14-Piece Otra Vision Visits From Cuba

Hailing from Cuba, Orlando “Maraca” Valle is a talented composer and arranger, a virtuoso flutist who has assembled one of his native island’s most proficient orchestras, as demonstrated amply during his Los Angeles debut Thursday at the Sportsmen’s Lodge.

But though the 14-piece band (known as Otra Vision) shone like a star every time each instrumentalist took a solo, its collective efforts have still to find a distinctive sound. The hot, velvety bass lines of Lazaro Rivero and the brief solos by second flutist Celine Chauveau (Maraca’s wife) left you pining for more. Only during a version of Jose Fajardo’s lovely “Los Tamalitos de Olga,” however, did you feel that the band’s individual elements were merging together for overall effect.

All that changed the moment 82-year old singer Pio Leyva stepped on stage halfway into the group’s first set. Wearing thick glasses and a bright red beret, Leyva quickly became the life of the party. Whether interacting with the audience, improvising vocally or telling jokes, he drew all the attention away from the intricate solos with his idiosyncratic, old-fashioned humor.

The inclusion of the veteran singer says a lot about Maraca’s musical perspective. The flutist has chosen a different path for his ensemble than most Cuban bands of the moment. Like them, he favors modern sound and production techniques. But unlike such more commercial groups as Los Van Van or NG La Banda, Maraca’s music is firmly anchored in the past--a move that is likely to assure him a long and fruitful career.