Photo by Blaine Schultz
Afro-Cuban All Stars at the Marcus PAC on March 2, 2023
Afro-Cuban All Stars at the Marcus PAC on March 2, 2023
“We’ve been playing for an hour,” Juan de Marcos González addressed the audience Thursday night at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, “Are you ready to dance?”
And on that cue from the Afro-Cuban All Stars bandleader the seats emptied and the area in front of the stage transformed into a Havana dancefloor.
The 11-piece orchestra lead by de Marcos González included four horn players on baritone sax and flute, trumpet and flugelhorn, lead vocalists Alberto Alberto and Emilio Suarez, upright bass, piano and a trio of percussionists keeping things moving on timbales, congas, bongo and cowbell. In addition, the vocalists and horn players also played percussion and got the crowd clapping—rhythm was king.
The bandleader was an integral part of the now-legendary Buena Vista Social Club, helping to locate musicians that would become part of that project. “I used to be the youngest. Today I am the oldest member of the band,” he said comparing that experience to this evening.
A highlight of the show was the tribute to the late Ibrahim Ferrer, BVSC vocalist. Opening with Orlando Cardoso’s piano solo, the piece eased into a romantic melody before the full orchestra joined in. After an instrumental breakdown an extended piano excursion blended with the audience keeping rhythm with the percussionists, until the brass section lifted the song to another level closing with impassioned vocals.
The orchestra medleyed a trio of boleros that rose and fell, culminating with Antonio Garcia taking center stage on baritone saxophone; de Marcos González also reprised the song he voiced for the grandfather kinkajou in the 2021 animated movie Vivo.
Yet it was after the bandleader’s invitation to dance, the joyful sounds from the stage had bodies swaying for an extended set, that evolved into a conga line spreading from the aisles to the PAC dance floor.
|
|
