Who: D’Talle
Where: Buffalo Bill’s
When: Thursday, April 8
Tickets: $20
The sexy sounds of Cuban dancehalls will fill Buffalo Bill’s on Thursday night when the women of D’Talle cha cha into town.
It’s the first time in Whistler for the Havana-based nine-piece salsa dance band, all-female with the exception of drummer Gilberto Moreaux, a fairly recent addition due to a vacancy created by a maternity leave.
The band formed in the late 1990s out of the dynamic salsa scene in their home country.
"We met each other because everyone in Cuba knows each other," explains keyboard player Zahili Zamora. "Even though you were part of another band, sometimes you have to share the same stage."
D’Talle soon gained a reputation for playing high-energy Latin grooves with all the vigour of their macho counterparts, without compromising their femininity.
Led by piano player and chief musical arranger Ivette Porras Thorp, the D’Talle sound has since evolved into a combination of traditional salsa beats fused with the more Americanized pop music style of artists like Gloria Estefan. In addition to Thorp, Zamora, and Moreaux the band features singers Maiyelin Matos and Danay Sinclair, Zunelvis Calvo on the congas, Yisell Torres on bongos, Arianne Charon on bass, and additional keyboard player Cynthia Gonzales.
The band has toured through Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and other Central American locales, offering a window into a dynamic Havana music scene.
"Salsa is like a fever right now in Cuba," says Zamora. "Everywhere you go you can find a salsa band. You can dance. Everyone likes salsa."
And the band members would like to emphasize that they don’t expect their non-Cuban audiences to be experts in Latin dance step patterns, just to be open to the music.
"You don’t have to know how to dance. We will show you how to do it," says Thorp. "The best thing about salsa is that you can just move, feel the way you want to feel and close your eyes and just move. Be free."
D’Talle (pronounced Deh-Ta-Yeh, according to their press kit) will make Buffalo Bill’s swing to a Latin groove this Thursday night. Tickets are $20, available in advance from the venue, at Bestsellers and through Whistler Entertainment. For more information call 604-932-2446.
