Review > Gig review: Sonora La Calle
HMV PICTURE HOUSE, EDINBURGH
"BÁILATE, gózate" – the words of a key song by Sonora la Calle meaning "dance and enjoy yourself" – was certainly the message for a night full of salsa dancers.
The superb wooden floor of the Picture House in its guise as a dance hall must have breathed a sigh of relief at being used for the right purpose as couples twirled and swirled with earthy Cuban styles favoured over the more fussy moves of the New York scene.
"Sonora la calle" means "sound of the street" and hailing from the picturesque town of Santiago de Cuba, the heartland of Cuban son music, the group's blend of wood, string, skin and brass has an acoustic full of warm timbres. However, this suffered greatly in the first half, the ears bludgeoned by the boom and distortion of over-amplification with voices over-dominating.
In the second half, order was restored, allowing the patter of congas, maraca shakes, cow bell ringing, keyboard vamps and riffs from bass and the two trumpets to break into the mix, with welcome if over-brief tres guitar solos from leader Rubert "Chivo" López.
Sonora la Calle are also the house band of the highly successful Havana Rumba show (returning this Festival) and animating audiences around the world has become second nature. They've incorporated the drive of 90s timba styles and sexy reggaeton, although at times songs and arrangements are over-concerned with being upbeat at the expense of musical diversity.
Still, the feel-good effect of Cuban music is unparalleled and with so many Cuban artists present, the floor gained a front line of top dancers setting the pace with swiftly changing dance sequences which had the place hopping.
