Pablo Menendez and Mezcla Play More Than Cuban Music

Posted on 08. Jun, 2010 by Hector Aviles in Blog

The month of June opened with a bang here in the greater Seattle area with the visit from Cuba of Pablo Menendez and his band Mezcla, followed by the Bellevue Jazz Festival. Mezcla showed the versatility of their musicians and their repertoire by playing songs from several of their previous CDs, which cover several musical genres. Whether playing Afro-Cuban, Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Bip Bop, Blues, Bolero, Danzon, Rumba, and Nueva Cancion, Mezcla played with ease, emotion, and the solidity of a well rehearsed group.

Mezcla Plays Any Music with a Twist of Cuban 

Octavio Rodriguez of Mezcla

Each song during the evening highlighted a different talent within Mezcla. Octavio Rodriguez, who is regarded as a  “rumbero mayor” (master percussionist) in Cuba, displayed his amazing mastery and at one point palyed all 3 bata drums by himself (as he had them set in a stand). In the rumba “Calixto Callava”, Octavio lead the band in a drum based rumbon in which he played congas and sang, showing Seattle what a true Cuban rumba is all about. I would give Octavio a piece of advice; “smile more”! The man takes his job very seriously. Magela Herrera was another highlight in the flute (like her solo in “Quien Tiene Ritmo”) and the piano. A young musician, Magela plays with the confidence and grace of a seasoned veteran in all the various genres performed by the band, besides doing background vocals and playing the clave in “Calixto Callava”. In the metals, Mayquel Gonzalez shined in various songs, but really took it to a different level in what was my favorite song of the night, “Lo Que Me Amarra Aqui” (“What Ties

Mayquel Gonzalez and Nestor Rodriguez of Mezcla

Me Here”), which tries to explain why the band-members elect to keep going back to live in Cuba, in a funny kind of way. Tenor saxophonist Nestor Rodriguez also impressed with his skill particularly in the more jazzy songs, where he had opportunity to show his talent.

Pablo Menendez had to once again go to his rolodex to complete the band members, as his bass and drums players were denied U.S. visas and Pablo had to substitute them with locals Steve Luceno (from Tacoma) and Steve Bentley (from Olympia) in drums. Pablo jokes that both just got off the boat, which they paddled through Puget Sound to get from Olympia to Seattle.

One thing about Mezcla is that no one has to showboat, as Pablo mentioned in the interview I made him. “…no one in the band tries to show off like ‘hey mom, look at me play’; everyone gets a chance to show his or her talent”. This is true even of Pablo himself. Pablo, who plays the electric guitar which is an instrument that is normally heard in the foreground in most bands that use it, is one more musician in the band. There are times where he does his solos, he is the lead singer in a few songs, and just plays in the background on others.

Magela Herrera and Pablo Menendez of Mezcla

I’m not going to pretend that I’m an electric guitar expert judge, so I’ll just say that Pablo is a very competent guitar player, especially when he can adapt the instrument to so many different genres, some of which generally don’t use an electric guitar. Pablo also lead signs some songs, some in English and some in Spanish, including my favorite “Lo Que Me Amarra Aqui”. Again, I would not expect him to win any Grammy for his singing, unless they have one of those categories they have these days in the Latin Grammy like…”Best Male Vocalist for an American-born Living in Cuba who Plays a headless Electric Guitar”. In that case, he may win one, but he sure does a great job of expressing his feelings and making the songs enjoyable to listen.

Audio Clips of the Show in Seattle:

Here is an sample of varied types of songs played by Pablo Menendez and Mezcla during their visit to the Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle.

 [audio:00_Hector Intro to Pablo Menendez_Hector.mp3]

 Mezcla Has Plenty of Musical Talent

As you could hear from the audio clip, there is not a dull moment when Pablo Menendez and his band Mezcla are on stage. This is a band with a truly unique sound that can play many genres well because of the deep pool of talent they have. It is a delight when you go to see (or listen) a band that can mix it up in genres and every song sounds fresh and natural. Before I bought their CD, I was a bit skeptical of how an electric guitar would fit on some of these genres. But once I listened to ”I’ll See You in C.U.B.A.“, I knew they were special. Yes, I heard Jorge Santana play with the Fania All Stars the song “El Raton”, but this is different. The musicality of this group is really amazing.

If you weren’t familiar with Pablo Menendez, now you know that the next time he comes around with his band Mezcla, you should go to see them.

Related Blogs at LatinoMusicCafe:

Pablo Menendez Comes to Seattle With a Mix of Rhythms

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1. Pablo Menendez comes to Seattle with a Mix of Rhythms

Tags: Afro-Cuban Jazz, latin jazz, music cuban, seattle