Pellejo Seco

The Second Album of the San Francisco's son band Pellejo Seco is a
delightful wakeup call.............
By Jesse Varela - Latin Beat Magazine by Jesse Varela.

Pellejo Seco is a Cuban Son Fusion band based out of San Francisco’s Bay Area. Ivan Camblor is the tresero, composer and founder of Pellejo Seco, and former leader of Cuba’s Son group Tembache. Ivan humbly considers Pellejo Seco a musical experiment, and says that he’s simply doing what he learned to do in Cuba’s streets, namely traditional Cuban Son. However, he does this within the cultural context of San Francisco. “All I’m doing is simply putting what it is I would like to hear out there”, says Ivan, “I just want to do what I know how to do, traditional Cuban music, while enriching it with new perspectives.”

With their “Experimental Son Cubano”, they skillfully blend strands of various musical genres from blues, rock, jazz, flamenco to hip-hop, with the unmistakable sound of Cuban Son and the yearning melodies of the Cuban troubadour. Various critics have heralded Pellejo Seco as the next Buena Vista Social Club, in particular after they performed to sold out crowds opening up for Latin jazz great Chuchito Valdés, at the Mission’s Brava Theater in January of this year.

Pellejo Seco began in mid 2004, and by 2006 had already produced its first successful album entitled: “Enganchate”, which means: “Get hooked”, and it’s definitely easy to get hooked to this band’s various charming and sexy tunes.

Flexible creativity is this band’s strength, which makes their palpable harmony an enticing listening experience. Pellejo Seco’s ability to channel their unique character into soulful music, that entices you to enjoy yourself, in spite of any musical preferences is an artistic accomplishment in itself.

What stands out the most about Pellejo Seco is that they genuinely have: “La Alegria del Guajiro.” Which translates: “The joyous sentiment of an ‘Islander’.” It’s a particularly Latin kind of sentiment that only someone from Caribbean countries such as Cuba can express. Their songs are sexy, rhythmic and romantic. Their first album “Enganchate” leaves you impressed and satisfied while still craving more. However, their music is pushing traditional boundaries since their production of “Enganchate”.

Pellejo Seco’s trademark Cuban troubadour sound and the blues are essentially not that far of a stretch. It is only fitting that Ivan would have traces of it in his recent compositions. The blues, besides being music that expresses lamentation, expresses hope, which is not much different from a troubadour’s affections. The tradition of the troubadour gives musical expression to the feelings of longing and love that are so near yet so far, universal human yearnings that are an ever recurring theme.

Contributing to Pellejo Seco’s charming sound, that drives audiences wild is that it's fundamental to Ivan that each of the musicians in the group, add their own distinct influences and sound to the repertoire they play. This in turn, makes Pellejo Seco a truly successful collaborative project which re-works the formula of traditional Cuban Son. About this innovative formula. Ivan states, “I simply compose what I want, and usually it works. And although you may have a lot of ideas, without the support of solid, dedicated and experienced musicians, your ideas can’t come to life.”

Ivan’s trust in the ability of his musicians to interpret his music, and the dynamic character of the lineup, is how Pellejo Seco’s magic happens. This eclectic band consists of San Francisco and Cuban artists, who each have impressive musical résumés. They are: Livan Montoya, the epitomy of a ‘funky smooth’ bassist, Osvaldo Carvajal ‘el guajiro’ on vocals and percussion, and soulful jazz trumpeter Mario Silva, who has worked primarily with jazz, pop, and Latin ensembles. The latest extraordinary additions to Pellejo Seco’s lineup are none other than infamous vocalist Fito Reinoso, and legendary rhumbero percussionist Sandy Perez.

Currently they’re recording their second album, which is amazing considering that the band was founded but three years ago. This band’s energetic bond comes across every time they perform and even when they’re simply rehearsing. This palpable blend of harmony and rhythm serves up Cuban Son with dashes of eclectic San Francisco flavors, which makes Pellejo Seco’s new musical production worthy of anticipation. ?


Pellejo Seco will perform their new material at Yoshi’s in the Jack London Square in Oakland, on May 28th. If you want to catch them earlier, you can check them out at San Francisco’s Carnaval May 26th through the 27th. For more information on Pellejo Seco’s upcoming performances check out www.PellejoSeco.com.

- El Telecote online by Raquel Martinez-Sharp, Apr 19, 2007

As a young musician growing up in Havana, Ivan Camblor ignored taunts from his friends who eagerly sought out contraband American jazz and rock recordings.

He liked that music, too, but rather than pursuing the hippest new sounds, he was drawn to the elderly musicians playing son and rumba on the streets and to learning the tres, a guitar-like instrument with three double courses of strings.

"When I started to play tres, all my friends laughed at me. 'That's for old people; you need to play electric guitar,' " says Camblor, who performs with his progressive son combo Pellejo Seco on Saturday at Ashkenez in Berkeley. "My friends all wanted to play rock and jazz, but I felt a lot of emotion when I listened to the old guys play. I loved the traditional Cuban music. I loved the sound of the acoustic band."

Camblor apprenticed with guitarist Octavio Sanchez Cotán and Niño Rivera on tres, soaking up knowledge from masters who helped define Cuban music in the years before the revolution.

One of the latest in a steady flow of Cuban musicians adding a jolt of energy to the Bay Area music scene, Camblor moved to California in late 2004. He was joining his wife, Bay Area resident Deborah Simon-Weisberg, whom he had met in Havana several years before. Within months of his arrival, Camblor had hooked up with some of the finest Cuban musicians in the region, such as the powerhouse sonero Fito Reinoso, bassist Livan Montoya, percussionists Osvaldo Carvajal and Gerardo Borras and Nicaraguan American trumpeter Mario Silva. He created Pellejo Seco as a vehicle for traditional son. But in developing arrangements for the band's first album, 2006's "Engánchate" (roughly: grab on), he decided to blend a wide array of grooves, from cumbia and hip-hop to bossa nova and jazz. In the process he created Cuban roots music that draws sustenance from many related currents. The band performs regularly at the Cigar Bar & Grill in San Francisco (including shows on Friday and Oct. 17).

"For the first album, my idea was to be more experimental," says Camblor, who now lives in Tracy. "I had this idea that I needed to introduce traditional Cuban music, but when I arrived here, there was a big movement. There are serious players here. So when I started Pellejo Seco, I thought we need to show the acoustic sextet in Latin music, and I need to introduce some fusions."

A skilled arranger and composer who has written scores for several films, Camblor recently finished work on the band's second album, which should raise Pellejo Seco's profile considerably. Collaborating with Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdés, who is the son of Irakere founder Chucho Valdés and grandson of piano legend Bebo Valdés, Camblor has developed a new body of tunes that hark back to the raw, pulsing energy of the musicians who first inspired him.

"My information isn't academic," Camblor says. "I learned some stuff about writing and arranging, but my basic sound is from experience on the street."

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Pellejo Seco
Saturday @ Ashkenaz: Old-school Cuban son meets a cosmopolitan array of grooves. 9:30 p.m., $13, all ages. 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com


- Andrew Gilbert, 96Hours@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page G - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

- San Francisco Cronicle by Andrew Gilbert-Thursday, September 4, 2008