Amber on Chicken and Bomberos

This afternoon I went to visit my good friends Victor and Lucia. We decided to have a cooking day, which meant Victor and I were the chefs, and Lucia bought the wine. We pooled together our resources, pulled out a few cookbooks, and got to work. With the strains of Latin music in the background, we cut up vegetables, ripped up bread, mashed potatoes, and fried some plantains.  A few minutes into our preparation, some Cuban friends arrived (unannounced, of course), and suddenly there were 9 of us in the one bedroom apartment. I was getting worried about how our little meal was going to feed all 9 of us, but then I remembered our pièce de résistance, the chicken! Stuffed with butter, herbs, and garlic, we put her in the oven, anxious to eat delicious bird. (NB Lucia saw a whole raw chicken for the first time, and wasn't too impressed with the gizzard.) Fifteen minutes later, we noticed some steam escaping from the oven. We opened the oven door to a wall of smoke - our chicken was well on it's way to being burnt. The alarm in the apartment went off, followed shortly by the bell that signals the entire apartment building. All 9 of us got up to help - to fan the air away from detectors, to call the landlord, to pry a window open (by heating the ice with a blow dryer), but to no avail. Five minutes later, the firetruck pulled up, and the bomberos trudged up to the apartment. They knocked on the door and asked "Who's the cook here?" Fortunately they were good-humored about it, and had the chicken been in better shape, we would've offered it to them. Needless to say, we won't be using the oven anymore. Let's just order pizza next time.








-- Victor plays a mean Cuban tres, and Lucia loves her budgies.

Scott on: The Opportunity of a Lifetime

When I made the decision 3 years ago to go to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to study the pandeiro with master percussionist Marcos Suzano, I had no idea how it would unfold. Through a third party source I was promised 3 lessons with Suzano, who is a very high in demand percussionist as well as a instructor.

I was a little disappointed as my trip was planned to be there only 3 weeks, but just to be in the presence of my hero would be enough. On our first meeting Marcos greeted me with open arms and after a delicious coffee and snack we got to our first lesson. Suzano asked me to "just play" and as someone who had been practicing to his records and dedicated my time to studying the tradition as well as his modern approach, he was very impressed and offered for me to return everyday either for a lesson or a great hang over coffee. This person I held so high turned out to be a wonderful human being, a fantastic teacher, and a caring friend during my whole trip to Brazil.

--Scott Senior loves his pandeiro so much that he'll never leave it in the trunk of the car - it always rides with him up front.

Rodrigo Muñoz: Black Ice & Salsa

It was the winter of  '91 and I was heading west down #1 in  my blue Chevi van. My long time buddy Gilles (bass player) was sitting in the back not wearing a seat-belt (because there was none), in the passenger seat was our good friend and trombone player Ray Egan (Ray now resides in Florida USA), and the van was loaded with all my percussion instruments and  Gilles' gear, plus Ray's trombone and music stand. We were on our way to Brandon to do a gig with Papa Mambo. The other musicians were well ahead of us in other vehicles, it was around 5:30 pm which means that it was already dark. The blue van was equipped with a sweet sounding stereo system and we were making good use of it by listening to The Fania Allstars featuring Celia Cruz. I  even remember the song, it was Bamboleo. The groovy sounds of salsa were blasting away when I felt the van slowly starting to face the wrong direction, we hit black ice and my lack of expertise driving on icy highways shone at the most critical moment. 

I heard some swearing coming from the back and a simple but effective "oh oh" from Ray, at this point the vehicle was completely turned around, and in the next second, another added attraction, the van started to roll.

After rolling a couple of times we landed in the the ditch which (lucky for us) was packed with soft snow. The van came to rest on it's side, the driver's side (my side). When I regained consciousness (no joke intended) I could only see out of one eye. There was blood everywhere and as I looked up I could see ray hanging by the waist. I could not make out were Gilles was. As I started to climb out I could hear Bamboleo still blasting out of the powerful speakers, the arrangement was at this point in the montuno section.

---

Rodrigo Muñoz still listens to Bamboleo to this day, though not while driving on icy roads.

Amber on Being Famous for Day in Cuba

During my first few weeks in Cuba, a couple of friends of mine from Winnipeg came to visit me. We were enjoying the warm weather and took a walk down Havana's famous walkway, Calle Obispo. All of sudden, my friend yelled out "Coto!" He was greeting one of Cuba's greatest tres players (a tres is Cuban guitar). We stopped and talked with this exuberant musician for a few minutes. I thought my friend knew Coto, but turns out, he only knew him by recordings and photos. But Coto talked with us as if we were his old friends. While we were introducing ourselves, and letting him know that we play with the Canadian salsa band Papa Mambo, a stranger walked by and threw in "Yeah, these guys are great - they play with Papa Mambo!" (Thanks, stranger!). Coto invited us to one of the restaurants with a live band on Obispo, "La lluvia de oro". While the two guitarists talked shop, my other friend encouraged me to sit in with live band. I wasn't about to barge in on those excellent Cuban musicians, but my friend kept bugging me until I did it! So I sang "The Girl from Ipanema", and the crowd loved it! Walking down Obispo again later in the day, a man stopped me and said he loved my voice (I'd never met him). Then in the evening, when I stopped in at another restaurant, the guitar player from the band (whom I'd also never met), pointed his finger at me and asked "are you the girl that sings The Girl from Ipanema?". I sat in with the group, then walked away smilingm, wondering how many other people have had the opportunity to be famous for a day in Cuba.

