Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Music: All that (Afro-Cuban) jazz
Pellejo Seco set to spice up Marin

by Matt Kramer

A Friday night fiesta at Larkspur Cafe Theatre kicks the weekend off, and I'm kicking myself that I won't be able to attend. Pellejo Seco, an East Bay-based band greatly influenced by traditional Cuban music, graces Larkspur's lovely listening room on one of those rare nights that I'll be out enjoying some frivolity in San Francisco. So I'm depending on you, Marin County, to warmly welcome tres player and vocalist Ivan Camblor and his fellow purveyors of Latin, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban jazz and folk. Camblor, the founder of the band, is originally from Havana, Cuba, and his heart and soul are steeped in the rhythms that made the Buena Vista Social Club such a worldwide success. Take a few minutes if you can to see and hear Pellejo Seco for yourself on the band's MySpace page at: profile.myspace.com .

I hadn't heard of Pellejo Seco until very recently, although the band formed a couple of years ago—right about the time I defected to the East Bay for a year. As providence would have it, though, I found myself derailed by the MacArthur Maze meltdown the very day the freak accident occurred. After overheating in stop-and-go traffic for two hours, I amended plans and wound up on a barstool at Barclay's in Rockridge, sitting next to a young East Bay percussionist. Next thing I know, I'm comparing notes with the bata player on music and on the chipotle porters we were sampling. Soon I learned that the name of the band (provided by Camblor) is intended to mean "raw hide," and carries connotations of the weathered skin of those who work on farms. I also learned that I had committed egregious sins by neither knowing of Pellejo Seco nor seeing them perform while I lived in Oakland.

Since that day of collapsing roadways and educational pub-diving, I've been trying to atone for my transgressions by studying up on Pellejo Seco. Their 2006 CD Enganchate, which translates to something like "grab on," was composed solely by Camblor, who moved to the United States in 2004. And, like I mentioned before, the man brought a part of his homeland with him—it's immediately evident in his music. Some of the tunes are so reminiscent of classic Cuban son that I was surprised to see that Camblor had indeed penned each of the dozen tracks. Ballads and dance numbers are both perfectly performed by this seven-piece band, which refers to itself as the Bay Area's best-kept secret. Playing original material that sounds like classic Afro-Cuban jazz, albeit updated at times with influences from rock and fusion, Ivan Camblor and Pellejo Seco should soon be common names on the tongues of Bay Area music fans. I am truly sorry that I won't be in Marin to attend this show. But I beg the rest of you—please pack the house, so these guys will come back another time to perform in music-loving Marin!

Special thanks this week to the local venues and musicians for helping inform and educate me. In addition to the Pacific Sun's voice mail, you can e-mail me at mkwriteright@yahoo.com. Promoters, bands, love/hate mail, poetry and more are all welcomed and appreciated.

I'd also like to shout out a loud "Congratulations!" to Ashling for finishing law school! If it were any other celebration, I'd bow out to attend the Pellejo Seco show instead.