Carne Cruda

It’s funk; it’s Latin; no, it’s Carne Cruda! Spearheading the post-Latin genre in a major way, this band is taking the world by storm, from Oakland to Macedonia and back. Carne Cruda’s music conjoins aspects of nearly every kind of booty bouncin’ sound familiar to us including soul, ska, surf and salsa. The most recent release was a joint effort with super-producer Greg Landau in which Carne Cruda fused its eclectic influences to create the album Oakland’s Tight. The title track sings the praises of our blossoming cultural hot spot with gritty brass and inspired back-up vocals. “Every place I go, when the people want to know about where I come from, I grab my guitar and start to strum. I’ve got to sing them all about it because it feels all right. Oakland’s tight. Hella tight!” Carne Cruda’s newest project is broadening its musical horizons even farther by pulling Brazilian samba queen Dandara Backen into the mix. This new amalgamation of the group is known as De Bahia a Bahia — From One Bay to Another, as Backen hails from Salvaor, Bahia, Brazil, and brings all the energy of Brazilian Carnival to the group’s tunes.
www.carnecruda.com

— Nicole Edmison - Oakland Magazine

Want to check out a hot Latin Alternative music scene? Forget about Buenos Aires, Santiago or Bogota and head over to California's Bay Area. Carne Cruda (Raw Meat) contains members of different bands in the Bay Area, including the Cuban Cowboys, whom we've featured on our show previously. Caren Cruda's members have played salsa, funk, rock, cumbia, Latin jazz... everything under the sun. What they do here is combine all those influences to make their own music under their own name -- and their new CD, Oakland Is Tight, is the result. The album is produced by Greg Landau, who produced many early Latin rock albums from the Bay Area back in the day, as well as the last Maldita Vencindad album. "Chuleta" (Pork Chop) features a well-known Latin jazz pianist, Omar Sosa, and in Felix's words, "This easy groove reminds me a lot of the kinds of things Latin music pioneer Willie Bobo was doing back in the late '60s." - NPR Alt.Latino

In March 2008, upstart Oakland, Calif., band Carne Cruda (www.carnecruda.com) headed across the San Francisco Bay to record their second release, Oakland's Tight (Round Whirled Records), in Menlo Park at The Annex (www.theannexstudios
.com). The band tracked in Studio A during two 10-hour sessions — live and with minimal overdubs or edits. “We recorded 10 songs on the second day,” notes Camilo Landau, Carne Cruda's founder, lead singer and guitarist. “But the band was well-rehearsed, so we were able to pull it off.”

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PLAY:
Oakland's Tight"


Oakland's Tight showcases the five-piece band's energetic and eclectic repertoire. “I formed Carne Cruda because I had an idea for a particular blend of Latin music,” Camilo Landau says, “incorporating Cuban and Puerto Rican influences, but also cumbia, soca, Palo de Mayo, rock, funk and other kinds of music. From there it turned into a blend of everything we hear walking down the street, and we try to say something of value while not taking ourselves overly seriously.”

Oakland's Tight was produced by three-time Grammy Award nominee Greg Landau (Camilo's uncle) and engineered by John Greenham, a two-time Grammy winner who took up residence in The Annex's Studio C about a year ago. “[Studio A] has two iso booths and another separate room, so we could have the whole band playing together at once and get some isolation,” Greg Landau says. Drummer David Flores set up his kit in front of the control room window, facing out into the room, while baritone saxophonist Charlie Gurke and trombonist Luke Kirley occupied an iso booth. Camilo Landau's guitar amp was placed in a separate concrete room, and Ayla Davila's bass was recorded direct through an Avalon VT-737sp tube channel strip.

Studio A is outfitted with a 60-input Neve V3 console, Pro Tools HD2 system, UREI 813 monitors and a wealth of premium outboard gear. “We used Millennia preamps on the overheads; the horns and guitar went through the board pre's,” Greenham says. Flores played electronic sounds live using snare and kick triggers, as well as a Roland SPD-S sampling pad. “Greg Landau's sample library sounds were used to enhance the drum sounds — claps, 808 drums, et cetera,” Greenham says. “They help support the acoustic sounds, and if blended correctly, it sounds natural.” - Mix Magazine

Spotlight on the Alternative Latin Scene

The Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival highlights some of Latin music's underground acts.

