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ACL review: Nachito Herrera
Nachito Herrera and his orchestra staged one heck of a Cuban dance party in the WaMu tent Saturday afternoon. He started with son - and along the way, I believe, there was also some mambo, some chachacha, some pilone and a joyful little Cuban hokey-pokey experience introduced as Baile Azucar, the Sugar Dance. I’m no expert on Caribbean dance rhythms, so there was a lot more that went over my head. Suffice to say that the key word of this set was glee, unmitigated glee. Herrera had the audience on its feet from the very first note of “Descarga de Hoy” - and most in the crowd stayed on their feet until it was time to say goodnight.
Herrera is a Cuban-born maestro, a bandleader and pianist, classically trained, known to many Americans for his participation in Jesus Alemany’s band !Cubanismo!. He reminded the Austin audience, in fact, that he’d been here before, six years ago, when Cubanismo played La Zona Rosa. Like Cubanismo, Herrera’s new band is a revue-style ensemble rich with trumpets, trombone, saxophone and percussion, 11 pieces in all. But Herrera is clearly the star of the show.
Herrera, a big butter bean of a man, leads his band like a corner man at a prize fight - rising from his seat behind the keyboards, jabbing at the air, shaking his fist, exorting and commanding joy. And when it’s time to solo, Herrera plays with a kind of muscular grace. The keyboards sometimes shake beneath his powerful hands. His first big solo featured flourishes of Gershwin over mambo dance rhythms, his right hand flashing. Later, he introduced Bird-like be-bop phrasing in the middle of a chachacha number. His solos consistently referenced a world beyond Cuba, while at the same time his sense of rhythm touched the very soul of Havana.
Havana trumpet master Adalbert Lara stepped forward to solo at one point in the program - and the mood was so bright, so full of glee, that the trombone player set down his instrument and snapped a photo of the renowned “Trompetica.” Then he shot a photo of the audience in full dance mode. It was that kind of show.
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Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: ACL 2008: Saturday, ACL Festival
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By Kory Cook
September 28, 2008 7:19 PM | Link to this
nice review!