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Latin percussionists in Denmark - and masters
the bongos, congas, timbales and Batá
drums.
Our tenor sax player, Maria Carelse, is
also professionally involved in arranging
the annually Copenhagen Jazz Festival and
she is the chairman of World Music Denmark,
the official organization for World Music
in Denmark.
Our tres and guitar player, Jacob Rahbek,
is with his 65 years the oldest in the band
and is arguably the best tres and cavaquiño
player in Denmark. He is the father of two
very gifted drummers, Laust Sonne of Danish
rockers D.A.D., and Kristoffer Sonne, who
tours with James Morrison.
Apart from Per Kincaid, we have two more
talented composers in the band, our keyboard
player, Sten Holme, who wrote the hi-octane
title song from the Salsa Loca Maxi CD and
our trombone player, Jakob Johansen, who
wrote the song 'El Amor de mis Sueños'.
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To
the obvious confusion of the audience
when we introduce the band, we actually
have three guys with the same first
name;
Rasmus Tobiesen and Rasmus Milling
Overby are our two trumpet players
and Rasmus Glendorf plays the timbales.
Last to mention are our conga player,
Jesper Nørløv, who
has been an in-demand percussionist
for a number of years, and myself,
who plays maracas and guiro - plus
handles most of the band's administrative
stuff such as the website, international
PR, the accounts and more.
¿Que
Pasa?:
How would you describe your style
of Salsa?
Tonny: The German
US based Salsa critic, Rob Lücking,
very kindly described our style
as 'European-style Salsa at its
best'.
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We
started out with cover versions of popular
mainstream Salsa hits. Now with only a few
cover songs left in the repertoire, we have
developed a more personal style with many
influences. Many of our songs now include
parts where we incorporate Timba elements
to boost the energy level of the arrangements
without (we hope) overdoing it or prolonging
it ad nauseam. There is even a bit of 70's
funk and samba here and there.
¿Que
Pasa?:
Which artists influence you the most?
Tonny: As a band we don't
have a common denominator apart from our
love of Salsa music in the broader sense.
Our individual taste differs from person
to person when it comes to Latin music and
ranges from traditional Cuban Son and modern
Timba to mainstream Salsa Dura and Romantica
and Latin Jazz.
¿Que
Pasa?:
You're based in Denmark. What is the Salsa
scene like there?
Tonny:
There are a surprising number
of Salsa bands in Denmark and some
talented musicians - apart from the
Danish ones, mostly Cubans. Denmark
has strong links with Cuba - loads
of Cubans and other Latin Americans
have settled here and have helped
build up a scene. Musicians like Isaac
Delgado, Los Van Van and Alexander
Abreu are regular guests, and a number
of young professional musicians from |
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over
there have started forming bands. Partly
due to the efforts of World Music Denmark
and subsidies from the Government, it is
still possible to keep big Salsa bands alive
- like ours with its 12 members. The tendency
in Denmark as well as the rest of the world
though, is that Salsa bands are getting
smaller to make it more economically viable
for bands and venues. We still keep the
flag flying and have no intentions of reducing
our percussion or horn section...
Apart from us, some other popular and active
Danish Salsa acts include the Cuban-born
singer and bandleader Jorge Cordero, who
has released several albums with different
lines ups, Latin Dance Band from Århus,
who recently recorded the first Timba/Salsa
album entirely in Danish, and Grupo Danson,
which consists mainly of resident Cuban
musicians playing modernized Son.
There is only one venue in Denmark, I'm
sad to say, that only focuses exclusively
on the World Music scene - but several venues
all over Denmark regularly have Salsa on
the bill and the number of venues daring
to feature live Salsa on the programme is
still rising.
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When
it comes to Salsa dancing, most major
cities have their own Salsa communities
and have regular Salsa nights. In
our capital, Copenhagen, we currently
have two dedicated Salsa clubs plus
the odd Salsa night at many different
clubs. You could probably dance Salsa
every night if you wanted to. The
clubs are small, though, compared
to what can be found in London, Berlin
etc.
¿Que
Pasa?:
You are a band completely made up
of non-Latinos, yet you have an authenticity
that even Cubans do not dispute. How
have you managed to master this authentic
sound?
Tonny: Our bongo
player is from Chile but apart from
him it is true that we are all non-Latinos.
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Salsa
and Latin music in general are of course
dear to everyone in the band and all but
one - as far as I recall - have been to
Cuba for shorter or longer periods, and
many have taken master classes there in
percussion and dance.