By Paula Lehman

July 15, 2009

Growing up in Oakland's Fruitvale district, Camilo Landau remembers norteño music coming out of houses, bamba blasting from car stereos, and cumbia roaring on street corners. But in his own band, Carne Cruda, whose sound he describes as "post Latin," Landau also adds surf and rock to elements of salsa and cumbia.

"Latin music is defined by a number of different genres, and we play all genres, just not in traditional ways," Landau said. "These genres are our influences but we add our own twist on it."

You could say that Carne Cruda, whose members also cite influences of everything from grunge to funk, personifies the diversity of Oakland culture. Although they've played to crowds of more than 50,000, they prefer local venues such as La Peña and Luka's, where their theme song "Oakland's Tight" gets a huge response.

Thus, the band was a perfect match for Convergence, a showcase of California-based alternative Latin music acts, part of the 13th annual Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival, running July 15 through 24. Started by promoter Jeff Ray thirteen years ago, the independent music festival has featured Latin artists in the past, but the Convergence showcase will bring the scene to a new level.

"This is the third year Latin music has been introduced but it wasn't properly being represented within the festival," explained Ray. "The festival has gotten larger and it's designed to include a wider group of people."

Ann Blankenship, the Latin music curator for the festival who has been producing shows since 2007, wants to be an "omega," much like the artists she plans to present to the Bay Area at Convergence. Carne Cruda, which will headline a show at the Blue Macaw in San Francisco, is more experimental in its explorations of Latin music, adding a local twist to traditional Latin sounds. "I'm not looking for mainstream Latin acts that generally come to the Bay Area like Juanes or Shakira," said Blankenship. "They're good but I don't think they're very interesting."

As more and more Central- and Latin-American-influenced music crosses the border into California, artists like Juan Son (Juan Carlos Pereda), Convergence's headliner, are gaining in popularity. Son plays to crowds of thousands in Mexico but says the expected attendance of 300 at Convergence will be just as exciting. Additionally, this will be his first time in San Francisco, a music scene he says he has always wanted to investigate.

"I've always been kind of nervous going up on stage," said Son. "It's like being in a bull-fight ring. I'd rather have small crowds. It's like being in a studio composing. In this time in my life I'm more comfortable with composing."

Son's solo act — he is formally of the band Porter but started touring solo in 2008 — embodies the uniqueness of the Latin sound in the Bay Area. Blankenship describes his voice as "bizarre" and "underground." "Juan's voice is so distinctive," she said. "I've been producing music for a long time and never came across singers where I got to thinking, 'If there's a formula here where bands can be experimental and successful, maybe bands will be less hesitant to take chances.'"

While Latin music is pretty prolific in the Bay Area, alternative Latin music acts get far less exposure. The Latin community comprises 21.6 percent of the total population of the Bay Area, but Alex Zepeda, promoter for the Convergence showcase, thinks the Latin music scene is finally on the brink of true expansion.

"I think more bands from Mexico that are big are really proving there's a fan base for groups to come here to the states," Blankenship said. "There are sold-out shows and there's really a market for alternative music."

Having put on productions all over the state, Blankenship describes the Bay Area as "virgin territory," where the demand for alternative music is perhaps finding more fertile soil than cities like Los Angeles, where audiences are so overloaded with different kinds of music that more obscure bands get lost in the mix.

The greatest thing to be gained from these festivals is the opportunity to grow a fan base and a chance for exposure that seems to be a brick wall in other mediums such as radio, where there are few Latin stations and no alternative Latin segments. Zepeda says bands have to learn to promote themselves because they can't rely on mainstream media or sponsors to do it for them.

Juan Son will be participating in the festival without pay, as all proceeds from his show will go back to the nonprofit, Mission Creek. That's a huge sacrifice for musicians like Son, who's just getting his start in the states. But both the bands and promoters contend they are getting value just by participating in the festival.

"You have to work to get people interested in a show," Zepeda said. "The concerts will help the community become more aware. Just because we don't have the support, it's still important to bring interest to our music."

