Known as one of the most exciting bands performing in Sydney at the moment, the Bondi based Afro Colombian rock and roots group is returning to Adelaide for one show only: FRIDAY 25th JULY at Live on Light Square.

WATUSSI’s huge performance on one of the main stages of WOMAD earlier this year was one of the highlights of the festival with their debut album “Tequila, Sangre y Fuego” promptly selling out within hours of the show. Even in the 42 degree heat of the Sunday afternoon, the band kept the 8,000 strong crowd dancing all the way through the 50 min set. (Footage of which is on youtube, type in ‘Watussi, WOMAD’)

Charismatic front-man, Colombian born Oscar Jimenez, sings in Spanish, English and French on the release and is a powerful force onstage. The rest of the band is made up of a talented broth of multicultural and Australian musicians bringing a myriad of influences to the unique sound that is WATUSSI.

Time: 8:30pm
Venue: Live on Light Square, 9 Light Square, Adelaide
Tickets: $18 - www.venuetix.com.au

SHAKIRA GETS A HOLLYWOOD STAR!!

Last year Ricky Martin earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and this year it’s Shakira who gets the honor! The Colombian star joins fellow Latina Cameron Diaz (and hotties Robert Downey Jr. and John Stamos) as one of 25 famous faces selected by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to receive their stars in 2009. Other prominent Latin music stars who earned their propias estrellas in past years include Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz and Julio Iglesias. Congrats, Shaki! Hopefully this will motivate you to temporarily set aside your side projects—cosmetics line, fragrance, [insert leisurely activity here]—and hit the recording studio.

Horacio Hernandez in Adelaide

Few percussionist have done as much to further the marriage of jazz, rock and Cuban music as Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez.

Through his work with jazz luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Michel Camilo and Latin rock icon Carlos Santana, Hernandez has become Afro-Cuban music’s most visible drummer. Growing up in a house filled with music in Cuba, Hernandez was exposed to the traditional music his Grandfather loved, the progressive jazz sounds of his father and the American rock music his brother tuned in from nearby Miami radio stations.

U.S. rock music being outlawed at the time, Hernandez was detained at the age of thirteen for being caught playing Cream covers with friends from music school. El Negro worked his way up in the Cuban recording and performance community, playing with artists like Rubalcaba, and recording better than 300 records during his time in Havana. As the resident session player for two Havana studios, he kept a mattress in one of their spare rooms, sometimes not returning home for a week or more.

Having built an international reputation via his work with Rubalcaba, Hernandez defected to Italy in hopes of transitioning from there to New York. He spent three years there, teaching at a conservatory and performing regularly in Rome’s busy club scene.

When the opportunity arose to relocate to NY, Hernandez took it, playing club gigs for $50 a night until he was legally allowed to work. Once able to travel he was offered a gig with Latin jazz piano master Michel Camilo. Through his work with Camilo, Dave Valentin and the TropiJazz All-Stars, Hernandez played on the most influential Latin jazz recordings of the ’90s. He was introduced to mainstream audiences in 1997 as part of Carlos Santana’s touring band with whom he played the biggest venues of his career.

Hernandez earned his first Grammy with Michel Camilo’s Live at the Blue Note, which took Best Latin Jazz Album in 2003.

El Negro’s debut as a bandleader came a year later with the Grammy-nominated Italuba, followed two years later by Italuba II.

Drumscene Live 2008

Sunday 20 July

Governor Hindmarsh Hotel

Price
$45 + booking fee

Time
Doors open 4pm
(show starts 4:30pm)