Belinda Voshtina (vocals); Carlos Luis Rivera (percussion/vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); David Gray (trombone); Elliott Todd (trumpet/flugel).(Review by Lance).
What better way to celebrate the latest of my countless birthdays than to spend a couple of hours in Havana and, without the hassle of going through customs? Yes to celebrate my birthday Cuba came to Newcastle albeit not weatherwise.
In the Prohibition Bar Cuba Libres were being downed as if we were in Havana's Jazz Café as opposed to Newcastle's former venue of the same name. The music added to the Caribbean ambiance that was in the air and there was little English in the lyrics that were sung so beguilingly by Belinda and Carlos.
It had been some time since I'd last heard Belinda which was my loss. The voice, the tone is now more rounded and the words delivered more fluently. Perhaps Portuguese (Spanish?) comes more naturally to her. Carlos on congas and bongos provided the Latin drive as well as adding his own vocals to the mix. Alan Law is perhaps the greatest non-Cuban authority on the music and his playing would have been a credit to Chucho Valdes. The horns blended well with 'Showtime' as boisterous as ever and Elliott slotting easily into the idiom. Paul Grainger was, as always, un hombre para todas las estaciones.
Lance.
Photos.
Set 1
1 - El Cuarto de Tula (Sergio Gonzalez-Siaba)
2 - Comes Love
3 - Agua De Beber (Jobim)
4 - Besame Mucho (Consuelo Velasquez)
5 - Chan Chan (Compay Segindo)
6 - Oye Como Va (Tito Puente)
7 - Quizás, Quizás, Quizás (Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps)
8 - Dos gardenias (Isolina Carrillo)
9 - Tristeza (Haroldo Lobo)
Set 2
10 - La Sitiera
11 - Vasilon
12 - La Distancia
13 - There Will Never Be Another You
14 - Sway
15 - Lágrimas Negras
16 - Manha De Carnaval (Black Orpheus)
17 - Alacran
18 - Conque
Encore
19 - Mandinga
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