Who knew that D.C. had its very own Cuban timba and salsa band?  Yep, Orquesta Ashe, led by Cuban Aramis Pazos Barrera will be at the Left Bank in Adams Morgan tonight.  Timba is a modern Cuban brand of salsa that adds funk beats and hornwork to the traditional clave rhythm.  Barrera was a dancer in Cuba’s National Modern Dance Company and a guest artist with the Bolshoi Ballet in 1988.  In DC he has taught dancing at Danceplace and percussion in schools. His international band (3 singers, 3 percussionists, bass, piano, sax, flute, trombone, and trumpet) includes members from Senegal and Cape Verde as well as locals like noted percussionist Sam Turner (a New Yorker who played with Lionel Hampton and on boogaloo records but who’s been in DC for awhile).  I haven’t seen them yet, but their background sounds promising.

Friday June 5  Orquesta Ashe at 11:30 p.m. (and dance lessons at 10:30) at Leftbank, 2424 18th St NW, DC. (202) 464-2100; $12, age 21 +

Dance instructor, promoter, and Hispanic cultural event lecturer Eileen Torres sent out an e-mail on Monday that said in part:

I received word Friday that Zanzibar management is canceling Thursday Salsa Nights. It has been a losing proposition and they were left with no other choice than to stop the loss. I will hold special events there from time to time and inform all well in advance. I will be very happy if you will join me for the last hurrah this Thursday night at Zanzibar. DJ’s Bruno & Carlos “El Cacique” will close out the great era.

Torres had been coordinating salsa Thursdays there for 9 years and 9 months. She occasionally brought in guest dancers from out of town, live performers, and featured pre-lesson historic salsa videos. While there are still other locations to dance to the clave beat around town, it’s hard not to see this as a sign that salsa is less vital than it once was. Many area establishments are now pushing merengue, bachata, reggaeton & Latin house in order to appeal to a younger audience. Some of the salsa dance audience seems to be getting older and less willing to come out every Thursday for a late night on the waterfront at Zanzibar. Torres will still be presenting occasional salsa dance nights on Fridays at the Divino Lounge, 7345 Wisconsin Ave., in Bethesda.

Thursday February 26-Salsa dancing at Zanzibar on the Waterfront, 700 Water Street SW, $5 before 10, $10 after 10. 202-554-9100

As promised, some stills and vids from Friday night:

La Timbistica:

Chopteeth:

Fertile Ground:

…and the Chopteeth videos…

“Struggle“:

Nice horn bit:

Trouble viewing? Check out the YouTube versions here and here.

Review below; videos and photos forthcoming.

“The future of la musica is assured,” a beaming Jim Byers informed the 9:30 club on Friday night.

Byers, the host of WPFW’s “Latin Flavor,” spoke after a stellar performance by La Timbistica, a high-flying salsa outfit also known as the Berklee College of Music Latin Jazz All-Stars. The group alternates between five-piece Latin jazz unit and full-on Salsa band. In both formats, they are astonishing. Juan Maldonado deserves special mention for his efforts on the six-string bass, as does Kalani Trinidad for his searing flute (how often do you hear those two words together?) and fine voice, both of which cut admirably through the bright wall of the high brass. Throughout, the band exemplified a classical precision infused with lively improvisation—most notably by Alex Brown, whose eclectic work on the keyboard kept the band from retreating, anonymous, into a genre that too often overshadows its practitioners.

This was good, jazzy salsa, in other words…and consistently up-tempo, to the delight of the D.C. Casineros, who took over the dance floor and put the rest of the audience to shame.

***

The Timbistica crew were passing out promo materials and enjoying a few well-deserved beers when Chopteeth took the stage. The D.C.-based group, which calls itself an “Afrofunk orchestra,” launched into a groovy set that veered between the reedy guitar dance-lines of classic Fela Afrobeat and a sophisticated brand of ska. “Struggle,” the first track on their latest LP, was a highlight, as was their funky reinterpretation of Duke Ellington’s “Digeridoo.” Led by the magnanimous duo of Anna Mwalagho (vocals) and Michael Shereikis (vocals and guitar), Chopteeth bounced and rolled for close to an hour, with fat sounds from the Korg organ sailing under the snarling five-piece horn brigade. They smiled, danced, colored the two Kenyan songs with neat accordion lines, and took audience requests. (”The dancers want more Fela,” Shereikis laughed at one point.) Their set was the high point of a beautifully eclectic evening—kudos to the DEJF for espousing a “jazz without borders” mentality.

***

Fertile Ground closed out the night with a jazzier variety of what some people call “neo-soul.” With the caveat that this music usually strikes me as way too smooth, I have to say that Navasha Daya was mesmerizing as frontwoman, strutting under her headdress and leading the band as much with the rhythm of her hips as with her commanding, sinuous voice. “Yesterday” was powerful in its ambience, and “You Take Me Higher” (from the 2002 Seasons Change LP) took me pretty high. Daya can build a single syllable from a lyric for several bars and then launch into a weird scat, or an island-tinged rap, or a series of grace notes cued impeccably to the drum breaks, while James Collins‘ synth bass holds it all together. (His right hand, meanwhile, cooks up artful keyboard patterns with the same maddening rhythmic persistence that kept Chick Corea flush for several decades.)

“Jazz is not a listening music, but an organic music,” Collins told the modest crowd, chiding them to dance. “And since Duke Ellington’s from this neck of the woods, I’d hate to believe that the folks in Tokyo know how to move to this music better than y’all.

“It shouldn’t exist in the classroom,” he added, “but on the streets and in the minds of our children.”

Collins then kick-started a nice version of “Be Natural,” on which the crowd sang along, before a closing, anthemic but eerie rendition of “Roots, Rock, Reggae.” Synths aside, the groove had vitality. And the song, a tribute to cross-generic unity, may have struck the perfect coda for the evening.

Photo courtesy of chopteeth.com