Interest comes mainly from the fact that this is not traditional Latin music, which mainly appeals to a specific demographic. Bands performing at Convergence will showcase a broad range of spin-offs that should grasp the attention of the next generation of Latin listeners — Zepeda's show at the Oakland Metro is an all-ages show.

This new generation will do more than just provide greater demand for incoming bands already popular in Mexico City, for example. Zepeda says perhaps the most encouraging thing about the new music being introduced to youngsters is that it will break the barrier and eliminate pervading stereotypes of Latin music.

"Most people assume all of us like traditional Mexican music such as cumbia and salsa," Zepeda said. "That's not the case, especially with younger Latino people. They like grunge, alternative, indie, rock. We have to bring out all the sounds, we have to show our diversity."

Landau admits salsa enthusiasts don't even like Carne Cruda's music. "Our crowd is more experimental indie rockers and Latino intellectuals who are interested in the fusion aspect of our music," he said.

But Landau is cautious because of American musicians' history of "stealing" music from abroad. He mentions Ry Cooder, who went to Cuba and met with the musicians who became known as the Buena Vista Social Club, picked some songs, added slide-guitar, and called them their own.

"We want to make sure we're not ravaging Latin culture but we still want to highlight it," Landau said. "We want to show people that these are our influences but we can't deny that we live in the US and we aren't those people. So we play our own stuff with influences from other places." - East Bay Express

Carne Cruda means raw meat, but the only thing raw will be your feet from dancing to these infectious rhythms.

- Hiya Swanhuyser - Metro Santa Cruz

At the risk of sounding like UPTON SINCLAIR, the meatpacking industry is still a mess. Controlled by mobsters or international business cartels, the industry is still a scar on the face of American business. After reading a book like FAST FOOD NATION, most people either go veggie or start requesting everything cooked until it resembles an inanimate carbon rod.

Oakland's CARNE CRUDA is the exception to this rule. Everything about the band's philosophy is raw. DYLAN, the carnivorous raw food enthusiast who gave the group its name, has left the band, but his spirit of intestinally powerful percussion lives on in this insanely talented salsa band.

Joined onstage by TIMB HARRIS from ESTRADASPHERE, California Shamisen master KEVIN KMETZ and DAVID 'PACHA' ALVAREZ, Cruda was more or less a big band experience this time around. The band crowded the stage at Moe's from one side to the other with only minimal room for formation dancing.

At center stage, CHARLIE GURKE called most of the musical shots, giving hand signals in the tradition of an old-time band leader. When not playing some of the meanest licks this side of GERRY MULLIGAN on the baritone sax, he also played melodica and the occasional piano bit.

CAMILO LANDAU was impressive as always, deftly leading the band through segues on the guitar and the tres. His soloing style has matured and developed through the hundreds of gigs he has played with QUETZAL, but his "go for the jugular" approach is still intact.

New bassist AYLA DAVILA is a welcome addition to the group. Standing behind Camilo, she was never on the wrong side of clave and her grumbling tone was the perfect complement to the horn madness and frantically thrown out montunos.

It's so rare to see such a talented group of people play with such obvious joy. Putting the fun back into a show has always been Cruda's specialty and it was in full effect for this offering at Moe's. The empty dance floor was quickly populated about four seconds after the first cry of BAILA CRUDA rang out. They know how to build a setlist, but don't follow their cooking advice at a barbecue. It could make your morning much more vivid than you planned for.

-Peter Koht - Metro Santa Cruz

Jak to mówi?, reklama d?wigni? handlu. O Carne Cruda wcze?niej nie wiedzia?em nic. Zainteresowa?o mnie has?o reklamowe zespo?u, które brzmi: „Carne Cruda is a Latin and Caribbean dance band from the San Francisco Bay Area” i okre?lenie muzyki przez nich granej jako latin funk surf-cumbia reggae calypso-son. Potem wizyta na stronie kapeli, ods?uchanie udost?pnionych utworów i natychmiastowa decyzja. Jedziemy! Wybór okaza? si? trafny.

