One night in Cuba in Sydney
DJ Yemaya (ahem, that's me) made a guest appearance at Casa de la Salsa's One night in Cuba last Friday. Despite the cold weather, the place was packed - which wasn't an entirely good thing: the downstairs area, which is DJed by NY/PR salsa stalwart DJ Joachim, was closed for a private function, so by 10pm the upstairs 100% Cuban night was packed with ... people who wanted to dance LA/NY style. Despite this gargantuan obstacle (jajaja) we stuck to our 100% quota - well almost - I think Dwight took it down to 99% - thanks dude! Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I didn't do much more than a guest spot (as you'd expect - the guest bit, not the not much bit), but here is my setlist:
El Zorro with Ángel Bonne: Te doy mi mano
I'm crazy about this song from Swiss trombone player El Zorro. It's not really timba, but not really not timba; and it has a really poppy coro at the end. Stupid words too ("dale cintura mi gente con la campana caliente/oh la-la; ooh la-la), but the harmonies are divine and Ángel gives the kind of classy performance I've come to expect from him.
Michel Maza: El loco de la mata del coco
Mani (the main DJ) asked me to play some salsa-y stuff with the hard timba, so I thought, El Zorro, then this ... but of course this isn't really salsa - it's a hardcore timbera's idea of salsa. Jajaja.
Pupy y los que Son Son: La Machucadera
Kick ass. Not much more needs to be said.
Manolito y su Trabuco: La Raspadura
More kicking arse. If they won't play it live when I'm in Havana, then dammit, I'll just come back and play it at a club. And maybe see Mi Tierra do it, next time they're in town.
Omar Hernandez: Un disparo en la mirada
This is a great PR version of the Charanga Habanera track. I kid you not. Seriously! It still packs a timba punch, but it has a great swing to it and a fantastic vocal performance by Omarcito. This guy can really sing.
I meant to play El Repartero de La Habana by Sama y el Expreso de Oriente. I first heard this track when someone sent me a live version by Lisandro y su Trato a couple of years back. Great kickin' track. Lisandro is a Cuban who now lives in New York - I don't know much else abot him. But the vocalist from Expreso de Oriente rips off the original version I had completely - inflection for inflection - "me VOY pa' La Piragua!" Still it's a great song, no matter who's doing it. Both versions rock. In the excitement though, I forgot to play it. Next time.
During my set, someone asked if I would play some bachata. I said, no. He looked at me like he couldn't believe it. I said: this is a Cuban night. If you want bachata, go somewhere else. Someone else asked for Trabuco's Control - or specifically, the "dale reggaeton song". I said, oh what a shame, I have it at home but I didn't bring it. Jajaja. Let me tell you, if I have 30 minutes to play and I want to play a Trabuco song, I would only play it if every other CD I had of theirs was broken. And then I would probably just decide to play Pupy instead.
Un montón of Salsa Mayor was played during the night: Esto está, Anda pégate, Ella dice ... and at least three others (if not more). Kian (one of the organisers) was like a kid in a candy store. I said, man, you really need to get your ass to Havana and catch them live. Or take a flight to Europe - they're there right now!
Two girls trod on my foot (the same foot!), hard. Honestly, some chicks need a licence to wear heels...
El Zorro with Ángel Bonne: Te doy mi mano
I'm crazy about this song from Swiss trombone player El Zorro. It's not really timba, but not really not timba; and it has a really poppy coro at the end. Stupid words too ("dale cintura mi gente con la campana caliente/oh la-la; ooh la-la), but the harmonies are divine and Ángel gives the kind of classy performance I've come to expect from him.
Michel Maza: El loco de la mata del coco
Mani (the main DJ) asked me to play some salsa-y stuff with the hard timba, so I thought, El Zorro, then this ... but of course this isn't really salsa - it's a hardcore timbera's idea of salsa. Jajaja.
Pupy y los que Son Son: La Machucadera
Kick ass. Not much more needs to be said.
Manolito y su Trabuco: La Raspadura
More kicking arse. If they won't play it live when I'm in Havana, then dammit, I'll just come back and play it at a club. And maybe see Mi Tierra do it, next time they're in town.
Omar Hernandez: Un disparo en la mirada
This is a great PR version of the Charanga Habanera track. I kid you not. Seriously! It still packs a timba punch, but it has a great swing to it and a fantastic vocal performance by Omarcito. This guy can really sing.
I meant to play El Repartero de La Habana by Sama y el Expreso de Oriente. I first heard this track when someone sent me a live version by Lisandro y su Trato a couple of years back. Great kickin' track. Lisandro is a Cuban who now lives in New York - I don't know much else abot him. But the vocalist from Expreso de Oriente rips off the original version I had completely - inflection for inflection - "me VOY pa' La Piragua!" Still it's a great song, no matter who's doing it. Both versions rock. In the excitement though, I forgot to play it. Next time.
During my set, someone asked if I would play some bachata. I said, no. He looked at me like he couldn't believe it. I said: this is a Cuban night. If you want bachata, go somewhere else. Someone else asked for Trabuco's Control - or specifically, the "dale reggaeton song". I said, oh what a shame, I have it at home but I didn't bring it. Jajaja. Let me tell you, if I have 30 minutes to play and I want to play a Trabuco song, I would only play it if every other CD I had of theirs was broken. And then I would probably just decide to play Pupy instead.
Un montón of Salsa Mayor was played during the night: Esto está, Anda pégate, Ella dice ... and at least three others (if not more). Kian (one of the organisers) was like a kid in a candy store. I said, man, you really need to get your ass to Havana and catch them live. Or take a flight to Europe - they're there right now!
Two girls trod on my foot (the same foot!), hard. Honestly, some chicks need a licence to wear heels...
1 comment:
It is good to know that timba is still alive in Sydney, I hate going down there and listen to DJs playing PR and NY salsa all bloody night... keep up the good work Yemaya and Casa de la musica..!!
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