Side Dish of Salsa
A momentous event for Los Angeles salsa fans will take place Friday at Studio City’s Sportsmen’s Lodge. Johnny Almendra and his group Los Jovenes del Barrio are finally flying from New York for a much overdue West Coast debut.
The band, which plays a sophisticated, one-of-a-kind brand of salsa known as charanga, is arguably the most creative group working in Afro-Caribbean music in the United States.
Released in 1996 and titled “Evolucionando,” the group’s debut CD escaped mainstream popularity but became one of that year’s favorite records among salsa connoisseurs.
A sophisticated collection of sinuous, dance-friendly tunes, the record mixes traditional Cuban charanga with subtle touches of rhythm and blues, alternating between nostalgia-drenched instrumentals and songs, enhanced by the vocal prowess of Jillian, a powerhouse singer who also happens to be Almendra’s wife.
“We’re not your typical charanga band,” Almendra said recently in a phone interview from his home in New York. “We’re restless musicians, always investigating. In four years as a group, we’ve learned to play 300 numbers. I’d like to think of us as an adventurous charanga.”
Originally a word used to denote the particular instrumentation of a salsa orchestra, charanga has become synonymous with a specific brand of music as well.
“In the early ‘60s, people thought charanga was another rhythmic style, like the pachanga, also famous at the time,” explained Almendra. “But the truth is that the word refers only to the instrumentation of a group.”
In reality, a charanga band plays mainly Cuban son (the basis for all salsa) and the delicate, European-inspired danzon, replacing the brass section of a mainstream salsa orchestra with flutes and violins. The end result takes some of the sticky heat off the mix, adding instead a frothy lightness, which caresses the ears while accentuating the other band instruments: piano, bass and the percussion section.
“The charanga represents the most classical and European side of Latin music,” adds Almendra. “People forget that our music is so rich. It’s not only defined by the African element, but also by Spanish and Indian influences. There’s violins in classical music, in jazz, in Motown rhythm and blues. Why not have them in Latin music?”
Indeed, one of “Evolucionando’s” strongest moments is “Habana Vieja,” a violin-tinged old-fashioned danzon whose lyrics express a heartfelt nostalgia for the streets of old Havana, while the music showcases the marriage of African percussion and European dance styles that took place in Cuba at the turn of the century.
Since salsa music experienced a resurgence in the mid-’90s, a handful of new groups has attempted to duplicate the charanga sound. None has managed to recreate its hypnotic charm with as much personality as Johnny Almendra.
A seasoned percussionist who plays mostly timbales, Almendra participated in the ‘70s movement of the Fania recording label, the most memorable period in the history of salsa. The timbalero played in seminal recordings by the three creative geniuses of salsa: singer-composer Ruben Blades, trombonist-producer Willie Colon and singer Hector Lavoe. Blades and Colon are still recording; Lavoe died in 1992.
Eventually, Almendra, who was born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican parents, decided to form his own band and landed a five-record deal with RMM, salsa’s dominant record company in the United States. The label has released three of Almendra’s efforts.
The second one, titled “Reconfirmando,” was slightly disappointing because of its almost relentless experimentation, which took the music away from its charanga roots.
But its follow-up, a nonprofit live album and accompanying video recorded to raise money for an East Coast hospital, is a superb return to form, with the band offering blistering performances of some of its best material.
Ironically, this hottest of salsa combos has had a hard time connecting with programmers of radio stations.
“If you listen to the good music from the past, to people such as Machito, Tito Rodriguez and the Orquesta Aragon, and then you turn the radio on, you are not going to believe how bad the new music is,” complained Almendra.
“Salsa has just become so bland, which was one of the reasons why I decided to put a charanga together. I was tired of listening to all the salsa bands sounding the same, with no variety or color in their sound.”
Still, Almendra is confident the quality of his music will prevail. “There’s people who might not understand what we’re trying to do with our explorations, but that doesn’t worry us. You have to search the past in order to find the future.”
BE THERE
Johnny Almendra at Sportsmen’s Lodge, 4234 Coldwater Canyon Blvd., Studio City. Opening act Johnny Polanco, at 9:30 p.m. Friday. Almendra’s two sets start at 11 p.m. $15 advance; $20 at the door. (310) 450-8770.