Vince Vella All Stars at the Jazz Café
10 September, 2024“It represents the golden era of salsa.” That’s how Vince Vella, musician and founder of the Vince Vella All Stars, describes Fania Records. The All Stars celebrated 60 years since the New York salsa label was founded by Johnny Pacheco and Jerry Masucci in 1964 by performing some excellent renditions of Fania hits to a packed international audience at London’s renowned Jazz Café on Saturday 30th August.
Incredibly, it was just their second performance together. The idea for the band, Vince Vella revealed, arose while he and Gilles Peterson were co-producing the Havana Cultura Project and assembling a band for a worldwide tour. It is now composed of a dozen musicians plus guests, all among the best in the UK salsa scene. Certainly, the clear musical understanding between them made it look as though they had all been playing together for years.
The first half of the set included classics such as “Hacha y Machete” by Héctor Lavoe and “Toro Mata” by Celia Cruz, two of Fania Records’ most influential artists, whose timeless legacy transcends generations. The second half included more classics from Fania’s catalogue, such as “Juan Pachanga” by Rubén Blades, Héctor Lavoe’s “Mi Gente” and Pete Rodriguez’s frequently sampled and covered “I Like It Like That”. Both composed and energetic, the band paired musical skill with joy and affability, as vocalists Juan Pablo López and Jamy, for example, engaged with the crowd in both Spanish and English between songs: at one point calling out the names of several Latin American countries, with each one met by loud cheers. The band’s evident energy and joy of performing together was mirrored by the crowd, with virtually everyone dancing. In fact, it was virtually impossible not to.
As Vince Vella mentions, Fania Records has always been at the cutting edge of Latin music. His All Stars’ excellent performance at the Jazz Café certainly did justice to the label’s legacy. Catch them if you can. They are due to play at the New Morning Jazz Club in Paris on 11th October and will soon announce more dates and festivals for next year. No doubt, they will be back at The Jazz Café sometime soon, a venue that has become a real hub for Latin American music in the UK and the perfect setting for similar special evenings for UK salsa lovers.
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