|
B-SIDE PLAYERS
The B-Side
Players make music without
borders or boundaries. On Fire
In The Youth, their seventh
album and first for Concord/Picante,
they continue exploring the
multifaceted grooves of Latin
America and the Caribbean,
incorporating the sounds of
Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico and Brazil
with the funk, rock, jazz and
hip-hop rhythms of their
homeland. With Latin music
currently dominating the charts
in most of the world, The B-Side
Players are uniquely positioned
to bring their uplifting message
of unity, brotherhood and dance
floor revolution to the people
of planet Earth.
The B-Side
Players are part of a new
movement in popular music, a
band that honors the
international cross-pollination
that has always made music the
universal language. They use any
beat that catches their ear,
regardless of geography or
genre, to create a compelling,
horndriven, polyrhythmic groove.
“The root of all pop music is
African,” says Karlos Paez, the
band’s lead vocalist, trumpet
player and founder. “Our sound
acknowledges that fact. That’s
why the music is so soulful.
We’re playing the ancient beats
that came from Africa to create
reggae, son, Afro-beat and funk
and mixing ‘em all together.”
The band has been laying down
their own inimitable global funk
since they came together in
1994. Their incendiary live
shows made them local legends,
while their albums showcased a
band with a restless musical
intelligence, effortlessly
blending genres to fashion their
own forward looking, Latin
flavored, future-funk.
Fire In The Youth was produced
by the band with the help of
Quetzal Flores, leader of the
Los Angeles band Quetzal,
another group with a
wide-ranging style based in the
Latin American continuum.
“Quetzal performed all the
guitar tracks on the record,”
Paez explains. “His eclectic
arrangements helped polish our
Latin, Mexican, Cuban, Funk and
Rock vibe. He also brought a
folkloric feel to some of the
tracks with his knowledge of
Jarocho (a syncopated
Afro/Spanish style from Vera
Cruz, Mexico) and bajo sexto ( a
12 string instrument with a
sound somewhere between
12-string guitar and acoustic
bass.) We recorded the whole
record in 10 days, live in the
studio, then added the vocals,
percussion and horns.”
Like their past recordings, Fire
In The Youth captures the band’s
scorching musicianship and
fierce political energy. The
album kicks off with “Alegria”,
an earth shaking reggatron
groove marked by a strong salsa
flava. “(Unplug) This
Armageddon” rides a high
stepping disco funk backbeat
while Paez delivers a sizzling
Bob Marley-influenced vocal full
of soul and sufferation. The
song explores the lives of the
people that drift from San
Diego, to Tijuana, to Los
Angeles in search of a better
life. The band suggests a return
to the Earth and community as an
antidote for the technology that
seems to be sucking the soul out
of modern life. “Fire In The
Youth” combines a subtle trip
hop pulse, a hint of reggae, a
lush string section and a
children’s choir to offer a
prayer for the salvation of the
next generation. It’s one of the
most moving songs the band’s
ever recorded.
|
“In a world where people are afraid to say hello
or smile and the media presents fiction as reality, it’s getting
harder and harder to tell what’s real from what’s not,” Paez
says. “But the young people are always real and demand the
truth. Youth all around the world are marching and protesting.
The New World Rebellion is a young, fearless movement coming
after the oppressors. This song is an anthem to those young
people.” A Latin reggae riddim is the foundation of
“Crossroads,” an inspiring hymn of rebirth that showcases Andy
Krier’s work on piano and organ, Michael Cannon’s inventive
drumming and the band’s ability to lay down complex percussion
tracks to create a cohesive groove. “Warrior Culture” is a
salute to the Native Peoples of the Americas, with a jazzy Latin
cadence driven by Damian DeRobbio’s propulsive electric bass. It
features cascading horn lines, delicate keyboard work and a
vocal from Paez that blends hip-hop phrasing with his innate
gift for melody. The tune closes with an extended conversation
between the keyboards, percussion and brass. The band also drops
a bit of cumbia (“Mascara,”) gritty street samba (“Azucar
Natural”) son montuno (“Micaela”) and jarocho (“El Comal”) into
the mix.
“We want our sound to continue to grow until we represent the
entire range of Latin music,” Paez says forcefully. “This time
we added a bit of the Vera Cruz, Mexican jarocho flavor, the
Afro-Cuban rhumba flavor, the Brazilian samba flavor and the
Southwestern border funk flavor. Our sound was passed on to us
by our ancestors along with their great teaching - Unity Is
Love. We combine different styles and cultures in our music
because that’s the secret behind the harmony of all races,
religions and cultures. The dance floor is testimony to our
common ground, our common groove.”
Karlos Paez, the man behind the B-Side Players, grew up in a
musical family. His father Ezequiel Paez is a world-renowned
trombone player and musical arranger who spent 17 years in Los
Moonlights from Tijuana and 10 years in La Banda Del Recodo.
Paez, Sr. still writes and arranges music for bandas in Mexico.
While he was still in grammar school, Karlos heard the music of
Bob Marley and started playing guitar and writing songs. He met
the musicians that would become the first incarnation of The
B-Side Players in an African Drum class at Southwestern
Community College in San Diego in 1994. “We were all playing
with bands in the local funk and acid jazz scene in the early
90s,” Paez recalls. “When we started playing together, our sound
was different because we brought an Afro-Latin edge to the
music.”
The B-Side Players are a force to be reckoned with. “We’re proud
to be on the frontline of a new musical movement that no longer
represents the minority,” Paez says happily. “We now represent
the Brown Majority. The surfer, suburban stereotype of
California is changing fast; it’s not all bleach blondes any
more. It’s nappy, Afro, rice bowled, dirty, dusty, wet, happy
struggling people and we’re right there in the struggle with our
music.”
B-Side Players Links:
|
