No other media in Montreal has as many human resources on hand to provide expert coverage of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Jacob Langlois-Pelletier, Frédéric Cardin, Stephan Boissonneault, Michel Labrecque, Varun Swarup, Vitta Morales and Alain Brunet bring you their album reviews, concert reports and a few interviews. Happy reading and listening!
As Salin Cheewapansri was forced to observe on Friday evening on the Rio Tinto stage, she had learned her lessons well from the master Tony Allen, inventor of the afro-beat drumming style when he was a member of Afrika 70, the famous band of the famous leader Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Having died during the pandemic, the immense Nigerian drummer had the opportunity to demonstrate his science, an approach that has since been taken up by two generations of drummers, far beyond Nigeria where afrobeat was born.
Fresh, smiling and sexy, Salin takes center stage and delivers the drum salvos. Of Thai origin, this excellent Montreal musician sports the beehive hairstyle once worn by Phil Spector’s Ronettes, like so many young American women in the mid-60s. Salin is at the center of a vast band: sax, trumpet, electric guitar, percussion, bass, keyboards, all Montreal pros happy to take part in this groovy hybridization.
She describes her personal style as Afro-Isan soul, a composite blend of traditional Siamese and Khmer music, seasoned with an Afrobeat groove, soul/R&B and jazz-funk-fusion. Salin is far from the first to weld these genres and sub-genres together, but she is certainly the first female drummer in the known universe to play at such a high level – perfectly mastered rhythmic patterns, straightforward tones, etc. – and she is also the first female drummer in the known universe to play that afrobeat groove at such a high level.
At the end of the program, Haitian musicians added new spices to this already spicy papaya salad.
