05/11/2007

Special to the Record-Eagle
Tumbao Bravo, a five-piece Cuban jazz band, will do one show in Traverse City Saturday.

Tumbao Bravo brings Cuban rhythms to TC

By Garret Ellison

gellison@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Band leaders Alberto Nacif and Paul Vornhagen will bring their award winning five-piece Cuban jazz band, Tumbao Bravo to the InsideOut Gallery in Traverse City for one show on Saturday.

The Ann Arbor-based quintet started in 2003 and has released two albums, snatching Detroit Music Awards for each. They won "Outstanding Jazz Recording” in 2005 for their album, "Montuno Salad,” and "Outstanding World Music Recording” in 2007 for "Amigos: From Our Hands.”

Vornhagen — the sax, flute and piccolo player — said the awards are nice feathers in the new band's cap.

"Two in a row — not bad,” he said.

Tumbao records on PKO Records, an Ann Arbor-based label. They play nearly all original recordings, attempting to capture the authentic sounds of our neighbor to the south.

"Alberto has been going to Cuba for over 20 years and studying with conga players down in Havana,” he said. "So, he's been a good source for putting together the authentic polyrythms of Cuba.”

Their instrumentation includes congas, timbale, sax, flute, piccolo, piano, bass, guitar; and dance styles like mambo, cha-cha, rhumba and bolero. The band then writes jazz harmonies to play over the Cuban rhythms.

"It's a marriage of these two music styles,” Vornhagen said.

He said Cuban jazz — or, putting jazz with the mambo — has been a practice since about the '50s.

"We're not doing Brazilian and we're not doing Mexican rhythms. That's what differentiates us from Latin jazz, which might include sambas, bossa novas and things like that. We do more of a Cuban specific sound.”

Tumbao gets regular play on Latin jazz radio across the country and Vornhagen said they are getting good response in places like Miami, New Orleans and Denver.

"I've been getting e-mails from Colombia and other places too saying they're playing it,” he said.

Vornhagen called Tumbao the "most successful” band he's led so far. He started out in the early '70s, and has played in clubs from California to Europe. Nacif is former host of the WEMU 98.1 FM "Cuban Fantasy” program.

"When Alberto and I put it together, I had no idea if were going go get any gigs or anything,” he said. "But I took it upon myself — since I know how to and had the time to do it — to be not only the band leader, but business manager for the group.”

"Even if you don't think you're really familiar with Cuban jazz, or Latin jazz, come on out,” he said. "You will be pleasantly surprised at how much you like the music because it's a very positive, upbeat kind of a sound. It's going to make you happy.”

The doors open at 7 p.m.,with the show starting at 8. Tickets $12 in advance, available at Trattoria Stella, Cuppa Joe, Oryana or by calling the gallery, 929-3254; price at the door is $15.