In The Groove
‘Saints & Sinners’ alike will dance to Santa Mamba CD, live performances
By: Don DiMuccio

As I write this article sitting at my woefully outdated computer, my compact disc machine is playing host to the new CD by Santa Mamba, Saints and Sinners. This might be the first time that a band's album has filled me with the urge to tear out of my house, (with) lights on and coffee boiling on the stove, just to go immediately experience their live show for myself. These songs are crafted from incomprehensibly infectious rhythms, saturated with throbbing Latin beats. If you don't find yourself moving to their unique synthesis of salsa with a driving rock flair, call for an ambulance at once - you've passed away.

Formerly Planet Groove, Santa Mamba has been treating New England audiences to high-energy dance music for the better part of a decade. Having long since left behind their initial R&B style for a complex yet accessible concoction of funk-rock pulse with Latin sensibility, the supergroup has attained an envious stockpile of acclaim from fans and the music community at large. The band's personnel proves as unique a combination as their material. An efficient fusion of potent youth and adept age, the six-man lineup consists of founding members and band patriarchs Ajay Coletta (drums) & John Mederios (guitar, vocals), as well as Venezuelan-born frontman Gio Murillo, brothers Aaron & Nick Wade (keys and bass, respectively), and Candido Mendoza (percussion). Though their genre defies a convenient target category, Medeiros accurately defines Santa Mamba's sound as “a National Geographic Soundtrack.” The band proficiently demonstrates said-soundtrack on their latest release Saints and Sinners.

The eight-song disc is equally divided into studio and live cuts, the former being recorded by Seekonk's perennial favorite Bob Sloane. The live tracks come courtesy of a Berlin, CT, performance from Santa Mamba, and include a creative take on Led Zeppelin's 1973 single “D'yer Mak'er.” With an almost Ska feel reminiscent of The Specials, their rendition of this now-clichéd Zep classic is far enough removed from the original to deem its inclusion on the disc a worthy highlight. Cleverly interwoven within their version is a medley including The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give It Away,” and a stream-of-consciousness litany of Police songs including “Every Breath You Take” & “So Lonely.”

However it's within the original compositions of Saints and Sinners that Santa Mamba flex their creative muscles and demonstrate the musical vitality and virtuosity of their outfit. Songs with titles such as “Yo No Se Na,” “Sube Sube,” and “Senseo” make me sorry I waived three years of high school Spanish in favor of that remedial Ebonics class. That aside, all language barriers crumble when Santa Mamba delves into a song.

The listener finds themselves helplessly reverted to the most primal of instincts, with limbs akimbo and body moving in convulsive yet obedient tempo to this masterfully crafted art.

The bottom line? This is quintessential dance music.

To experience Santa Mamba live is to experience a sweat-soaked evening of hot rockin' Latin rhythms, put forth with an imposing skill that only the unique union of these six musicians could pull off. Saints and Sinners is an unrivaled sampler of such an evening. With all hyperbole aside, both the recorded and live experiences are not to be missed.