Salsamba
Salsamba: Falling in love with the Latin beat
The Star Series Association, in collaboration with Albright College, will present the Pittsburgh-based Latin-jazz quintet Salsamba in performance in the Albright College Chapel at 8 p.m. Friday, and in a workshop open to students free of charge from 3 to 4 p.m. Friday.
Salsamba, now celebrating its 25th year as a performing ensemble, was the brainchild of guitarist and leader Eric Susoeff, who first fell in love with Latin music when he listened to singer/guitarist Jose Feliciano when he was in his teens.
The group - which consists of Susoeff, co-leader and conga player George Jones, bassist Paul Thompson, Eric DeFade on sax and flute, and drummer John Rampolla - blends Afro-Cuban and Brazilian sounds, and often performs original pieces by Susoeff.
They perform throughout the Northeast and as far away as Arkansas and Texas, and they have appeared at the Mellon Jazz Festival, the Bethlehem Musikfest, the Afro-Latin-Indian Festival in Connecticut and other festivals.
They released their debut album, "Mambo in Blue," on Clave Records in 1988, and have since recorded "Mambo del Sol" in 1994, "Latinventions" in 1999 and, more recently, "The Traveler."
According to Susoeff, their new CD, "Mojito Blues," will be released later this fall.
In a recent telephone interview, Susoeff said Friday's concert will consist of the band's arrangements of jazz classics, which they have Latinized; some pieces from the Latin repertoire and some originals.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Susoeff said, he was in love with surfing, and he still jokes that "the music thing helps keep my mind off surfing." When his father was transferred and the family moved to Pittsburgh, being eight hours from the nearest beach allowed him more time to pursue his passion for the guitar.
That started early as well, when he first picked up a guitar at the age of 7.
His parents liked music, and his mother played the piano a little, he said, but no one in the family was a professional musician.
"I remember my mother saying (to me and my brother), 'Why don't one of you learn to play the guitar and the other play drums?' That's how it started."
His brother played drums for a while and stopped; Susoeff threw himself into music, taking lessons from a string of teachers.
"I knew that I wanted to be a musician from 7 on," he said.
In Pittsburgh, he continued to study, and by the time he graduated from high school he was ready to become a professional guitarist.
Along the way, he picked up a variety of musical styles, making him an in-demand player with many bands.
Beginning in 1983, he has played with the John Wilson Band, an 11-piece band that has recorded his composition, "Mr. Montgomery," a tribute to his hero, guitarist Wes Montgomery.
He has performed with many jazz musicians in the Pittsburgh area, including singer Kenia, with whom he toured in Brazil a year ago, and saxophonist Kenny Blake, with whom he toured in Spain.
Susoeff has played avant-garde chamber music with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and for productions by Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera of "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Man of La Mancha" and "Grease."
While he enjoys all of these activities, Susoeff said Salsamba "is a huge passion; I tell people, 'You'd better get into this, because we're not going anywhere.'"
And he still manages to surf four or five times a year.
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