Banda Brothers Go Their Own Way

If things looked and sounded somewhat familiar when the Banda brothers played Steamers Cafe last Tuesday, there was good reason: As longtime members of the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, bassist Tony Banda and his percussionist brother Ramon anchor one of the most visible ensembles in Southern California.

Raised in the same Norwalk neighborhood as Sanchez, 40-year-old Tony and 42-year-old Ramon have been playing music with him for 32 years, starting with backyard jam sessions and wedding bands before they were teens. The brothers have been in the Latin Jazz Band for all of its 18 years; before that, they played with Sanchez in Cal Tjader’s group.

While their association with the conguero continues, they recently have been performing under their own name. And while the heartbeat pulse of their bass and percussion would have sounded decidedly familiar at Steamers to anyone who follows the Sanchez band, there were differences.

For one thing, the Banda Brothers Sextet features different material than Sanchez’s eight-piece group plays. At Steamers (where the Bandas play again this week and on April 22), such obscure, hard-bop numbers as Wayne Shorter’s “Tom Thumb” shared time with Bronislau Kaper’s “Invitation” and Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes.”

Also, Ramon, who plays timbales for Sanchez, has moved to drum kit with the sextet, giving it a harder, more swing-oriented feel. Congas were played Tuesday by Jose “Papo” Rodriguez (yet another Sanchez vet); he and Ramon evoked memories of percussionist Big Black and drummer Pete LaRoca collaborating in the mid-’60s with Freddie Hubbard.

Anchored by Tony’s upright “stick” bass, the group developed a sound that often teamed salsa or other Latin rhythms with straight-out swing. Indeed, during “Three Card Monte,” Rodriguez sat out, and the group dispensed with the Latin feel all together. The brothers’ frontline--saxophonist Javier Vergara and trombonist Francisco Torres--created aggressive, Jazz Messengers-styled theme-and-solo statements to complement the straight-ahead emphasis. Vergara showed the dual influences of Shorter and John Coltrane as he soloed, sliding easily into sustained tones and breaking out briefly with high-register cries before turning to more detailed mid-range statements.

Torres’ non-blustery approach to the trombone was evident during smooth, warm phrases of “Speak Low” and more aggressively during “Bernie’s Tune.”

The two horns made for striking unison theme statements. Vergara switched to flute for “Blues in the Closet” and the emphatic theme featured a number of tightly controlled breaks, decorated with sharp, percussive accents.

Pianist Chris Baron, playing his first gig in public with the Bandas, showed a spare sense of accompaniment that allowed the percussionists plenty of room for rippling accents and finely cut fills. When soloing, Baron matched them with equally considered musings, leaving lots of space between phrases as his ideas developed into larger statements.

There were moments when one could swear that one was listening to the Sanchez band, especially when the brothers took to large, bead-covered gourds (known as chekeres) for an extended solo (as the Sanchez band is known to do). But the Bandas (who have a business on the side making and selling chekeres) definitely have their own thing going, with a stronger emphasis on jazz tunes. As Tuesday’s performance demonstrated, their band promises to make a unique contribution to the area’s Latin jazz scene.

* The Banda Brothers play Tuesday and April 22 at 8:30 p.m. at Steamers Cafe, 138 W. Commonwealth Ave. Fullerton, No cover. (714) 871-8800.