FURISON LATIN BAND with DATEGEN (BANDERAS) & TINNEN (BANDERAS)
The Cafe de Paris stage is mighty crowded by the band, featuring a full 6-man brass section, steel drums, congas, a drummer, bassist and a keyboard. This full capacity lineup gives them a full ensemble sound, allowing them to build a real layered complexity to their Latin American funk. The melody winds sinuously through the set, chiming cymbal work with punchy brass underlying the blaring brass.
But its not all just a headlong dash, the band dials it down and lets the congas and keyboard have a quiet duet with the tinny tones of muted trumpets adding flair. It’s soon back to dancing with a mambo featuring a snaking alto sax solo. “Mambo Jambo” continues the sultry mood, oozing suggestiveness that’s only aided by the setting of the Cafe with its mood lighting and voluminous drapes.
The band features two guest members from Bandares in Dategen and Tinnen on congas and steel drum respectively. Dategen is incredibly emotive on the congas, riding every slap of the congaskin with a facial grimace. He gets to demonstrate his abilities as he lets rip with a fast, slapping melodic solo He feeds off the crowd’s energy and plays with them, letting their clapping along fall flat with fakeouts and grinning mischievously.
Their last song, “Sakura Sakura” brings us back to Japan, combining Japanese influences with Latin America passion. The song is at a breakneck pace with piano and sax melody wailing melody with percussion propelling all forward. The set finishes in a final flourish of brass to mass applause but the crowd’s attention is quickly caught by the return of the interval pole dancers. It’s a bit of a shame they couldn’t have at one last song together, maybe an idea for next year!
