Unexpected dancing on a Friday night

June 9, 2006

Not much was expected of tonight because of the competing party at the LeL. I had planned to play a very generic set because I assumed that there would not be a big demand for adventuresome music (of course, I don’t think there ever is a great demand for adventuresome music). Then again, I am almost always playing nice Salsa dance songs and/or hits – even if many people don’t recognize immediately that they are nice and/or hits.

Playlist

Mandali – Africando
Lluvia – Eddie Santiago (1)*
Ave Maria Lola – Sonora Carruseles
Soledad – La 33
Evitare – N’Klabe
Soy Dichoso – Ray Barretto
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers (2)
Para Darte Fuego – Frankie Ruiz
Desnudate Mujer – Frankie Ruiz
Acabe De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron
Juana Pena – Willie Colon (3)*

Vishal played 2 Merengue and 6 Salsa. The first Salsa was Playa No More (Crystal Sierra). This is very predictable. Of last 5 weeks, Playa No More was Vishal’s first Salsa song on Friday night for 4 weeks, and it was the second song for the fifth (last) week. Other songs included Me Libere and Brujeria by Gran Combo – also a part of Vishal Friday canon. I was keeping a low profile during this break.

Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante (4)
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
No Me Resigno – Toque D’Keda (5)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
El Topodoreso – Hector Lavoe
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Puerto Rico – Eddie Palmieri
1-800-Quireme – Luisito Rosario
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Hong Kong Mambo – Tito Puente
Picadillo – Tito Puente
Contigo – Cache

Nina had shown up sometime during the early-mid part of my second set, so I had planned on finding an opportunistic time to play Contigo once again. Thanks to a convergence of events (Vishal being ready to take over once again and no one having asked Nina for a dance for this song), I managed to get Nina for my first dance of the evening. As I was getting off the dance floor, I was asked for a dance by another follower - this turned out to be my last dance of the evening. Nothing more to add except to say that two dances for the evening are two more than zero dances, which I had last Friday and expected for today.

Vishal played some Salsa, some Merengue, some Merengue/R&B hybrid, then some more Salsa again. Some of the songs played by Vishal during this later period included Otra Oportunidad, Ping Pong, Sey and the famous Aventura Bachata song. I took over for one more song before calling it a night.

El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos

(1) Vish stops by and says, “This is good. There are a lot of beginners here. Keep it up.” It never gets old. I have never heard this song played in Cambridge, but it might have been popular before my time.
(2) There was a lady who stopped by with two CDs for me to play with. One was a collection of Lebron Brothers. I recognized some of the songs in the CD, and there were others, which sounded very nice at least based upon 5-10 second listening. However, I decided to play something I know for sure as I prefer to know the song fairly well before putting it on. I also prefer to have some sort of ownership of the music by having purchased the CD, etc.
(3) This track was defective (skipping). The DJ board used today is not as nice as the usual one, but it probably would be safer to make another copy of this CD.
(4) Pete liked this one.
(5) There was a Bachata request two songs ago.

Thirty songs – 28 Salsa and 2 Bachata. Only two were “new” (*) songs, and one ended prematurely because of skipping problem. I did not think it was the night to introduce whole lot of new songs.

Despite there being another party at the LeL, the crowd at Club Salsa was surprisingly robust in number. More than a few people went to both events. I had considered doing the same, but it didn’t seem worthwhile because it was very late by the time I was done with the second set.

Pete asked me if I had any Cuban music. I replied in negative and said that I don't know what was meant by Cuban music. Tito Puente once claimed, "I play Cuban music." when asked about the Salsa music. My impression is that more traditional Cuban music like Cuban Son is not especially popular with most people in Cambridge, but who know for sure unless someone tries to play them more often.

Quote I dislike – “It’s Merengue time!”

It was said twice during the course of the evening. One of these days, I might break down and buy Gran Combo, Marc Anthony or even Crystal Sierra CD(s). On second thought, avoiding Gran Combo simply because Me Libere and Brujeria is overplayed is pretty silly. Los Van Van probably would be worth getting except I have no idea about how I would go about figuring out which of their songs or albums are good. On the other hand while I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I hate Merengue, but Merengue simply holds absolutely no interest for me.