Enjoy a sizzling evening of Latin jazz and salsa when fiery Rumba Calzada appears at the Vernon Jazz Club Saturday.
Rumba Calzada is Raphael Geronimo, timbales and vocals, Nick Apivor percussion and piano, Allan Johnston, bass, and Rolando Preza, conga and vocals.
Repertoire for the evening features many popular Latin tunes including Tito Puente’s Oye Como Va, the Celia Cruz/Gypsy Kings’ version of Bamboleo, Consuelo Velazquez’s Besame Mucho, and Mongo Santamaria’s Sofrito.
Featured original tunes include Meneate, which means “to move,” and Mambo 234, a song about a party in a very small room.
Bandleader Geronimo is the third generation of professional musicians and dancers in his family.
“My grandfather, Vicente Geronimo, a businessman in the Philippines, travelled to New York and fell in love with Latin music. He learned how to cha-cha-cha and mambo, passing this passion for dancing on to his son Rene “Boying” Geronimo, who became a professional dancer on Filipino television,” said Geronimo.
Under Boying’s tutelage, Geronimo began studying music seriously when he was 17, making his professional debut one year later. Although initially more of a rock fan, Geronimo eventually embraced Latin music, including studies in Cuba and New York City.
“I grew up listening to Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, and Poncho Sanchez because that’s all my dad would listen to. But I always liked alternative pop and new world music too,” said Geronimo.
Known for his vibrant, original sound, Geronimo asserts that Latin music is for people “who want to have fun.”
“Latin music has a very rhythmic element to it that catches people with its Afro percussive beat. It’s so danceable that you can just move your own way and it works! And it can be a passionate and sexy type of music. People like that,” enthused Geronimo.
People definitely more than like Rumba Calzada. Representing Canada at the 2008 Miri International Jazz Festival in Sarawak, Malaysia, they were voted as “crowd favourite” to return for 2009.
Rumba Calzada has received several award nominations for their recordings. Their 2002 album was nominated for a Juno Award and a West Coast Music Award. Their latest CD, Album 4, received a 2008 Western Canadian Music Award nomination for Outstanding World Recording of the Year.
Originally from Zimbabwe, Apivor has performed with many Vancouver groups such as NOW Orchestra, Aché Brasil, Out of the Woods, and Gypsalera. He has studied a variety of percussion styles, including Afro-Cuban, Indian classical, African, and frame drumming.
Johnston has traveled extensively through the world developing his musical style, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and New York. He has played with many of Vancouver’s finest Latin and jazz groups including Orquestra la Clave, Alma Libre, and his own acclaimed septet Zapato Negro.
Born in El Salvador, Preza began performing at age 12 as a Latin American folk ballet dancer. His musical career began in Mexico, performing with a variety of groups over a 10-year period. Now based in Vancouver, Preza performs with many bands including Kin Lalat, Vancouver Latin Connection, and Sumalao.
Rumba Calzada takes the stage at the Vernon Jazz Club Saturday at 8 p.m. Doors to the club, located at 3000-31st St., open at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the Bean Scene and Bean to Cup coffee houses or online at www.vernonjazzclub.ca.