Again, with the help of World Music Denmark
we have had the privilege of working with
touring Cuban bands and have listened to
their (often strong) views on our way of
playing Salsa and that has definitely had
some influence on the way we play.
But the two most likely explanations to
the mentioned authenticity are perhaps the
fact that the general standard of Salsa
musicians in Denmark is rather high - and
that it helps us a lot having played close
to 150 concerts so far.
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¿Que
Pasa?:
How did you first discover Salsa music?
Tonny: That must
be one for me and not the band.
I
started playing my first instrument,
the congas, at the age of 25 at evening
classes - and with that particular
instrument came the natural discovery
of Latin American music in general
and Cuban music in particular. So
I guess that I am a good example of
someone who started playing music
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later
in life but who has managed to have lots
of fun with it.
¿Que
Pasa?:
How did it feel to be voted the Best Danish
Salsa Band 2003?
Tonny:That of course made
us very happy. In fact, a more accurate
conclusion of the Internet poll back in
2003 - still the only one of its kind -
would be that we were voted the best Danish
live Salsa Band. That only stresses that
above all we are a live act - and with only
a maxi CD as our only release during now
10 years of existence we would have to be
:-)
¿Que
Pasa?:
What has the band been up to since
then?
Tonny: Since 2003
most of the cover songs that we played
live have been replaced with our own
compositions - and we have continued
to play live as often as our schedule
and the economy of the venues allowed
it.
¿Que
Pasa?:
Your mini CD 'Amor Con Amor' was very
well received. Are you planning to
release any more CD's, maybe a full
album?
Tonny:
The plan is to release our
first full album with all original
material by the end of this year or
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in
early 2008, or basically as soon as we agree
on how best to record and promote the thing!
¿Que
Pasa?:
You have played at most Salsa venues in
Denmark, and in Germany and Sweden. Do you
plan to tour any other countries?
Tonny:We would very much
like to visit other countries - like England
- and have had a few requests. The challenge
is to find foreign venues that dare to take
a risk with a Danish Salsa band - however
good we may be as a live act - when we are
still unknown to a wider audience, and have
only one maxi CD to our name. Another challenge
is to find dates when all the band - or
most of them - are free.
So it's a puzzle - but sometimes it all
falls into place. In April we were invited
by Berlin's leading Salsa club, Havanna,
to perform at their 10th anniversary - our
second visit there - and the venue was packed,
with about 200 hopefuls who couldn't get
in. And the music got a truly great reception.
Hopefully there'll be more concerts abroad
like that ahead.
¿Que
Pasa?:
For those of us who have not witnessed
one of your concerts, what is a Salsa
Loca concert like?
Tonny:It's a fun
and high energy show, with the focus
on danceability and building songs
up to a frenzied climax. You should
try it :-)
A major asset live is definitely our
lead vocalist Signe, who has amazing
charisma as a as a performer and gets
everyone going, onstage and off. I
stand next to her at the front of
the stage trying to follow her example. |
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With
12 in the band there's always a lot to look
at - we have a dancing horn section and
our keyboard player is always hilarious
to watch (he gets so into it we fear for
his health sometimes).
I would like to think that we have a certain
Salsa Loca spirit on stage - we simply have
a good time with one another up there. I
can recall a gig some years back, which
was one of those rare occasions where the
(dinner) crowd had decided they weren't
going to dance Salsa - the only time there
was people on the dance floor was during
the intermission. But we still had a great
time on stage doing what we like best: playing!
¿Que
Pasa?:
How do you see the future for Salsa Loca?
Tonny: Hopefully we will
release our first full album at the end
of the year or the beginning of 2008 - and
then we'll see what that will bring. Whatever
the reception of the album, I am pretty
positive that we will still be playing at
Danish venues at the current frequency,
augmented with the odd trip to Sweden or
Germany. It would be nice, though, if the
album could help pave the way for new experiences
and some visits abroad to new places.
All three songs from Salsa Loca mini CD
can be downloaded in full length for free
from www.salsaloca.dk
Keep
Dancing and be Happy
Tonny
(For
further information on concerts, check out
Salsa Loca’s website on
www.salsaloca.dk)
©
Interview by Georgina Nicoli
Edited by Lin Skyte 11 June 2007
©Photos taken by Lars Nybøll
(No 1, 5), Nana Hee Jepsen (No. 2, 3, 4,
6),
Niels Prins (No. 7, 8) and Jesper Musaeus
(No. 9) www.info-kanal.dk
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