Saturday, April 24, 8pm
Concert sponsor: Be Well Medical Center

Feet On The Street Tours is offering a special package with transportation from Southfield for this concerts. Visit www.FeetOnTheStreetTours.com or call (248) 353-8687.

By Larry Gabriel, www.gumbospot.com, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Led by congero Ozzie Rivera and music director-pianist Bill Meyer, Orquesta La Inspiracion is the hottest Latin band in the Motor City. This 10-piece unit, featuring the golden voices of Mickey Figueroa and Armando Vega, fuses local salsa and jazz veterans with new voices into a musical tour de force. They specialize in music derived from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and a mix of Yoruban, Congolese, and Dahomaen elements. While honoring these traditions, they forge innovative Latin music for a new generation.

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Detroit, Rivera is a longtime cultural activist and social worker. He’s studied Afro-Latino music for more than 30 years. “Music with heavy drumming helps people get into a different, spiritual plane,” says Rivera. “If it’s not putting you in a trance, it’s not doing its job.” That sounds pretty inspirational.

Pianist Bill Meyer is a key component of Detroit’s jazz community, an activist and leader of his own bands. His long list of associates includes luminaries such as George Burns, Smokey Robinson, Cab Calloway, Burt Bacharach, Nipsey Russel, Natalie Cole and Savion Glover. On the home front he spent many years as music director and accompanist for the Wayne State University dance department and performs regularly with Johnny Trudell, Marcus Belgrave, Mark Randisi and Dee Dee McNeil. Meyer has written and arranged for television, radio, commercials and choreographers.

This is a mighty band with a strong old-school character. Singer Figueroa and trumpeter Bob Mojica each have more than 40 year’s experience in the salsa inferno. Figueroa started out in Puerto Rico and arrived in Detroit after a sojourn in Chicago. He is a percussion master well versed in the Afro Caribbean traditions. Mojica has worked with Julius La Rosa, Buddy Greco, Jerry Vale, Ann Murray, and Vic Damone. He’s a core member of Johnny Trudell’s Big Band. Saxophonist Chris Kaercher is deeply funky having spent time with the likes of Temptations, James Brown, Lou Rawls, the Manhattans, and the Spinners. Bassist Steve Backus is known for his R&B bass grooves with Detroit band Jocelyn B and the Detroit Street Players.

But there is just as much new school character in the group. Singer Armando Vega has that youthful spirit. He co-leads Grupo Salvaje, a young salsa band in tune with today’s new sounds. Percussionists Gregory “Greco” Freeman Javier M. Barrios experiences range from Detroit jazz and soul, to salsa and reggae. Songbirds Dulce Checkler and Consuela Lopez bridge the old and the new, going deeply into African call and response vocals, as well as the latest salsa and soul hybrids.

This music has the aroma of café caliente. It gets you going. When theses beats start to percolate don’t be surprised if a bit of that inspiration gets into your hips.