Carne Cruda
Encyclopedia
Carne Cruda is a Post-Latin band based in Oakland, California
. The band consists of 5 core members and incorporates frequent guest appearances, and also frequently backs up other artists.
player Camilo Landau decided to form a band to experiment with blending Latin music and Caribbean music
with other musical genres. While playing in the UCSC Jazz ensembles under the direction of Ray Brown and Smith Dobson, he met drummer E. Dillon Westbrook and asked him if he wanted to start a group. They teamed up with conga player Jeremy Fisher and began experimenting and practicing. They added Charlie Gurke to the group and began playing around local venues in Santa Cruz, California
.
In 2001 Landau and Gurke went to [Cuba] for three months to study music. There they wrote arrangements for what they envisioned as a new direction for the band. When they returned they added Luke Kirley on trombone and Matthew Val Hall on trumpet to the band and began playing again. They were featured in Metro Santa Cruz
's column "New Band Alert" where they were described as "the Latin Squirrel Nut Zippers
."
In 2004 the band moved to [Oakland, California] where they re-formed, adding bassist Ayla Davila who had recently graduated from the prestigious [Berklee College of Music] and drummer David M. Flores. With this new configuration they recorded their first full-length album "Spicy Sea Adventures" in 2005. The album was picked up by Belgium's Surf-Cumbia Rockerds label and the band began their first European tour, playing concerts in Belgium
, Switzerland
, Austria
, Germany
, and Poland
. They subsequently went on three more European tours and added Denmark
, Slovenia
, Croatia
, Bosnia, Serbia
, and Macedonia
.
In 2009 Carne Cruda began a new collaboration with Brazil
ian singer and dancer Dandara Backen. They formed a new group called De Bahia a Bahia, which means "from one bay to another" since Dandara is from Bahia, Brazil and Carne Cruda is from the Bay Area.
In 2010 Carne Cruda won Oakland Magazine's "Best Oakland Theme Song" award in an article titled "Oakland's Tight, Hella Tight!"
In 2010 Carne Cruda release a new album on Round Whirled Records called "Oakland's Tight" produced by veteran record producer
Greg Landau
and recorded, mixed, and mastered by engineer John Greenham.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. The band consists of 5 core members and incorporates frequent guest appearances, and also frequently backs up other artists.
Band History
Camilo Landau and Charlie Gurke met while attending high school at San Francisco School of the Arts, where they formed a band called The Ska Messengers. In the year 2000, while attending college at UCSC, guitarist and tresTres
The tres is a 3-course, 6-string chordophone which was created in Cuba. A tres player is called a tresero in Cuba and a tresista in Puerto Rico.-Cuban tres:In Cuba, the son was created as a song and a salon dance genre...
player Camilo Landau decided to form a band to experiment with blending Latin music and Caribbean music
Caribbean music
The music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves...
with other musical genres. While playing in the UCSC Jazz ensembles under the direction of Ray Brown and Smith Dobson, he met drummer E. Dillon Westbrook and asked him if he wanted to start a group. They teamed up with conga player Jeremy Fisher and began experimenting and practicing. They added Charlie Gurke to the group and began playing around local venues in Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
.
In 2001 Landau and Gurke went to [Cuba] for three months to study music. There they wrote arrangements for what they envisioned as a new direction for the band. When they returned they added Luke Kirley on trombone and Matthew Val Hall on trumpet to the band and began playing again. They were featured in Metro Santa Cruz
Metro Santa Cruz
Metro Santa Cruz, a free-circulation weekly newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California from 1994 to 2009, was renamed the Santa Cruz Weekly on May 6, 2009...
's column "New Band Alert" where they were described as "the Latin Squirrel Nut Zippers
Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by James "Jimbo" Mathus , Katharine Whalen , Chris Phillips on drums, Don Raleigh on bass and sideman Ken Mosher....
."
In 2004 the band moved to [Oakland, California] where they re-formed, adding bassist Ayla Davila who had recently graduated from the prestigious [Berklee College of Music] and drummer David M. Flores. With this new configuration they recorded their first full-length album "Spicy Sea Adventures" in 2005. The album was picked up by Belgium's Surf-Cumbia Rockerds label and the band began their first European tour, playing concerts in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. They subsequently went on three more European tours and added Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Bosnia, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, and Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
In 2009 Carne Cruda began a new collaboration with Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian singer and dancer Dandara Backen. They formed a new group called De Bahia a Bahia, which means "from one bay to another" since Dandara is from Bahia, Brazil and Carne Cruda is from the Bay Area.