Zespó? jest, jak wy?ej mo?na przeczyta?, z USA, ale przynajmniej niektórzy jego cz?onkowie wywodz? si? z Kuby. St?d takie a nie inne zainteresowania muzyczne. Do Wroc?awia przyjechali w pi?cioosobowym sk?adzie: ?piewaj?cy gitarzysta, puzonista, saksofonista barytonowy, pogrywaj?cy w wolnych chwilach na klawiszach, basistka i perkusista. Jak na rodzaj granej muzyki mo?e si? to wydawa? troch? ma?o, ale uwierzcie mi, wystarczy?o.

Troch? zaniepokoi?a nas sytuacja po wej?ciu do klubu. Oprócz obs?ugi i pojedynczych go?ci byli?my jedynymi klientami. Do tego porozstawiane stoliki i pal?ce si? na nich ?wieczki. Ale wystarczy? ?yk piwa i ju? by?o dobrze. Z czasem publika zacz??a si? schodzi?, nauczona pewnie do?wiadczeniem, ?e godzinna obsuwa by? musi. Gdy wi?c dobrze po 21 na scenie pojawi? si? zespó?, sala nie ?wieci?a ju? tak strasznie pustkami. Teraz przysz?a pora, by troch? zaniepokoi?a si? kapela. Zacz?li gra?, a tu wszyscy grzecznie siedz? przy stolikach i przepisowo oklaskuj? grane kawa?ki. Nie pomaga?y zapewnienia wokalisty, ?e latino mo?na ta?czy? :-). Nast?pi?a przerwa na uzupe?nienie p?ynów i dopiero po niej ludzie nie?mia?o zacz?li pojawia? si? na parkiecie. Zreszt? cz?ste przerwy by?y charakterystyczn? cech? tego koncertu. ?rednio co trzy kawa?ki muzycy odk?adali instrumenty i udawali si? do baru na zimne z piank?. A gdy wracali, coraz wi?cej ludzi ta?czy?o pod scen?. Publiczno?? z ka?d? minut? si? rozkr?ca?a. Rozkr?ca? si? te? zespó?. Grali rewelacyjnie. Z ikr? i jak najbardziej do ta?ca. Du?ym urozmaiceniem by?y mocno jazzuj?ce solówki na d?ciakach i gitarze. Ale jak si? tak dobrze obs?uguje instrumenty, mo?na sobie na wiele pozwoli?. W pewnym momencie pad?o ze sceny: „Lubicie ska?”. Te? pytanie, oczywi?cie, ?e lubimy. No i zabawa zacz??a si? ju? na ca?ego. Kapela chyba równie? lubi, bo jeszcze kilka razy zabrzmia?y te skoczne rytmy. Koncert trwa? zdecydowanie ponad trzy godziny, wi?c cz?ste przerwy na odpoczynek to by?a bardzo s?uszna koncepcja. Tylko w g?owach coraz mocniej szumia?o po kolejnych wizytach przy barze.

Podsumowuj?c, wyst?p zacz?? si? do?? niemrawo, a zako?czy? szale?stwami na parkiecie i chóralnymi ?piewami razem z zespo?em, zw?aszcza przy „Banana Song”, któr? to piosenk? musieli kilka razy powtarza?. Dzi?ki Carne Cruda w zimowym Wroc?awiu cho? na kilka godzin zapanowa?o karaibskie lato. Koncert zaliczam do bardzo udanych. Kapeli chyba te? si? podoba?o, bo swoj? wizyt? w Polsce podsumowali s?owami: „Well Poland was quite a blast. We love the polish. Awesome”. - SoundCrazy.pl

Carne Cruda's thirty-nine minute album titled "Spicy Sea Adventures", enlightens you in regards to politics, social change, and the beautiful sea. As I sit and listen to this CD the songs and lyrics linger in my mind similar to the aftertaste of spicy Caribbean food. The solid mix of reggae, surf, funk, and Latin lyrics make this a tantalizing CD to play over and over again. Latin Jazz and Caribbean music never sounded so good.

Spicy Sea Adventures is playing as I write these words, compelling me to tell you what is running through my my mind, but words cannot describe how I feel when I hear each song, and what I think. I can tell you that my imagination is sucking me in, taking me far from this coffee shop and flying me out to a breathtaking island as the eclectic mix of the baritone saxophone, congas, and maracas stream right into my ears.

