Selena @ Barbes

I am still radiating joy from the all-Selena show I played at Barbes over the weekend. This gig had been in the books for quite sometime. With only a few rehearsals, I was pretty nervous about it to tell you the truth!

I’ve played a lot of Latin styles in my career, but never cumbia, the folk music of Colombia, which is the basis for many of the grooves in Selena’s repertoire. After understanding the fundamentals of the style, I had to figure out how to adapt it to the drum set and share duties with only one other percussionist, who I only had one rehearsal with. Thankfully Brian Adler is a true pro and with his guidance, we were easily able to divvy up responsibilities.

On the day of the show, I finalized what my setup would be: after toying with it on the left, I mounted a cowbell on the right side of the kit, used mostly my left hand to cover maracones with the hi-hat, and left the snares off to play some timbale-like fills. Brian covered congas, bongos, and a ton of fun “toys."

I am happy with the way it turned out and thought I would share the entire recording. Here’s the personnel and setlist:

La carcacha—>
Techno cumbia
No me queda más
Si una vez
Como la flor
I could fall in love
Dreaming of you
Baila está cumbia—>
Amor prohibido
Tu solo tu
El chico del apartamento 512—>
Bidi Bidi bom bom
E: La carcacha —>Techno cumbia

Jenny Luna: vocals
Barrie Lobo McLain: backup vocals
Sky Steele: synths, violin, backup vocals
Joshua Camp: accordion, keys
Michael Winograd: clarinet, saxophone
Ilusha Tsinadze: guitar
Mike Lavalle: bass
Ashley Baier: drums
Brian Adler: percussion