In 2010 Carne Cruda won Oakland Magazine's "Best Oakland Theme Song" award in an article titled "Oakland's Tight, Hella Tight!"
In 2010 Carne Cruda release a new album on Round Whirled Records called "Oakland's Tight" produced by veteran record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Greg Landau
Greg Landau
Greg Landau is a San Francisco-based music and video producer, and an instructor of music and Latin American Studies focused on the social movements that produced revolutionary music and art. He is a five-time Grammy nominee who has produced over 40 CDs and numerous film scores including serving as...
and recorded, mixed, and mastered by engineer John Greenham.
Current members
- Camilo Landau - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, tresTresThe tres is a 3-course, 6-string chordophone which was created in Cuba. A tres player is called a tresero in Cuba and a tresista in Puerto Rico.-Cuban tres:In Cuba, the son was created as a song and a salon dance genre...
, vocals - David M. Flores - drumset, timbalesTimbalesTimbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned...
, percussion - Ayla Davila - electric bassElectric BassElectric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
, electric upright bassElectric upright bassThe electric upright bass is an electronically amplified version of the double bass that has a minimal or 'skeleton' body, which greatly reduces the size and weight of the instrument. The EUB retains enough of the features of the double bass so that double bass players are comfortable performing... - Luke Kirley - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Charlie Gurke - baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
Past members
- E. Dillon Westbrook - drumset
- Jeremy Fisher - congas
- Adam Charp - bass
- Matthew Val Hall - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Ezra Gale - bass
- Nick Fishman - drumset
Other Musicians who have recorded with Carne Cruda
- Edgardo Cambón
- Kevin KmetzKevin KmetzKevin Kmetz is an American guitarist and shamisen player. He is best known as the front man of the shamisen-based rock band, God of Shamisen. He has also recently become a full member of Santa Cruz, California eclectic band Estradasphere along with fellow God of Shamisen member Lee Smith...
- Paul Van Wageningen
- Andy Mendoza
- Marco Diaz
- Omar SosaOmar SosaOmar Sosa is a composer, bandleader, and jazz pianist.-Biography:Sosa began studying marimba at age eight, then switched to piano at the Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana, where he studied jazz. Sosa moved to Quito, Ecuador, in 1993, then San Francisco, California, in 1995...
- Marta Gonzalez
- Gabriel Tenorio
- Gabriel Gonzalez
- Orlando Torriente
- Rafael Herrera
- Bryan Dyer
- Michelle JacquesMichelle JacquesMichelle Jacques is an American singer/music educator, and Jenpet Records recording artist, who began studying acting, modern dance, tap, ballet and violin, beginning at age seven. Michelle is currently the Artistic Director of Chelle! and Friends. As one of the original members of Street Sounds,...
- Dahnda Da Hora
- Dandara Backen
- Carlos Caro
- Colin Hogan
- Javier Navarrette
- Greg LandauGreg LandauGreg Landau is a San Francisco-based music and video producer, and an instructor of music and Latin American Studies focused on the social movements that produced revolutionary music and art. He is a five-time Grammy nominee who has produced over 40 CDs and numerous film scores including serving as...
Notable performances
- Belgrade Beer FestBelgrade Beer FestBelgrade Beer Fest is an annual festival of beer in Belgrade, Serbia. Started in 2003, the festival is held annually over 4 to 5 days as a showcase event for various beer producers. In addition to domestic and foreign brews, the festival features live music performances each evening...
- Yerba Buena GardensYerba Buena GardensYerba Buena Gardens is the name for two blocks of public parks located between Third and Fourth, Mission and Folsom Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. The first block bordered by Mission and Howard Streets was opened in 1993. The second block, between Howard and Folsom Streets was...
Festival - Encuentro del Canto Popular
- Carnaval San Diego (De Bahia a Bahia) http://www.greencapproductions.com
- Oakland's Tight Night - Parkway TheaterSpeakeasy TheatersSpeakeasy Theaters was an independent movie theater operator. Now closed, they once operated two theaters, the Parkway theater in Oakland, California and the Cerrito in El Cerrito, California. Both theaters showed late first-run movies and various special event programs...
- Friday Night Live in Cloverdale, CaliforniaCloverdale, CaliforniaCloverdale is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States. The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad reached Cloverdale in 1872. The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is headquartered here...
- Niska Banja Festivalu Vina