CubaManiac
09-27-2001, 07:55 AM
CLICK THIS URL FOR BOSTON 10/2 REVIEW !
http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/lope10032001.htm
BELOW IS REVIEW FOR LA!!
Cuban bassist brings heavy rhythm to L.A.
By Phil Gallo
HOLLYWOOD Cachaito (Knitting Factory; 325 capacity; $30 top)
(Variety)
- Orlando ``Cachaito'' Lopez is the modernist in the Buena
Vista Social Club.The bassist from Cuba -- who owes his New
World fame to the celebrated gathering orchestrated by Ry
Cooder that has since become its own cottage industry -- works
in musical forms that go beyond the BVSC's pre-Revolution
Cuban dance music and ballads.
His superb solo debut on World Circuit/Nonesuch points a
musical arrow toward the U.S. soul-jazz movement of the late
'60s and early '70s, and he arrived at the Knitting Factory
with musicians who excel at echoing the sounds of the recent,
somehow forgotten past.Cachaito's particular brand of fusion
is rhythmically heavy; between the organ of Bigga Morrison,
the hand drumming of Miguel ``Anga'' Diaz and, of course,
Cachaito's bass, the soloists have an unerring and driving
force underneath them.
Truly, it pushes this music to a place that fans of jazz and
Cuban music have rarely, if ever, visited; an area that
accommodates the lengthy horn and woodwind solos as easily as
it provides a frame for Manuel Galvan's fragmented guitar
work.Cachaito, the 68-year-old nephew of the legendary Cachao,
starts the show the way the disc begins -- with the sound of a
phone ringing.
Dressed in a gold suit, he enters the stage, picks up his
upright bass toward the left-hand side of the stage and solos,
a signal that he will be distinguishing himself from his BVSC
brethren who rarely step outside the ensemble format.
As the evening progresses, Cachaito involves nearly every
member of his band in duels, using playful calls and responses
to toy with saxophone, trumpet, guitar and even congas.Flutist
Polo Tamayo is his dominant soloist, melodically soaring over
this bounty of enchanting compositions as the others give the
music its hardcore jazz appeal. Morrison, a Jamaican, grooms
the presentation with bluesy organ fills that are more
juke-joint than Havana dance hall.
Evening's liveliness is a tribute to the men at centerstage:
Diaz, with his six congas in front of him, and bongo player
Carlito Gonzalez.The sounds produced by electric guitarist
Galvan have their roots in the 1960s pop/doo-wop band he and
Cachaito backed, Los Zafiros, and in the jazzier tunes, his
solos provide an avant garde edge. Were Galvan an American,
his solos would be labeled deconstructionist, played in shards
of notes that go from the deep chorded lows to a piercing high
end, consistently with the notes in between missing. Little of
what he does is in the form of a run, the way American jazzers
solo, and his disjointed and choppy style is a joy to behold;
when he used the melody of ``Rawhide'' as a solo -- played
straight, mind you -- it scrapped notions of familiarity and
became something exotic.
Cachaito's openness to experimentation hangs over nearly every
tune, especially one segment that found the ensemble reduced
to bass, guitar and a DJ scratching.Cachaito, who plays the
bass with a distinct and rare forcefulness that heeds to the
spirit of Charles Mingus, performs a body of work that is
easily the most forward-looking of the BVSC -- his album is
actually the only progressive disc to emerge from the
ensemble.
Despite its lack of concern for retaining old world charms --
it asks for listeners rather than dancers -- his music is a
rooted conveyance of island spirit, and as such the album
provides an important demarcation in the evolution of Cuban
jazz.
Presented inhouse. Band: Orlando ``Cachaito'' Lopez, Polo
Tamayo, Amadito Valdes, Carlito Gonzalez, Miguel ``Anga''
Diaz, Bigga Morrison, Manuel Galvan. Opened, reviewed Sept.
25, 2001; closed Sept. 26.Reuters/Variety
http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/lope10032001.htm
BELOW IS REVIEW FOR LA!!
Cuban bassist brings heavy rhythm to L.A.
By Phil Gallo
HOLLYWOOD Cachaito (Knitting Factory; 325 capacity; $30 top)
(Variety)
- Orlando ``Cachaito'' Lopez is the modernist in the Buena
Vista Social Club.The bassist from Cuba -- who owes his New
World fame to the celebrated gathering orchestrated by Ry
Cooder that has since become its own cottage industry -- works
in musical forms that go beyond the BVSC's pre-Revolution
Cuban dance music and ballads.
His superb solo debut on World Circuit/Nonesuch points a
musical arrow toward the U.S. soul-jazz movement of the late
'60s and early '70s, and he arrived at the Knitting Factory
with musicians who excel at echoing the sounds of the recent,
somehow forgotten past.Cachaito's particular brand of fusion
is rhythmically heavy; between the organ of Bigga Morrison,
the hand drumming of Miguel ``Anga'' Diaz and, of course,
Cachaito's bass, the soloists have an unerring and driving
force underneath them.
Truly, it pushes this music to a place that fans of jazz and
Cuban music have rarely, if ever, visited; an area that
accommodates the lengthy horn and woodwind solos as easily as
it provides a frame for Manuel Galvan's fragmented guitar
work.Cachaito, the 68-year-old nephew of the legendary Cachao,
starts the show the way the disc begins -- with the sound of a
phone ringing.
Dressed in a gold suit, he enters the stage, picks up his
upright bass toward the left-hand side of the stage and solos,
a signal that he will be distinguishing himself from his BVSC
brethren who rarely step outside the ensemble format.
As the evening progresses, Cachaito involves nearly every
member of his band in duels, using playful calls and responses
to toy with saxophone, trumpet, guitar and even congas.Flutist
Polo Tamayo is his dominant soloist, melodically soaring over
this bounty of enchanting compositions as the others give the
music its hardcore jazz appeal. Morrison, a Jamaican, grooms
the presentation with bluesy organ fills that are more
juke-joint than Havana dance hall.
Evening's liveliness is a tribute to the men at centerstage:
Diaz, with his six congas in front of him, and bongo player
Carlito Gonzalez.The sounds produced by electric guitarist
Galvan have their roots in the 1960s pop/doo-wop band he and
Cachaito backed, Los Zafiros, and in the jazzier tunes, his
solos provide an avant garde edge. Were Galvan an American,
his solos would be labeled deconstructionist, played in shards
of notes that go from the deep chorded lows to a piercing high
end, consistently with the notes in between missing. Little of
what he does is in the form of a run, the way American jazzers
solo, and his disjointed and choppy style is a joy to behold;
when he used the melody of ``Rawhide'' as a solo -- played
straight, mind you -- it scrapped notions of familiarity and
became something exotic.
Cachaito's openness to experimentation hangs over nearly every
tune, especially one segment that found the ensemble reduced
to bass, guitar and a DJ scratching.Cachaito, who plays the
bass with a distinct and rare forcefulness that heeds to the
spirit of Charles Mingus, performs a body of work that is
easily the most forward-looking of the BVSC -- his album is
actually the only progressive disc to emerge from the
ensemble.
Despite its lack of concern for retaining old world charms --
it asks for listeners rather than dancers -- his music is a
rooted conveyance of island spirit, and as such the album
provides an important demarcation in the evolution of Cuban
jazz.
Presented inhouse. Band: Orlando ``Cachaito'' Lopez, Polo
Tamayo, Amadito Valdes, Carlito Gonzalez, Miguel ``Anga''
Diaz, Bigga Morrison, Manuel Galvan. Opened, reviewed Sept.
25, 2001; closed Sept. 26.Reuters/Variety