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"Elementos: Merengue and Salsa/Latin Jazz" On Friday February 28th 2003, my wife and I had the privilege to attend a workshop and performance by Alex Torres y Orquesta Los Reyes Latinos at Bloomsburg University's Kehr Union Ballroom.  According to the Bloomsburg University press release, "With seven CDs to their credit, the 13-piece 'Latin Kings Orchestra' presents more than 100 shows each year, including a 2002 performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival and appearances with Latin entertainers, such as Tito Puente. The band also participates in the New York's Arts-in-Education Program, visiting schools to showcase and explain their music and instruments. The song, 'No Me Olvides' from the new CD, Punto De Vista, currently holds the number 17 spot on Latin Beat Magazine's New York chart; their song, 'Descarga En Sol Para Tito Puente' from the CD Elementos, climbed to number four on New York chart in January 2001."  The workshop included a brief historical orientation regarding the spiritual roots of music and how Afro-Caribbean sounds came to be such a large part of the music we hear today. That was followed by demonstrations of individual rhythmic patterns on clave, guiro, guira, maraca, congo, bongos (played with sticks or hands), timbales, cowbell, tamboura (a double-headed drum). Syncopated 4/4 and 6/8 patterns were shown. Each instrument was then brought into the mix with horns (trumpet, sax, and trombone) and the entire ensemble showed us how the pieces fit together to create a typical Latin groove.  Band leader and bassist, Alex Torres. The musical workshop was followed by a dance demonstration of salsa, merengue and cha-cha that featured audience participation. Brave souls young and old, large and small, black and white, Eastern and Western gathered on the dance floor both with and without partners. At times it looked as if people were going to trample one another, but by the end the participants had achieved a satisfactory "togetherness" that prevented injury. The dance demonstration was followed by two sets of rhythmically charged, danceable music with Afro-Caribbean rhythms, heavy bass and horn energy, and syncopated keyboard work. The songs were mostly mid to fast tempo, with only a couple slower songs. At intermission people had the opportunity to purchase CDs and meet the band. Let's just say many people went home with a piece of Latin energy that evening.  The second music set included another opportunity for audience participation. Those who were not already dancing throughout the night were asked to come up and play a little percussion (20-30 seconds) with the horn section and keyboard behind them. My clave debut was short-lived, but fun nonetheless. Even if you don't dance, you can't help but move when you hear Latin music. Throughout the evening, I found my self working out my own polyrhythmic sitting-dance of feet, hands, fingers, toes and, well... just about everything else. The sound system was a bit loud, but then again, we did sit a bit close (second row after the dance floor). Sitting further back in the room seemed to provide better interpretation of the sound. Improvements could have been made in the equalization of the bass guitar (somewhat muddy) and the vocals were almost totally lost in the mix. I didn't feel I missed much since everything was in Spanish anyway, but the Spanish-speaking crowd may have preferred a more clear mix.  It was great to see such a great band in a clean, smoke-free and alcohol-free environment. I look forward to listening to the band's 2-CD compilation Elementos and seeing more music in this genre live. And who knows, maybe someday I'll do a clave album. Check out: |
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 Alex Torres commends Ian Sweeney on his groove. |