SantaMamba marks 10th year with New Wave party
By SEAN MCCARTHY, Standard-Times correspondent

SantaMamba has figured out the value of playing a fusion of styles. It brings people together. And that's what they will do when they celebrate their 10th anniversary at the New Wave Cafe 9 p.m. tomorrow. "We play a mix of world beat styles," says guitarist John Medeiros. "There may be an African pulse, something Middle Eastern, a jazz feel, a Latin feel or something pop. It sounds like a National Geographic soundtrack. "We call it progressive Latin." But SantaMamba spun on a different axis when they formed as an R&B band a decade ago. They recorded an instrumental self-titled debut CD in 1997, before recruiting vocalist Larry Barron for the albums "Joy Ride" (1999), and "Live From the Ocean Mist" (2002). Mr. Barron is Hispanic and he began introducing his bandmates to Latin-flavored music, and they dabbled in traditional Latin styles. Eventually Mr. Barron moved on to another part of the planet -- California -- and the band took on its second singer, Wilson Suarez, who sang on the CD, "Rojo Vivo," in 2004. Mr. Suarez is from the Dominican Republic and moved the band into more traditional Latin music. But less than a year later Mr. Suarez returned to the Dominican Republic. Consequently SantaMamba took out an ad on a Hispanic radio station in Providence seeking a new vocalist. Gio Murillo sat in with the band for two practices and was quickly offered the role of lead singer. With only those two rehearsals, Mr. Murillo performed with the band on New Year's Eve 2005 to a crowd of more than 2,000 in York, Penn. "He just smoked the crowd -- it was a perfect fit," Mr. Medeiros says. "We quickly started writing material with Gio." The result of that new batch of material is a four-song CD, "Sube." "We use a fusion of world beat styles, but we don't just hop around, we blend them together," Mr. Murillo says. "Because of this our crowds are from different culutres, with different colors all dancing together. We really believe that this fusion of music can bring people together." And perhaps those people will dance. "We like to keep a groove with an up-tempo feeling so that people can move to the music," drummer Ajay Coletta says. "We want to move ourselves along with others." The band makes references to other Latin-flavored acts such as Santana and Ozomatli. "You can still enjoy us even if you don't listen to Latin music," Ajay says. "We have appeal with rock and pop fans." The band will be selling copies of the CD for $6. at the show. The band can be reached at their Web site, www.planetgroove.net.

This story appeared on Page C10 of The Standard-Times on July 28, 2005