May 7, 2008

Salsa Dancing and salsa music out of Europe…Massimo Scalici, Eurocuban Project, El Berna Jam

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Massimo Scalici, Eurocuban Project, El Berna Jam - Ever heard of them?

Just a quick and meandering post for a Wednesday morning, but I wanted to share with you a couple of music videos and revelations from abroad, now that I'm (in theory) back…salsa dancing in Europe was great, but definitely more Cuban based…

What's different about salsa music in Central Europe? Well, the Remix is alive and well, far more than in any US club I've seen. This is true alll over Europe, the dancers are dancing to remixes of golden oldies, or their favorite songs, and a lot of them totally jam. Great salsa music that is really fun to dance to…

Let's start with a video from one of the "daddies" of the modern remix, who seems to be producing tons of amazing brand new dance floor magic (music), Massimo Scalici, "You". Strangely enough, I couldn find his website, but by googling the name, you get a ton of info. I say modern remix because of course Ray Baretto, and the sixties and seventies funk era producted a ton of Latin funky style salsa, that covered a lot of pop tunes. Ray Baretto has "Pasttime Paradise", later made into Gangsta's Paradise, and both made into great salsa songs. This has been going on for quite a while!

Of course, as I mentioned in a previous post, Massimo Scalici is out of Italy! I first heard him because of his cover of "Fragile", the Sting song that everyone wants the minute they hear. This is a fantastic song, and has actually spawned many salsa versions (one of the best coming from the Buena Vista Social club album titled rhythms del mundo. You can find that on YouTube, but I'll actually choose a different selection:

Fun dance floor music, and it's got quite a jam going…

Yet, it does get quite a bit crazier in clubs all over Europe. Some of it is so good! Perhaps it's just that I hadn't heard any of this music played in clubs around here. Perhaps its' the fact that cuban style dancing is not the norm in most US cities and clubs. Anyway, check out this remix, a bit more edgy, and a bit more dance-mix crazy, I love it…El Berna Jam Rem of Get Busy:

Finally, a song that I heard in almost every single club I visited on my Central European salsa dance tour, this one was so great! Totally infectious groove, that (while a bit overplayed), I never got tired of dancing to:

Jeez, that's just so good! Yes, I know, salsa purists are going to have a field day with this post. This is Timba-ish at points, and there's no doubt that cuban salsa dancing rules in Europe. It's everywhere, and it's the norm in every club I went to (with on2 being a rare exception). Of course, I haven't been dancing in Rome yet…

They'll be more on SalsaCrazyEurope.com, Salsa Dance Europe, but that's for a future date. Perhaps you want to visit the blog, add yourself to the mailing list and RSS Feed (I'm sure you're already on the mailing list and RSS Feed of this blog, right? If not, you want to do that right away).

What do ya' think? Did you like this post? Want more? Leave a comment and let me know what ya' think, and what ya' want!

Keep Dancing and Keep it Crazy….
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