Conga Man Steps Out

Percussionist Johnny Blas surprised the crowd at Steamers Cafe in Fullerton last month when he stepped from behind his congas and started playing alto saxophone.

The 42-year-old Blas, who started out playing sax, flute and clarinet as a junior high school student in Brooklyn, hadn’t played sax in about 20 years.

“The crowd went wild,” Blas said from his home in Riverside. “They didn’t know I could do that.”

Conguero Blas promises to take a turn or two on sax again Saturday when his band returns to Steamers. But for the most part, Blas, who plays flute on two cuts on his last Cubop/Ubiquity album “King Conga,” will lead the band from behind his percussion set. The show will also preview new music from a yet-to-be-recorded album, music that more reflects Blas’ New York roots than his previous four recordings.

“I’m doing more different stuff than the usual salsa rhythms,” Blas said, “a lot of cha-cha, some boogaloo, some 6/8 Afro-Cuban style music, which I like to call ‘Afro-Rican.’ ”

Blas grew up in a Puerto Rican family and music was a large part of his formative years. His godfather, saxophonist Al Acosta, used to bring the young Blas to performances.

“[Acosta] played with everybody in New York,” Blas said. “Ray Barretto, Tito Puente. He used to take me to hear all kinds of music, not just salsa, but conjunto bands and merengue groups. These have all been influences on my writing.”

Even as an aspiring saxophonist, Blas was attracted to the congas.

“I was in a top-40 band and we used to practice in my garage,” he recalled. “When rehearsal was over, I used to put my sax down and go over and play the congas.”

Blas lived not far from the Club Cheetah, a gathering place for Latin musicians and a proving ground for young initiates. It was there that he acquired experience in a variety of Latin styles and rhythms.

“[Trombonist] Willie Colon, [congueros] Ray Barretto, Johnny Pacheco--all kinds of guys used to work there. Guys like [flutist] Dave Valentin played there before anybody knew who they were. Things were really happening.”

In 1975, Blas’ mother decided that New York had become too rough and moved her family to Southern California. Blas continued playing flute, saxophone and percussion at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles. He and his older brother, Javier, started a salsa group that also included their younger brother, trombonist Edwin.

Blas worked in top-40 bands too, and just out of high school he went on the road with bluesman Chick Willis. His first recording session playing congas was with the R&B; band of Gene Gibbs.

“But I got tired of being a sideman,” Blas said. “I was writing my own music and wanted to start my own band.”

In the early 1990s, he and keyboardist-guitarist Mark Gutierrez put together a demonstration recording that featured Blas on percussion and Gutierrez providing everything else on synthesizer. Soon, the Blas band began to fall together as musicians--including violinist Karen Briggs and trombonist Dan Weinstein--joined in to play Blas’ and Gutierrez’s originals. The group’s buzz increased in 1996 after Blas organized a tribute to Latin jazz vibraphonist-bandleader Cal Tjader at the Sheraton in the City Of Industry.

“The word got out and every vibe player in town showed up,” Blas said. “It was so crowded people were sitting on the floor.” It was there Blas met energetic vibes man Dave Pike, who later recorded on the group’s “Skin and Bones” CD.

“When I heard Dave playing, humming like he does when he plays, I knew his sound was right for the band.”

After releasing “A Night in L.A.” in 1995 on the independent Dos Coronas Records label, Blas was picked up by the Cubop arm of San Francisco-based Ubiquity Records. The label released “Mambo 2000” next, followed by “King Conga.”

The Blas band has been known for its powerful four-trombone front line, a section that has variously featured Weinstein, Edwin Blas, Poncho Sanchez veteran Steve Baxter, rising stars Isaac Smith, Humberto Ruiz and Terry Delgado and others.

Recently, Blas put together a smaller band and refined his direction, one that’s closer to the music he grew up with back East. He has added the traditional tres guitar (Gutierrez formerly added the sound of the diminutive, six-string instrument with his synthesizer) as well as a drummer and saxophonist. During a performance, the group includes everything from percussion-rich, Puerto-Rican influenced bombas to out-and-out funk.

“One of the reasons [for the change] was because the sound of two trombones with a saxophone or flute gives it that real conjunto sound. And the drummer gives the band that real 1970s boogaloo touch. The other reason was that the size of the band was hard to handle. With four trombones and vibes I had as many as 12 guys on the bandstand.”

“I’m like Miles Davis,” Blas said. “I’ve got to keep trying different things.”

SHOW TIME

Johnny Blas plays Steamers Cafe, 138 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton. Saturday, 8:30 p.m. $5. (714) 871-8800.