Salsa lessons and Latin jazz took place at the Fluttering Duck on Thursday night to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. DePauw University Latin dance club La Fuerza Latina taught salsa to students and restaurant customers.
An hour later, Latin jazz was played by two Grammy-nominated Latin jazz musicians and Indiana University (IU) faculties, Michael Spiro, percussionist and Wayne Wallace, trombonist as well as Rusty Burge, Cincinnati Conservatory vibraphonist, Jesse Wittman, bassist Cole Stover, IU senior and percussionist and Steve Snyder, pianist.
Over 20 participants learned basic salsa steps from La Fuerza Latina. “This is our first time [to host an event at the Duck],” Gaby Chavarria, founder of La Fuerza Latina said. “They [the Duck] reached out to us because they were doing a Latin jazz night, . . . and here we are,” Phoebe Martinez, president of La Fuerza Latina said.
La Fuerza Latina put on Latin music and taught the participants how to dance salsa. Participants first practiced as singles and then paired up with a partner and danced the steps. The hems of red, yellow and blue gingham dresses twirled.
“I’ve always loved dancing because it is an activity you can do without much to rely on, just a little bit of music,” Natalia Fumero, creative director of La Fuerza Latina said.
After the salsa, over 60 people crowded in the Duck to hear Latin jazz. In addition to the core instruments, the marimba, the trombone, the cymbal, the cowbell and the guiro were used too. The songs were by musician Cal Tiader : Linda Chicana, Naima, Mamblues, Cuban Fantasy, Sentimental Mood, Speak Low, Serengeti and Leyte.]
Jazz is different from other types of music as “it’s very improvisatory . . . communicating to each other on stage and everything, it’s all very alive, and all the solos are improvised,” Stover said. “What’s fun about it for me is that it is organic, and it is never the same twice.”
On playing music as a job, “It’s just fun. its so fun it’s more fun than anything I’ve ever done, and that’s how I know I’m doing the right thing.” Stover added, “The crowd seems to like us. They’re engaging well with us, you know, they are clapping after the solos,” Stover said. On the others performing with Stover, “These guys are all legends,” Stover said. “It is an honor for me to be playing with these guys.”