Email Author Jesse "Chuy" Varela

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2001 Stories by Jesse "Chuy" Varela

• Heavy Hitters

  published August 1, 2001

  The Puerto Rican band Puya plays a blend of metallic salsa and powerhouse rock so good it doesn't matter what language it's in. The group... More >>

• Cannonball

  published July 18, 2001

  When bebop revolutionaries challenged the jazz status quo in the '40s, their melodic and harmonic ideas were considered musical anarchy. Despite... More >>

• Doctor's Orders

  published June 20, 2001

  One of the key elements of funk is the pump of the trap drummer -- the steady pulse of syncopated energy that creates the almighty groove along... More >>

• Women on Top

  published May 23, 2001

  On a rainy night in late January three mostly female bands held a "Women in Salsa" summit at a packed La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley.... More >>

• ¡Viva Mexico!

  published May 2, 2001

  Historically, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, when a ragtag force of townsfolk and Mexican soldiers under the direction of... More >>

• Mambo Kings

  published April 18, 2001

  What is mambo? In the '40s and '50s, it was the work of Perez Prado ("the king of the mambo"), Tito Rodriguez, and Tito Puente, who sparked an... More >>

• Northern Exposure

  published March 21, 2001

  Last year American television audiences got a taste of "Latin Alternative" music when the first Latin Grammies were broadcast nationally. Over... More >>

• Piano Man

  published March 14, 2001

  With his fifth album as a bandleader, Motherland, Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez clearly displays the instrumental chops and... More >>