passed in 2010.
The other was originally penned as a song about bad relationships, but sonero Jaime Ramon didn't want to sing it that way. He rewrote the lyrics of "Esta Situacion" to be about one bad relationship we are all in right now--with the economy:
I feel blessed to have one lyric of this remarkable song, "Lo Que Tu Querias," dedicated to me, by sonero/lyricist Nelson Delgado:
It was quite a sight to see all those people dancing to timba in Durham, something that never would have happened 5 years ago. This tune started out with the provisional title "Eric's Timba," and in all honesty, it took awhile for the horns to really master Hirsh's heavy "metal" bamboleo. They punched it out last night pretty comfortably. It feels like it has been a long journey to this oasis, and an even longer road (of touring?) beckons.
Triangle salseros are abuzz about Orquesta GarDel's much anticipated CD release party this Saturday (1/29) at Motorco. Many contributed to the realization of the EP, Lo Que Tú Querías, via public donations at GarDel's Kickstarter site. So is it any wonder we feel invested?
According to Orquesta GarDel's website, the physical EP is for sale now for $6 at Bull City Records in Durham, and CD Alley in Chapel Hill. You can buy the digital album online here for only $4.
I'm not sure why Motorco booked an opening band--the place is going to be jammed with normally single-minded salseros, making unprecedented use of the spacious, polished dancefloor. That said, I'm kinda stoked to hear Dark Water Rising open, a band of young Lumbees singing and playing their own brand of Southern rock from Robeson County. I hope that the salsa world shows them some hospitality. What's great for both bands is it will bring a diverse audience together.
After playing Shakori on Friday night, Orquesta GarDel was in Raleigh by 11 am Saturday morning to kick off the NC Museum of Art's Grand Opening Festival. The turnout of salsa dancers representing different styles for both Gardel, and again on Sunday for Charanga Carolina, was really awesome. It was a vibrant image of our salsa community. It was truly exciting to see how well-received "our Latin thing" was by visitors to the Grand Opening. A lot of people--including one 81-year-old woman from Garner--told me they hoped to see the Museum do this kind of thing again.
The Beast @ NCMA Grand Opening Festival on Saturday
If you haven't yet seen the new gallery upgrade, drop by sometime during visiting hours. Admission is FREE, and it belongs to you, the taxpayers of North Carolina. It's quite an ark.
As stage manager at the Plaza Stage, I enjoyed working with the artists and an excellent, excellent sound and stage crew. The 21-piece NCCU Jazz Big Band never sounded better, and Appalachian duo David Holt and Josh Goforth were big crowdpleasers; their CDs sold like hotcakes at the merch table. Southern Sun Drum, the official drum of the Lumbee tribe from Pembroke, came with singers and dancers in regalia. They got the whole community (i.e. the audience) to circle and dance around the drum for the final songs. The diversity of the programming worked really well. Saturday on the plaza closed with The Beast, which energized one break dancer to emerge from the crowd (see video).
The Gospel Jubilators, an a capella group from Durham, had me join their prayer circle before they went on stage. They prayed for the spirit to move someone in the audience. Les Primitifs du Futur, a cabaret-jazz group from Paris, were on next, and sure enough, their saxophone player teared up listening to genuine article, African-American spirituals.
Les Primitifs du Futur Sunday @ NCMA
Les Primitifs are very serious musicians and yet very charming, playing a fantastic array of instruments from accordion to theremin to xylophone. Charanga was in the wings, ready to go on next, and we all enjoyed hearing Les Primitifs play a 1930s Cuban son in the French Musette style.
Inside the former East Building, crowds gathered to hear and observe Greensboro experimental musicians Invisible (aka Bart Trotman and Mark Dixon) play their analog drum machine, Rhythm 1001. Sunday afternoon, a complete performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony, with 200 orchestral and choral musicians, took place inside, which was slightly mindblowing. Tift Merritt, The Monitors, and Carolina Brass played in the Park Theater Saturday night. The Museum posts a total visitor count of almost 15,000 for the entire grand opening weekend.
Summer events in the outdoor Museum Park Theater start soon, in May--see full schedules below.
Went to my first North Carolina powwow, at the School of Science & Math Saturday (2/6). Lumbee and Tuscarora from the Lumberton/Pembroke area were in attendance, not sure what other peoples/areas represented. This is the 19th annual PowWow there, organized by retired instructor Joe Liles, who also performed with the drum group Southern Sun, and did fantastic drawings for the program and posters.
This video is from the Grand Entry, around 1 pm:
I am really loving these jingle dresses. The jingles were originally made from recycled snuff can lids. Very creative reuse!
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