Goose egg

June 4, 2007

I think it would be fair to say that a large part of the blame goes to me. After all I doubt that Vishal would have switched the CDs the way he did if I were not there.

I must have arrived around 10:20. It wasn’t very crowded by the time I got there. Joe and Olga were just about to leave. The music was a familiar but pleasant-enough sounding Vishal fare.

While I was standing around looking for a suitable person to dance with Vishal decided to phase out El Pito (version by Isidro Infante). El Pito has been played in Cambridge for a long time. The original El Pito is a boogaloo by Joe Cuba Sextet – so one would probably dance Cha Cha to the original song. I think the version by Sonora Carruseles probably was also played to death in Cambridge. Cyrille does not think much of the Isidro Infante version, and I recall Joe saying the same a little over a year ago – I don’t know about others. In my opinion the Isidro Infante version released in 2005 in my opinion is quite fun and better than the version by Sonora Carruseles.

The new CD started with six songs I did not recognize – I think one of the songs might have been a version of Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba by Oscar D’Leon except mangled to a point where it was difficult to recognize it. I guess the good news was that none of the songs were songs I was already sick and tired of. What's the bad news? I don’t think I would want to hear any of the six songs ever again. My feeling was that the music was generally complicated without being sublime and difficult to dance to and without a big payoff for dancing to the music - I don't think they would have been good whether I was dancing with a beginner or with a Salsa Goddess. The seventh song was El Pito by Isidro Infante. I mentioned that I rather like this song – in moderation. Unfortunately, everyone was gone by this point and I never really got into dancing mood once I got on the dance floor.

I suppose it's always tricky thing trying to play a song no one heard before. Even with best DJs in London, it is rare that I like more than half of the songs I hear for the first time. Oh well. I wonder if I'm having disproportionate influence in the scene. I also wonder if I start some DJing again - probably occasional Mondays if nothing else to keep myself from getting too rusty.

How I might grade my dancing form tonight? Poor or incomplete.