Rodrigo on Recording a New Record

There is a story behind every song. The melodic lilt of language, rhythmic intensity, and engaging interaction invite you to share in a journey that starts behind us, and keeps moving forward. Music disappears the moment it's played, but the stories remain. This blog is dedicated to those stories.

Rodrigo on Recording a New Record:

Over the years I have been part of quite a few recording sessions, and as you probably guessed they come in all shapes and colors, I 've had a lot of great ones, a few not so, a couple that were disasters, and some that were strictly business (go in, do your thing, get paid and get out).

I jut finished doing the bed tracks for the new Trio Bembe CD that we are planning to release in April of next year, it took 4 days of intense but delightful work, I tell you , I haven't had so much fun recording ever.

First of all, I love the music that we picked to record as well as the new original pieces (that Amber wrote for the most part), we also had the pleasure of having Jimmy Green record one of them (with a great solo) as well as Victor Lopez treating us with his delicious tres playing and playful e. guitar pickings. We're looking forward to having George Colligan as a guest too.

There are a few reasons why the sessions went so great and so much fun was had by all,

firstly: the 3 of us are great friends and share the love of groovy danceable music, we also love the sounds of percussion which all 3 of us take great joy in playing, also the studio, oh yeah the studio, what a great place is Larry's studio (yet unnamed), he has taken quite a while in finishing it and in actuality it's not yet fully complete , as a matter of fact we had the honour of being the first recording session ever held in this magical place.

But what makes a place magical?, meaning what makes it such a great place for recording, well I could point out the obvious things like great up to date gear and great acoustic design as well as comfortable rooms, even though as I mentioned it is not fully done yet. Now while all these things are important and this studio meets and surpasses all of the above mentioned features, the most important thing is the recording engineer, this case Larry,  not only did we benefit from his great expertise as a musician and recording engineer but the owner and builder of this fantastic new recording space, is one of us, a musician (an amazing musician) that loves what he does, but he like us is a kid at heart, playful and silly and never takes himself seriously, he made us all feel like we were the most important thing in his life at the time of the recording (in reality outside of the studio he is the same fun loving and caring person).

Yes, the most fun we had was mostly because of the warmth and friendship that emanated from this wonderful human being, how could I not have fun being surrounded by great people, thank you, Amber, Scotty, Victor, Jimmy and Larry.

A story behind every song

There is a story behind every song. The the melodic lilt of language, rhythmic intensity, and engaging interaction invite you to share in a journey that starts behind us, and keeps moving forward. Music disappears the moment it's played, but the stories remain. This blog is dedicated to those stories.

Amber Epp on a Cigar Factory in Cuba's countryside:

"Earlier this year, I spent three months in Cuba. Near the end of my trip, I decided I needed to get out of Havana to see some of the countryside (you'd be surprised how much of it looks like Manitoba - minus the palm trees). I took a tour bus to an area called Viñales, and on the way, we stopped at a cigar factory. Cuba is known for its tobacco - they produce some of the top cigars in the world - a Cohiba or a Montecristo can go for $50 a piece here in Canada (though it would only cost a few dollars in Cuba). We stopped in this tiny little town - I think tourist buses were the only vehicles that actually went though it. The factory itself wasn't much to look at - like most buildings in Cuba, it was more than 50 years old, and falling apart. Our group was herded inside, where we got to look at the workers from behind a fence.

A typical Cuban cigar factory

There were about 75 men and women rolling cigars - they have to make 100/day, and each one has to be perfect, or they have to start again.  They can also smoke as many cigars as they like while they're working.  I can only imagine how they feel having tourists coming in and staring at them, day in, day out.  Anyway, there is one person who works for the factory who is NOT a cigar roller - he's the entertainment. He reads the newspaper or a novel out loud, maybe plays music every now and then, and gives the workers something to think about all day. He sits on a pedestal in front of an old microphone.

Reader in a Cigar Factory - a well-maintained Cuban tradition

So realizing that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I asked the supervisor if I could sing a song for the workers in Spanish. When I started singing "Sabor a mi", a classic bolero, eyes shot up at me from around the room with delighted surprise. I sang the song with gusto, and they gave me a big round of applause when I was done. (I guess they weren't expecting a gringo to be able sing in Spanish without an accent.) Only upon leaving the building did I find out that my little song had been "broadcasted" throughout the entire building! What a great opportunity to give back to the Cubans what they had given me - amazing music!