After
more than a week of torrential rain in Miami, we were
all ready for a bit of sunshine. Vocal Sampling
lit up the stage at Club Crystal and these six extremely
talented young men sang most of the songs on their newest
album. (The 7th is our friendly Photographer,
Duniel Deya of Timba.com, a SalsaPower Partner.)
(Review
on SalsaPower in ENGLISH
y ESPAÑOL)
For
those few of you readers who don't know anything about
Vocal Sampling, suffice it to say these guys have
talent coming out of their pores. There is not a single
instrument on the entire album. All sounds are made with
their mouths! This goes way beyond a simple a capella
rendition of a song in harmony, they really sound like
the instruments.
They
opened the show with the first track on the album, Un Son Pa' Cantar,
a very upbeat number that shows off their impeccable timing and creativity.
Next they sang Pío Mentiroso, albeit without Pío
Leyva, who does a guest appearance on the album. René
Baños did an excellent job of replacing Pío "pregonando".
The
third number was a beautiful tribute to Venezuela in
Gaita, "Ay, Venezuela", as melodious
and masterfully blended live as it is on the CD.
They
even got the entire audience singing coro in a nostalgic rendition of
Guantanamera! One half of the audience did the trumpet part and
the other half did the trombone. We were great!
But
these guys left us in the dust when they started doing solos like an
electric guitar or Abel Sanabria's absolutely amazing
percussion solo, complete with bongó, tumbadora, güiro,
chékere and more!
To
highlight their diversity, they donned long black capes
and did a chilling version of the introduction to a classical
musical piece, Así Hablaba Zarathustra (Strauss)
that came very close to sounding like an entire classical
orchestra!
I
only wish they would have sung Escaramujo, a musical poem by
Silvio Rodríguez, which is one of my favorite
tracks on the CD. Si saber no es un derecho, seguro será un
izquierdo.... yo vine para preguntar....
Personally,
I fell in love with this group with the very first album I heard and
they just keep getting better. But if you have the opportunity to see
them live in concert, they are even more amazing !
Jacira
Castro may be reached at
Photos
by Duniel Deya of Timba.com,
a SalsaPower Partner
Other
concert reviews: click HERE
