Are the Women Dancing?
Are the Women Dancing?
Jorge Bermudez, whom as you know, plays percussion on the forthcoming Superior Olive album, has released his own CD with the band name Bermudez Triangle, entitled "Are The Women Dancing?" The CD release party was held at the Bankers Club in San Jose, CA on Friday, June 23, 2000. Jorge assembled some of the best musicians on the planet for this album. Both Sheila E. and her renowned father, Pete Escovedo play percussion on the album. And playing guitar is Jorge Santana, brother of Carlos Santana and founding member of the band, Malo.
Were the women dancing? Take a look for yourself. The show started with beautiful dancers in exotic feathered outfits. The crowd surged to the front to see the spectacle with the dancers moving and pulsating to the electrifying Latin beat. It was quite a sight. As one looked out upon the audience, everyone was smiling. The atmosphere was intoxicating.
The stage was impressive. The Bankers Club is actually a former bank. Huge Romanesque pillars appear to support the very high ceilings. Behind the stage is a set of smaller pillars revealing an illuminated walkway upstairs. The lighting was immaculate with different colors shining down from the ceiling upon many of the tall pillars. The lights would sequence and brighten different pillars at different times.
The band was hot, too! With a full array of Latin percussion, horns, violin, harmonica, guitars, keyboards, bass, and drums, and numerous vocalists, how can you go wrong? It kicked our collective butts.
Santana's bandmates Raul Rekow (congas) and Karl Perazzo (timbales) stopped in and played a couple of songs. And, this very special evening was made even more special with Jorge Santana playing guitar. The crowd kept dancing all night long.
At one point, our own Jacob spoke with master percussionist Armando Peraza, renowned for his appearances on Carlos Santana's albums. He was a strong man who wasn't afraid to state his opinion. He said that the new technology just keeps making it "louder, do you know what I'm saying? I moved away, do you know what I'm saying?" referring to the PA speakers he was sitting next to on stage. "Of course, I knew what he was saying. I've been there," says Jacob. You wouldn't have known that he had any discomfort, because he played so well, even before moving away. You would have thought it was part of the act.
Later, we spoke with Jorge Santana. He's been busy putting together his own web-site, www.jorgesantana.com, and touring with the band, War. He's a mellow guy. He spoke of his desire to reach out to his fans using the Internet.
He's spent a year and a half planning and gathering together the materials, photographs, and recordings needed by his web programmers. Since they don't know the stories behind the photos, he also wrote the copy to go with the photos. His web-site is very interesting and informative. There is even an art gallery with photographs of Jorge Santana's original artwork.
Additionally, he said he has some previously unreleased recordings that he wants to take out of the vault and release via his web-site. We know his fans will appreciate it.
