International Salsa at Tempo Latino 2010

Salsa music took over the main stage of Tempo Latino in all of its international flavors on the course of the following 3 evenings. Friday night’s opener, Calambuco impressed the packed Plaza De Toros crowd with their 70’s influenced salsa dura sound from Colombia. This vibrant youthful ensemble led by pianist Andres Succar gave the crowd what they wanted: a fine show with a tight band, charismatic singers up-front and an irresistibly danceable sound. Ireland’s Salsa Celtica headlined the evening with their unique fusion of traditional Irish music, afro cuban rhythms and salsa. Their instrumentation blended banjo, gaita, irish flute and guitars alongside congas, timbales, bass, piano and horn section. There were moments of explosive fire such as their live version of “El Agua De La Vida” but the novelty wore off for me by the end of the set. La Conga featured the Afro-Caribbean group Grupo Kfe from Paris whose erratic set ranged from tasteful son montuno to tasteless covers of pop salsa hits. El Molestoso dropped a totally unpredictable but tasty dj set that ranged from bugaloo to classic salsa to a Paso Doble!