Son*Enrico August 2023

What an exciting afternoon of Latin Jazz!

Son*Enrico thrilled Jazz Society members and guests with their debut performance at SOhO this August. Leader, John Douglas, who we know as a fabulous pianist, turned out to be a dynamo with his infectious montunos driving the rest of the terrific rhythm section all afternoon. And bass player Santino Tafarella, drummer Elias Vasquez, and conguero Gary Craigwell were right with him on every piece.

Many of the tunes were familiar, but not all and John introduced each and gave a short intro as to the composer and where they originated. The amazing Andrew Martinez was featured on every song either with his flute or his tenor or soprano sax.

It was hard to keep up with the various Latin rhythms.. All of the band members were in on every song whether a Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, Guajira, Afro-son or other. It was definitely difficult to sit still with all the exciting rhythms going on. Some of the more memorable pieces were the exciting Mas Que Nada, introduced by Brazil 66 with a fabulous tenor solo by Andrew. Bassist, Santino was featured on Poinciana along with Craig on congas. Drummer, Elias had a super drum solo on Cast Your Fate to the Wind. John threw in some Rhapsody in Blue licks on the beautiful Revel’s Bolero and we even heard a Latin, I Love Lucy Theme. It was truly a spectacular afternoon of fabulous music played to perfection by outstanding musicians and they are all local! Another reason we are so lucky to live in Santa Barbara.

Photos by Rob Hoffman