Tom's Salsa Mayor Photos

Yordi Larrazabal

Click here for Tom's first gallery, from Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz. Still to come are galleries from both Tom and Peter Maiden from Café Cócomo in San Francisco.

Book News: The second Pupy Pedroso book is about a week or two away. It's the longest one yet and in the process of writing it, I came across so many clave changes that I decided to add an appendix explaining clave using dancing, singing and clapping exercises. For those who don't want the whole piano book I'm going to release the clave course as a special stand-alone product with a PDF and audio files for one low price. That should be coming out within a couple days. Stay tuned! [Kevin Moore]

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Saturday, 15 October 2011, 05:40 PM

photo by Peter Maiden

Last night produced another torrid show from Salsa Mayor - this time at SF Cócomo. We'll have scads of great photos from Peter Maiden and Tom Ehrlich soon. Those crazy enough to go to both shows reported that Aragón at Yoshi's Oakland was nearly sold out and had absolutely exquisite, tear-inducingly beautiful sound. No such claims were made about Cócomo's sound system, but Oakland's trickles of nostalgic tears were countered by a raging river of testoserone across the Bay. Aragón continues tonight and tomorrow. Meanwhile Salsa Mayor heads to Bellingham tonight and Seattle Sunday, then back to SF Monday night for a clinic and a new show added Wednesday Night at Oakland's House of Music, and then on to The Reef in Long Beach (Los Angeles) Thursday. (Click "continue reading" for 2 more photos). [Kevin Moore]

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Friday, 14 October 2011, 02:22 PM

Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor at Moe's Alley - Santa Cruz - photo by Tom Ehrlich

Okay - these guys are really hot! This was one of the two bands I had never seen live so I'm still pretty bowled over, learning people's names, etc. Fortunately, Michelle White has built a truly EPIC Salsa Mayor section over the last few years - with monstrous quantities of lyrics, concert reports, video, photos et al., so check that out for details and I'll just give you my first impressions.

So, yeah, really hot. The rhythm section is incredibly disciplined, well rehearsed, and just plain fierce - even by Havana standards. They have 14 members: bass, two keyboards, drums/timbales, congas, güiro, 2 trumpets, 2 bones, and 4 singers. All four singers are very strong and one guy is just off the hook - and as dancers, the whole band is the best to come through here - probably ever. They have this amazing, rippling, wave-like set of moves that they all do (even the bassist while he's playing). These guys have perfected every visual and musical detail and their rapid ascendance to the top tiers of the Havana scene now makes perfect sense. More veteran SM fans than I have also pointed out that this particular incarnation of the band is probably the best they've had. More photos coming soon. In the meantime, get your fix here ... and here ... or check out one of our six video interviews or twelve concert videos.

Bay Area: Tonight, Friday, at Cócomo: There's some stiff competition, but to be honest, if you miss this band, you're going to be very sorry when your friends come to you drooling about it. The Cócomo show is unlikely to start before 10:00, so if you're rich (haha) you can probably catch Aragón's first show and not miss any of Salsa Mayor. Aragón also plays Saturday and Sunday. Salsa Mayor returns for a lecture at Mission Cultural Center on Oct. 17th.

Washington State: Tomorrow, Saturday in Bellingham's Blue Horse Gallery, and Sunday in Seattle at Club Sur.

Los Angeles: Thursday October 20 at The Reef in Long Beach.

Miami: Club Aché on Saturday, October 22.

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Friday, 07 October 2011, 03:50 AM

Tiempo Libre really tore it up in Santa Cruz last night! Ultra-agressive timba in the extreme. Pututi III is incredible and the whole club, even by Kuumbwa standards, was absolutely on fire. The bassist Tebelio was also insanely good tonight. Make it to the clinic on Saturday and the concert on Sunday if you can. It's not obvious from this photo, but from a straight-on view, the new trumpet player, (who was also the founding trumpet player), Raúl Rodríguez, is a dead ringer for Paul Shaffer.

Click here for Tom's gallery - more coming.