Caught live at Exeter Vibraphonic Festival, 17 March 2007

Another year rolls by and with it Exeter has been blessed with another great Vibraphonic festival (every city should have one!). A three-week bonanza featuring Femi Kuti, Azymuth, The Baker Brothers, Ursula Rucker, Four Tet, The Blockheads and Mike Westbrook was handsomely rounded off by Latin legends Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers.

There's something cartoonish about Pucho when he takes to the stage for the first time. He's a bear of a man, like Baloo with timbales. Like Tito Puente, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria before him, Pucho is a percussionist bandleader. The band launch straight into Herbie Hancock’s ‘Cantaloupe Island’, closely followed by ‘Caravan’ and ‘Milestones’. It’s a good, solid start to a set that then goes slightly awry when Pucho decides to sing a song telling his grandson about all the women he’s had. He should really steer clear of singing...

Back on track, and the set takes in Miles Davis’ ‘All Blue’ and a Latin version of ‘Sex Machine’, at which point we are treated to surely one of the most amazing slap-bass solos ever (all six minutes of it!).

All in all, a fabulous exhibition in virtuoso musicianship, albeit slightly let down by a trumpeter who insisted on dressing and playing in the style of a cruise ship cabaret magician about to saw someone in half.

That’s just a minor point though...see you next year Vibraphonic! (Griff)