Small Music Groups Are The Big Thing: Part 1
Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by Hector Aviles in Latino Music
Small Latin music groups seem to have become recently the big thing when it comes to live entertainment. In this economic environment where dollars are still scarce and employers are still recuperating from the recent reductions in workforce, it would be insane to expect lavish expenditures in holiday company parties. This is where small music groups fill the need perfectly.
Fuego Latino Will Ignite Your Party:
Fuego Latino is a small Latin music group in Puerto Rico that “plays” a bit of everything; from Salsa, to Merengue, to Bachata, and the most popular traditional Puerto Rican Christmas hits. They are a 3 member band and their concept is to have a percussionist and two singers (one male, one female) play in top of a music track. They have amplifiers, heavy duty speakers, a mixer, and everything else needed to play a variety of music tracks. In short, their concept is a type of karaoke on steroids.
I had the opportunity to talk to Guili Bond, the Fuego Latino leader and singer, about the volume of work they had. Guili mentioned that Fuego Latino keeps busy, not just in Christmas but throughout the year. He said that although Fuego Latino had remained busy, demand for their services was down compared to last year. Danilly Ramos, the female singer of Fuego Latino, mentioned that she has now been a few years with the band and enjoys it. She gets to go out and have fun singing in parties, while making a little extra income from her library job at the University of Puerto Rico.
Fuego Latino band
I saw Fuego Latino at my brother-in-law’s small construction company Christmas party. Small businesses are a major employment engine in Puerto Rico and the U.S., and small businesses like the one my brother-in-law has, cannot afford a full band expenditure, even if the band is little known. Fuego Latino provided the perfect solution of affordability and fun. My in-law contracted Fuego Latino for the music, bought some local traditional Christmas season food, provided all types of beverages, and rented a big open-wall tent. Everyone ate, drank, and either danced or sang, or both. Fuego Latino encourages attendees to step up and sing, and they even have a book of lyrics so you can follow karaoke-style. For a very affordable price, people have as much fun, if not more, than with a full band. The drawback is that you don’t actually get to see a full band, making all the music right there in front of you. But after you start having some fun, you really don’t care.
This was such a hit, that my brother-in-law re-hired Fuego Latino for a street party where he lives with my sister and my niece. Too bad we had left Puerto Rico when this party happened, as my sister tells me it was a blast.
Small Music Groups Are The Big Thing:
A few big band recordings have come out recently to the delight of Latin music fans. Bobby Sanabria, Jose Lugo, and Mario Ortiz, Jr., released great big band albums which are among the best Latin music recordings of the past year. This is a great recording model that surely will provide some work for Bobby, Jose and Mario Jr., but is probably not the most sustainable live music model right now.
Small music groups are not new (Fuego Latino itself has been around for about 5 years). So are they really increasing in popularity or is it just my imagination? Well, this could be the Toyota effect, in which all of a sudden you start noticing a lot more Toyota Prius cars in the street when the gas price hits $4 a gallon. But wait, it was not just me noticing more Toyotas in the street, as sales data showed they were selling like hot cakes, with a huge waiting list.
On the music scene, in Puerto Rico El Gran Combo’s Rafael Ithier was quoted saying they had to work 75% outside Puerto Rico because work was scarce in the island. Victor Manuelle mentioned in the latest issue of Hispanic Magazine the slow demand for Salsa music work. Bad economic times like this do favor small (low overhead) affordable bands that may not have the quality of sound of a full band (that depends on the full band, of course) but does provide a lot of entertainment value. And although small “vente-tu” bands have been around for a long time, perhaps they are re-flourishing in this economy.
For small businesses, a small music group can provide a great way to keep employee morale high by enabling the business owner to provide a holiday activity within a tight budget. At the same time, it keeps musicians like Guili and Danilly, who use Fuego Latino as a side income, working and paying the bills.
On Part 2, of this blog topic, I’ll explore how small music groups are impacting the Jazz genre.
I’m back from vacation now. I would love to read your experiences with small bands, be they of Salsa, Merengue, Jazz or whatever.
5 Comments
Small Music Groups Are The Big Thing: Part 1 | Latino Web Cafe | Breaking News 24/7
13. Jan, 2010
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Javier Pacheco
15. Jan, 2010
I have my own ten-piece orchestra but last year we only worked about six gigs. I did more gigs last year with a trio (bass, piano & congas). In these tough economic times we have been forced to consider scaling down the group to a minimum of people. In my case, that means sometimes five–bass, piano congas, timbales, vocalist. However, the smaller the number of band members, the greater the responsibilities of each to create a fuller sound. In the past we also tried playing along with a rhythm box, but that means the music lacks dynamic intensity, since we have to play soft enough to hear and be within the tempo of the contraption, so performances are generally not very animated.
I disagree that audiences “won’t tell the difference” with a small group that relies on technology to create the “big sound.” With a big band you have more people swaying and grooving on stage and a more dynamic presence. Its not that much fun to watch a tiny group trying to coordinate their sound with the computer.
Live music was undercut years ago with the advent of DJs, some who charge almost as much as real musicians and sometimes act as though they are “artists” on the same level as a studied instrumentalist. So now people want to pay less for live music. And in California, (the New South) we are undercut by the ambitious aggressiveness of Rock groups and other types of local flip-flop pop music.
I am all about spreading musical literacy and will try to feature the complete band rather than breaking it down to four musicians. Smaller groups can also be limited by the types of music they play (simpler tunes instead the big band arrangements). When i do the Trio thing, we are performing a lot of jazz, not salsa, standards. It would be ridiculous to try to play something like “Boranda” (a Sonora Ponceña tune) among three cats.
We have to struggle to find new venues where the maximum number of players can contribute. Its about the authenticity of the music. One such idea is finding sympathetic folk who will let you use their space to put on your own community dances and charge donations. One such Zydeco group did that in Palo Alto and their tip jar often overflows! We have to find ways to gain more acceptance for our music. In California, Salsa dancers are increasing, not decreasing in numbers. The competition is also great. Big bands survived in worse times, we have to promote, promote, promote! But I would only do small ensembles for small parties, not large venues–otherwise, that’s musical suicide.
Hector Aviles
17. Jan, 2010
Hi Javier,
I definetely agree with you in that the music quality is not the same with smaller groups and, as you mentioned, whey using a rhythm box.
What I meant by the “audience not noticing the difference” was meant more for the entretainment value than for the quality of music. I expand on this concept on Part 2 of this topic.
I also agree with you that in terms of music quality, a small groups works out better when playing jazz than when playing Salsa. On the other hand, people that hire or attend an event with Fuego Latino, have their expectations on having fun rather than listening to the quality of music, and if the expectation is met, then groups like Fuego Latino will continue to proliferate.
Thanks for the insightful comment form a band leader’s perspective.
Big Band Music
26. Aug, 2010
I found your blog via Google while searching for big band music, thank you for posting !
Hector Aviles
30. Aug, 2010
Thanks for your comment and let me know if there a particular topic of your preference.
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