Palacio de la Rumba
Next Friday the exuberant, passionate and fiery sounds of Cuba will fill Foundry616 as 18-piece big band Palacio de la Rumba celebrate the launch of their new CD, Talking in Cuban.
The compositions to be performed on the night have been curated by Gai Bryant, who is most certainly qualified to do so – she is on the cusp of completing a doctorate in Cuban folkloric music after four years of study and research at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Gai was initially introduced to the sounds of Cuba by her brother Arwyn. “He just loved Salsa dancing and went on a Spanish speaking tour around the world, but kept going back to Cuba and kept bringing music home for me,” explained Gai. “Then when I decided I wanted to write and perform it, I found that it was incredibly difficult to find information on how to place that music across something as large as a standard jazz big band.”
From this seedling a life-long passion grew, with Gai travelling to Cuba multiple times throughout the course of her doctorate. “The people at the Cuban Centre for Research and Development of Cuban Music were absolutely flattered that I was interested in their music, which I thought was bizarre because it’s such great music and they have so many incredible musicians, [so to me] it’s obvious that everybody should be interested,” said Gai.
The show next week will be the third time that Gai has called the band together to perform. “They are such a great band, some of which I’ve played with for over twenty years. All of the members are in such demand, especially at this time of year with the Sydney Festival on, so the gods must have been smiling on us,” she explained excitedly.
Pulling together such large group of people to perform was something that Gai was very passionate about, as she explained “it allows you to have more free reign over the colours that you use and you can change the textures of the music.” She added: “Once you get doubling instruments like flutes and clarinets as well as flugelhorns and mutes across all of the brass it’s quite incredible what you can do.”
For anybody thinking of heading along, Gai said she hopes that they will be “knocked out by the rhythmic complexity of the music and how well it sits across the big band format”. Audiences should also be captivated by the “energy and dynamism” throughout a really enjoyable, exciting and unique night out. (JA)
Jan 29. Foundry616, 616 Harris St, Ultimo. $27.50-$32.50+b.f. Tickets & info: foundry616.com.au
