The last time LJN/UKJN covered Sambroso Sambroso was – and I am ashamed to admit it – in 2017 when he hosted the closing party at The Forge in Delancey Street, Camden (LINK BELOW). Dan Bergsagel summed up the tone of that occasion with some wonderfully clear opening lines:
“Everyone is dancing: Young and old, big and small, snappily dressed and psychedelically shirted, high-heeled and bare foot. Everyone.”
Last night – a full house at Pizza Express Dean Street – really didn’t have that vibe at all. It did get there…slowly, eventually, briefly… but that was only because, as singer/percussionist Javier Camilo never tired of reminding us that we really shouldn’t be wasting this opportunity…. “The dancing is free!” He was even helpfully suggesting that our inhibitions might be dealt with physiologically: mojitos, he explained, were his implements of choice to help us, poor Brits, to conquer our pitiable, atavistic Home Counties shyness.
In truth, it was only, finally, once Sambroso himself and bongo phenomenon Oscar Martinez got the irresistible ‘son clave’ rhythms of “El Cuarto de Tula” going, just after the opening of the second set, that the invitation to get up off our feet briefly received a positive response… and then… oh dear… they all promptly sat down again.
It must be very strange indeed for Cubans – or for people who know the culture from deep like my companion yesterday evening – to witness this very British reticence. The band just seemed used to us. Business as usual for a Tuesday night in Soho. And my friend was just observing it. Taking it in. Chuckling to himself…
Thinking about it, there is certainly more than one reason why the dancing doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s because Dean Street is geared towards proximity, intimacy and the sale of pizzas – in other words the tables are mostly quite tightly packed. But I also feel that it takes a special kind of performer to locate the “extreme defrost setting” for UK audiences. The last time I used that phrase was as a compliment to Jamie Cullum, who needed all his considerable supplies of it to warm up an audience at Cheltenham Town Hall some years ago. Maybe Javier Camilo needs to learn some of his tricks.
Sambroso is a major force in keeping Cuban culture alive in London, and has a number of projects on the go, and this Buena Vista ‘hits medley’ programme, expertly, authentically, energetically played, is clearly popular. It also brought to mind what Gary Burton once wrote, as he remembered the lesson he learned from being on the road with George Shearing:
“It taught me that no matter what the artist thinks, most people just want to hear what they already know.”
There are those whoused to argue in books and scholarly articles in the 1990s that the success of Buena Vista had held back the development of Cuban ‘timba’ and also the ‘Latin jazz’ movement. I think we’ve moved on. My hope would be that Buena Vista now, still, can help to provide a gateway into the breadth of Cuban culture. And we Brits are lucky to have Sambroso – and others, like Eliane Correa – living among us here to show us the way.
SET LIST
FIRST SET
1. Pueblo Nuevo – Ruben Gonzalez
2. El carretero
3. Idilio
4. Dos gardienas
5. Lagrimas Negras
6. Habanera – arranged Jimmy Martinez
SECOND SET
1. Chan Chan
2. El Cuarto de Tula
3. Candela
4. 20 anos
5. Redención Cachao
6. Pintate los labios
ENCORE
Gandinga Mondongo y Sandunga – Frank Emilio Flynn
BAND
Oreste (Sambroso) Noda – Congas / Leader
Javier Camilo (Singer/Percussion)
Rolando Domingo (Trumpet/vocals)
Ruben (El Chivo) Orue – tres guitar
Kishon Khan – Piano
Denny (Jimmy) Martinez (Bass/Vocals)
Oscar Martinez – (bongos/vocals)
‘Sambroso All Stars present the Buena Vista’ will be back in Dean Street in May
