Being a "latin soul" on this side is not easy. Being a "latin musical soul" is even worse. My music requires that full Cuban sound. An 8 piece band is actually considered small for my music. Preferably, I would have 16 musicians at my bidding. But unfortunately, there are only about 8-10 people within a 100 mile radius of me (maybe even further) that can actually play the music. I'm not saying that I am high and mighty. There are lots of wicked players out there, rock, jazz, you name it, but people who can play latin music? I don't think so. Unless, hey, if I don't know you, please get in touch with me. The only reason I have even come close to playing it at this point is due to my great mentors and at least 2 years of intense study on my part.
Back to the 8 piece band. In Victoria, there are a very limited number of venues that fit a large band. There are a few that are very successful at it, but for that, you need to have a pretty big following. Unfortunately, since I don't have enough chances to play, due to lack of funds and my musicians living in different cities, there is no way to play shows to build that following. Ay, catch 22. Sometimes, playing folk guitar-y music is tempting.
No comments:
Post a Comment