One of the spiciest and hottest bands now playing Venezuelan salsa, Zumbao, from Marseilles, France, boasts an international all-star lineup. Founded by Simón Bolzinger in 1991, the group settled into its current profile with the addition of singer Rafael Quintero.

Venezuelan salsa is, apart from the obvious lyrical references and the typical Venezuelan humor, typified by the incorporation of local styles such as the parranda, sangueo and calipso, and of local instruments, like the cumaco drums. And—more broadly—by an openness to fusion and crossover, the drive to explore the limits of jazz, salsa, and world music, cross-fertilizing each in the process.

A bouillabaisse of ingredients, just like Venezuelan society, or like Marseilles itself, Zumbao is an invitation to jump up onto the dance floor, to dip and dive into a sensuous Caribbean universe, to plunge into the melting pot of steaming rhythms and captivating melodies.

Tracklist

1. Coco Cacao
2. Excusez-moi Mésié (El Malandro Ilustrado)
3. Que Buena Te Estas Poniendo
4. Cuando
5. Pilón (Tradicional)
6. Pilón (Moderno)
7. Con el Perro y el Gato
8. Venezuela Canta
9. Corazón Caribeño
10. Buscandote Como un Loco
11. Epistrophy
12. Good Bye Pork Pie Hat
13. Buscandote Como un Loco (Remix)

Here's something that's heading into battle as one of the better albums of the year. Direct from Marseilles (!), the group uses Cuban timba, and a bunch of music from around Venezuela as a basis for their sound. It opens with a timba version of an old Venezuelan calypso and moves through a traditional, then updated pilón, and onto a version of Monk's 'Epistrophy.' All this sounds like dilettante's work, but it's not: the music, hard and rhythmic, makes the band sound like a group that has learned how to reach audiences by playing on the road. Rafael Quintero, the lead singer is either Cuban, or does a good imitation, and if this had been released from Cuba, it'd be yet another interesting timba based dance record, with scope and ambition. It makes you go "ummm..." Highly Recommended."

Peter Watrous, www.descarga.com, 6-11-2003