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SXSW scene report: Wax Poetics at the Scoot Inn
“I just flew in from Brazil. I just met these guys,” vocalist Tita Lima exclaimed halfway through a far too brief set from the Echocentrics at the Scoot Inn early Wednesday night. She brushed her hair from her face and beamed at an audience still caught up in a collective swoon following the intoxicatingly sultry vocals she had just laid over the band’s intriguing blend of atmospheric soul and ambient funk.
She wasn’t kidding. Along with fellow vocalist Argentinian, Natalia Clavier, prior to a few days before the gig, her collaboration with the freshly launched Austin-based project was entirely Internet based.
“I was going to record a track with Thievery Corporation,” Lima explained after the set, “but I was in Japan when they came to Rio, and they suggested I work with these guys who are on their label instead.” Grupo Fantasma’s Adrian Quesada, the project founder (and, full disclosure, back-in-the-day homie to this writer) emailed instrumentals to the Lima and Clavier and the singers sent back their vocals.
“We had like three rehearsals before this show,” Quesada admitted. But any roughness in the set was glossed over by the formidable talent of the ensemble of Austin all stars, the pleasantness of the cool breezy Spring evening and the irresistible charm of Ms. Lima who at one point effusively gushed about her love of Austin.
In the early part of the night, the Scoot Inn had smaller crowds than last year’s packed Wax Poetics showcase which featured, among others, turntable hero Rich Medina. Italian soundtrack funk outfit Calibro 35 was warmly received, but the party didn’t get truly hot until Houston’s Chalie Boy took the stage. The singer rapper with the unique screwed and crooned flow might just be the most soulful dude in the Dirty South. So raw. So emotional. So real. Within minutes of beginning his set he had completely engaged an audience that spent a good part of the evening leaning back and looking cool.
From there momentum built, and while the indoor DJ room remained virtually empty, by 11:30 a sizable and diverse crowd was under the outdoor awning grooving enthusiastically to the multicultural mashup of electro funk and Latin groove thrown down by excellent singer-producer Chico Mann while a steady stream of people poured in from the street.
It’s quite possible that showcases at the Scoot Inn suffer from being off the beaten path of SXSW. The ND at 501 Studios is the only other official SXSW venue east of the highway and the venue is undeniably a hike from the rest of the action. But,even without the five alarm dance party in the DJ room, the Wax Poetics crew proved once again that a well-curated showcase can provide plenty of entertainment indeed.
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