As the CD moves onto more songs dedicated to squids and cephalopods, it places a scathing perspective about our president. I now recognize that this not just a regular CD with ordinary songs, lyrics, and performers. This is a group whose band members are a
talented flock of musicians. Based in Oakland, Carne Cruda just returned from a tour in Europe after releasing this CD in November 2005. The female bassist, Ayla Davila is one talented woman with skills to make you move towards the dance floor, while Camilo Landau (whose mother is faculty here at CSUMB!) sings inspiring music to get you thinking. The beats provided by the saxophonist Charlie Gurke will make you smile and the remarkable noise of the trombone supplied by Luke Kirley enforces the fact that this music is irresistible. This CD is littered with amazing songs, my personal favorite - Augamala is more than seven minutes of guitar riffs, congas, Latin lyrics, and the defiant sound of the saxophone and trombone. After listening to this disc, I can relate to Europe's love for Carne Cruda, it consumes your mind, body, and soul. This is not just a group to watch out for in the future, but to watch right now and probably the rest of your life.

You can check out their Myspace at www.myspace.com/carnecruda to listen to some of these songs, or go to their homepage to buy this disc at www.carnecruda.com

This CD is one to buy, not one to download. - Fluid Magazine

San Francisco based band Carne Cruda performed at SF State’s Depot March 30 bringing forth an energy that pulled students off their seats and on to the dance floor.

A two- hour performance from 5p.m. to 7 p.m. began with the sound of lively instruments as the band entertained a group of approximately 40 students. The band recently finished a three-day European tour in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland. The performance was organized by BECA graduate student Alison Victor, 26, who is the manager of the Depot.

Victor, who ran into the band at IKEA after hearing their demo from an SF State student and a friend of the band, found their combination of Latin, Surf and Reggae music very unusual.

"I saw how all these random different people who go to Ikea loved the band and right there and then I knew I had to have them," said Victor.

The five member band, which was formed in 2001, combines a mixture of different instruments with various influences from Central America. The combination of Caribbean, Salsa, Surf, Latin, Kumbia all rolled into one make up a band whose influences come from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Mexico. The intention behind the band is to play a style of music different from any other.

"The vocals are the message of challenging what we are told to do in life, (which is) to create our own destiny and not give into the consumer capitalistic approach," said Javier Navarrette, 33, who plays the conga and the timbales, also known as a Cuban-style drum.

A few of the 11 instruments used by the band members include a trombone, saxophone, bass, percussion, keyboard, guitars, conga, all of which puts the band in a position to switch back and forth between instruments. The band sings a mixture of Spanish and English lyrics and at times no lyrics.

All five band members make a living solely from playing music in various other bands in the Bay Area.

“The challenge is that there are very few bands (whose members) can make a living playing in just one band,” said singer Camilo Landau, who also plays the guitar and tres, known as an acoustic Cuban style guitar. Landau also manages the band.

With the social, political and nautical commentary behind their self-written lyrics, the intentions behind their newly released album “Spicy Sea Adventures” is to entertain and to urge people to dance. The album involves several metaphors about sea creatures including one involving a friendship between an octopus and a squid. Through the metaphors with sea life, the band tries to tie in a connection to human nature.

The album was released in October of 2005 independently by the band, with a message that said, "Don’t let the man get you down." Carne Cruda, the Spanish translation for raw meat, was a name created by one of the original drummers when the band first formed. Band member Charlie Gurke, 26, who plays the baritone, saxophone, and keyboards said the name is an alliterative as well as a unique name for the band.

BECA grad student Mandy Brown, 26, and long time friend of the band said they have a great message and bring together a lot of different sounds that draw attention.

"They have definitely developed more of a style and given themselves a new label and not something that already exists," said Mali McGee, who is the half sister of Landau.

Currently, the band is planning on playing as many shows as possible, with a recent show at the Elbow Room in San Francisco on April 7 with the band Bayonics. Carne Cruda will begin recording their second album as well as doing another European tour in September 2006.

Band members also include Ayla Davila, 26, who plays bass and David Flores, 33, who plays drums and cowbells. For more information about the band, log on to their Web site at www.carnecruda.com - Golden Gate Express