Hear from a Mimi, see another Mimi

February20, 2009

I seem to have become accustomed to waking earlier while going to bed late. Probably because of lack of sleep I have been feeling a bit dazed lately. Even without it, I suspect I would have felt disoriented by the musical selection.

Lately Joe had been mixing in a lot of R&B Salsa and such but not this time. Early on he had a Javier Vazquez double (Tu No Me Has Visto Miguel & Se Formo Rumbantela), and his set concluded with a Tito Puente double (El Numero Cien & Mambo Gozon original) followed by Cuando Te Vea cover by German Villarreal. Things were fine in between with gems like Llevatela, which I had been thnking of playing for several weeks. Mandingo's Swing A La Moderna was the only predictable track. Only his Bachata selections could be considered off-kilter (but who know if people's taste will change in another six month's time?).

Perhaps it was more the case of playing music to suit the people.It was an odd mix alright. Haihan was there before me dancing with Jane; I arrived at around 10:10 AM. Like last week Natalia was there but only for very early part of the evening once again. Mark and Ivan arrived shortly afterwards. Haihan thought it was a very good crowd.

There was a new girl whom all old-timers seemed to know quite well. After seeing Ivan hanging around her for quite some time before and after a dance (as well as seeing Johnny do the same), I had a pretty good guess for her identity.

When Ivan became free I asked, “An old friend?” He replied smiling, “Yeah, my first dance partner in Cambridge.”

“It’s Mimi, isn’t it? Funny. I didn’t have to be told to know who she is. By the way would you believe I just heard from the other Mimi earlier this week too?”

The past and the present, the queen-bee of Cambridge Salsa during the time I jokingly refer to as the golden age when Cuban style dominated. What about the future? How would it look if one of the San Miguel Gang were to make a return trip to Cambridge Salsa scene in 5 years?

People who I’m used to seeing arriving later in the evening showed up early tonight. That too was disorientating. Steph arrived a bit later too. Despite all that I was not dancing a lot more than I was dancing.

Now what about Vish? It was one thing when he played Bilongo (Eddie Palmieri) and Todo Tiene Su Final (Colon & Lavoe), but I think I lost it when he played Los Rumberos by Mark Dimond & Frankie Dante. I can’t decide what was most surprising. Was it that Vish played this song (apparently gotten from NYC Salsa CD)? Or was it that there were plenty of people dancing to the song? Or was it that all the potential partners I would have liked to ask had all been taken quickly by others?

I felt somewhat dispensable as DJ. Can I do any different? Would playing the full introduction of Borinquen cause confusion and uproar?

Playlist

Borinquen – Sonora Poncena (1)
Chiquilla – Raphy Leavitt*
Sirena – Santiago Ceron*
Philly Mambo – Cal Tjader (-4%)* (2)
Me Libere – El Gran Combo
Sandunguera – Los Van Van*
El Verdadero Son – Estrellas Caiman
Para La Luna – Los Nemus Del Pacifico
Telarana – Jose Curbelo* (3)
Mary – Joe Arroyo
Solo Se Que Tiene Nombre De Mujer – Angel Canales (4)
Cuando Se Canta Bonito – Willie Rosario (-3%)
A Pedir Su Mano – Juan Luis Guerra
Rompe – Daddy Yankee
Musica Ligera – Toque D Keda
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch (5)

(1) Confusion? Check. Anyone dancing? Hardly. Uproar? Not quite. I guess I have enough credit with the audience not to be booed off the DJ booth.
(2) I’m definitely pushing it to the limit despite all others that came before.
(3) Haihan requested Cha Cha. He later wanted to select something of his own (by Azuquita?), but there was not enough time for me to listen to enough of it beforehand.
(4) Steph found beats confusing in the middle.
(5) Vish wanted to have one more Bachata here as the final song a little after 1:30 AM. I thought I would have one more dance.

Total = 16 songs. 1 Merengue. 1 Bachata. 1 Reggaeton. 1 Cha Cha new. 12 Salsa including 4 new.

This probably was one of the worst DJ work in terms of connecting with the crowd for me in a long time. Or maybe I was feeling unusually sensitive.