Wammies 1996

-- Sam Prestianni

Rova Saxophone Quartet
Unquestionably the most significant jazz/new-music group in the Bay Area, Rova Saxophone Quartet (with Jon Raskin, Larry Ochs, Steve Adams, and Bruce Ackley) merges conceptual sophistication with passionate vitality. Since 1978, the band has recorded nearly two dozen albums and performed all over the world, embracing the tenor of the times and pushing forward with a seamless integration of closed (composed) and open (improvised) forms. Ackley calls their innovative work a "particularly American hybrid" that encompasses the "declaration" and power of hard rock, the "rhythmic speech quality" of rap, various blues approaches, the full jazz traditions (sans overworked bebop), and 20th-century classical languages of composers like Xenakis, Stockhausen, and Cage. The group revels in constant metamorphoses of structure, rhythm, timbre, tempo, volume, and spellbinding melody. Although they sometimes blow with cross-town-traffic intensity, they've been known to temper the uproar with iridescent pianissimo passages. Much to the delight of adventurous music-seekers, the quartet also employs a full range of extended techniques as springboards for improvisation. These include unpredictable aggregates of rapid-fire polyphony, player-conducted game pieces using cue cards, and numerous other collage methods. Clearly, Rova's commitment to invention is absolute.

-- Sam Prestianni

Latin

Avance
This youthful 12-piece salsa band features a rico suave three-singer front line that's molding a romantico mix of contemporary rhythm and blues and Afro-Cuban music. Directed by Santana percussionist Karl Perazzo, Avance has been packing local Latin dance palaces for over two years and has just released its debut CD, Adelante, on Mona Records. Drawing from the songbooks of both Brian McKnight and Kool & the Gang, lead singer Armando Cordoba sounds like a revved-up bilingual Babyface. Add the steps, the vocal lineup, and a churning rhythm section, and you'll be thinking the Barrio Boyz just met Eddie Palmieri.

-- Jesse "Chuy" Varela

El Camino Cha Cha Orchestra
Vintage cha-chas and '60s boogaloo with a touch of "exotica" are the fortes of this mini-big band with two saxes, two trombones, and a trumpet. Drawing from the classic charts of Perez Prado, Xavier Cugat, Tito Puente, and others, the band has been wowing audiences at places like Bruno's, the Chameleon, Kilowatt, and the Make-Out Room. Led by Don Allen of Radio Valencia, their total dance groove and long deep jams re-create that euphoric, almost hypnotic call-and-response that was part of the original mambo ballroom frenzy. With versions of "Que Rico Mambo," "Quiere," "Miserlou," and "Taboo" (the Arthur Lyman rendition), expect volcanoes to erupt, lava lamps to swirl, and martinis to tinkle. One, two, cha-cha-cha ....

-- Jesse "Chuy" Varela

Mission Project
Co-led by reed player Herman Clark and pianist Ramon Lazo, this band (obviously based in the Mission District) released a challenging debut this year on Polymorph Inc. Arrival, like the band, swings with hints of hard bop and an acid-jazz mambo edge. They graced the San Jose Jazz Festival, and tore the place up when percussion titan Armando Peraza sat in this summer at KCSM's Jazz on the Hill in San Mateo. The teamwork of trap drummer Alan Hall and congero Adrian Areas (the youngest son of ex-Santana timbalero Chepito) is the key to their cool, yet explosive Cubop Latin jazz sound. Solid, hard-blowing improvisers, they groove over potent originals like "Dolores Park" and "Fear and Loathing in the Mission" with odd meters, progressive harmonics, and masterful chops.

-- Jesse "Chuy" Varela

Punk

A.F.I.
Berkeley's Asking For It (better known by their initials) could become hugely popular if they're not careful. Hopefully I won't hear their songs playing in pickup trucks next time I'm in Indiana, like I've heard Green Day's. While their Nitro release Very Proud of Ya is excellent, they're too fast, too fierce -- a band only punks could like. A prime example of East Bay hardcore, A.F.I.'s sound is tight and relentless, but with enough melody to hook the listener. The typical A.F.I. live show is a zoo of stage-diving and head-surfing, with the mostly male crowd yelling choruses and pumping fists, goaded on by diminutive dynamo vocalist Davey Havok. Tim Armstrong of Rancid proclaimed them "the best band in the East Bay right now"; we'll see whether the voters agree.

-- Gary X. Indiana

The Loudmouths
In true San Fran tradition, the Loudmouths, "a cartoon band come to life," are a beer-drinkin' kind of group, born of bars, basements, and parties that always get raided. Like their name suggests, they're pretty damn loud, verging on aural overload, and their trash-punk-psychocore songs sound on the brink of flying out of control. Nothing on their self-titled New Red Archives release sums up their spirit quite like the priceless lyrics from the song "Creature": "Come on and dance!/ I know ya can!/ Take off your pants/ And start to slam!" Beth, Dulcinea, Jay, and Pete are also our only omnigender band in the punk category this year. They don't seem to play very often (or else they're deeper in the underground than I am), but hopefully their WAMMIES exposure will bring them out more.

-- Gary X. Indiana

Redemption 87
For months after I first saw these guys, I told people about "this killer band from Southern California"; an idea I apparently got since their current label (check for their self-titled CD) is in Huntington Beach, and since the band's sound reminded me of hanging with Black Flag at the Cuckoo's Nest or slamming at Godzilla's. Nope, they're based in the East Bay! Redemption 87's music is raw, aggressive, and apocalyptic, and their 6-foot-plus, shaven-headed singer, Eric Ozenne, formerly of Unit Pride, is a formidable frontman (but a nice guy; don't be scared). You hear the best of the '80s hardcore sound when you listen to these guys; their roots show, and they're proud of it. Despite recent personnel changes, they're still like a swift kick in the head live.