Saturday, August 16, 2008
Seguida bring the salsa back to NYC
Bronx veterans step back on the field
Yankee fans Seguida bring the salsa back to NYC
By Doug Miller / MLB.com
Seguida recently released the album "Seguida III," featuring their unique brand of Latin rock! How does one describe the origin of the unique sound of Seguida, the New York City-based Latin rock sensation that's been filling concert halls for the last 35 years?
By letting the band members do it, of course.
"We decided that we liked listening to salsa," says drummer, bandleader and composer Steve Adorno. "But we listened to rock 'n' roll and R&B music, and as we learned how to play instruments, we started to take all the different sounds of the things we were listening to, and that's how we started to put the band together with the different genres of music."
Or, as guitarist, music director and arranger Louie Perez says, Seguida's style was based on sounds the then-teenagers picked up on the streets of the Bronx where they grew up.
"It was like a fusion of all the different types of music that was at the time," Perez says. "Back in the mid-1970s, early '80s, you could be hearing Led Zeppelin, and then you could hear Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri.
"There was a such a big variety of music coming from everyone's apartment and houses in the Bronx. It was amazing. And we chose to fuse all that together."
Five members of this seminal band were on hand at New York's Gibson/Baldwin Showroom to play music and sit down with MLB.com/Entertainment's Jeremy Brisiel as part of our ongoing Major League Artists series.
Adorno, Perez, vocalists and composers Lori Rose and Dawn Savio and keyboard player Gregory Rahiim Press revealed plenty of interesting Seguida facts, including the fact that -- not surprisingly -- they're Yankees fans.
Adorno knew team owner George Steinbrenner and received a 1996 World Series ring similar to the one given to team employees. He showed it to Brisiel, saying he wore it, "in honor of MLB.com."
Press has done sound work for recent Yankee legend -- and burgeoning jazz guitarist -- Bernie Williams. And Perez recalls a night when the band played in Yankee Stadium in the 1970s as part of a celebration organized by their record label, Fania.
"I'm 18 years old here, I'm a Latino from the South Bronx and all of a sudden I find myself at Yankee Stadium," Perez says. "I'm like, 'What am I doing (here)? I know they tell me I play the guitar, but I'm at Yankee Stadium. Can you believe this?'"
But that gig was only one in a whirlwind decade for the group, which also opened for just about every Latino music superstar and some iconic crossover acts such as Sly and the Family Stone, James Taylor and Richie Havens.
"You can tell that we have listened to everything," Adorno says. "There's not a type of music that we don't listen to and we absorb it and it's reflected right back out through what we play. It's all good."
The group released its debut album, Love Is...Seguida, in 1974, which led to the Village Voice calling the group the "sons of Santana." The album tallied a hit with "Mambo Rock," which received play on rock and salsa radio stations and became the theme for the Izzy Sanabria "Salsa" television show that featured Seguida as its house band.
Soon enough, Seguida was opening the "Fania All-Stars" concert at the House that Ruth Built, and almost 35 years later, Seguida is still playing and having fun for a growing fan base. Seguida members say they've gotten their music to more fans than ever thanks to the Internet, and their latest CD, Seguida III, has done well since being released last fall.
Brisiel wondered what the secret of success might be for a band that has outlasted countless musical acts throughout the last four decades.
"The key to longevity is good spirit, good people, good friends, good music and it's like glue," Rose says. "It keeps you together. It's a whole big family and everything is just good."
Adds Savio: "We just have such a good time. We really do. You can tell from the performance. We really enjoy it every time we get together. We leave everything at the door and just have fun."
And Press says they another thing that helps is that they don't mess around in the studio, either. "We have a lot of fun at rehearsals," he says. "But as much fun as we're having, we get right to it, and we leave sweating and happy. It's a really good work ethic that we put into it because of the love of the music." Doug Miller is a Senior Writer for MLB.com/Entertainment. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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