* “I want to keep the style of what’s to come,” said conga player Chris Nettuno of his band Canelita Sabrosa‘s, heard on their self-titled debut album. “What makes us unique is…we have an African-American, a Puerto Rican, I’m Italian, an Afro-Cuban…”
The “Canelita Sabrosa (savory cinnamon)” (Canelita Sabrosa Records) offers listeners 16 tracks and four of them have the voice of Kenny Nettuno giving the album the icing on a well-baked cake. The band consists of Chris and Kenny (also on acoustic guitar); Julio Miranda, Jr. on electric, acoustic and bass guitars; Chunk Sounds on drums; Frankie Quinones on percussion; Matt Stallard, J. Troy and Andre Bowman on bass; Justin Powell on trumpet, and Ed Hughes and Mac Isseks on sax and flute. All of the musicians are other studio instrumentalists who decided to form a multicultural band after months of performing to growing crowds on Chris’ porch.
“I started playing congas late in life,” Nettuno said when asked. “It’s my group. We’re a hard-core jazz band, but I learned that it’s hard for jazz bands to find jobs, so I wanted to make music that gives us jobs.
Canelita Sabrosa is known for turning cover songs into something instrumentally special. They play Latin, jazz, R&B, funk and rock music. Their new self-titled album features originals and covers.
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“I tell them to dig into your soul. Either way, let loose when it’s your solo,” Nettuno said of Canelita Sabrosa’s playing style.
Chris said during Covid that some of his studio musician friends didn’t know how they were going to make a living, so he paid them to perform in his living room. The sounds coming from his house attract a growing dancing crowd. Then they moved from inside his house to his porch and the crowd grew even larger. So much so, they ended up on the local news.
“I spent $500 that I didn’t have and streamed it. There were people from Italy, France, Spain and South America,” Chris said of of the birth of the concept for the new album. “You don’t know who’s teaching classes. When we moved to the porch, 150 to 200 people were there. We did that for about four months before Atlanta reopened. We noticed that there were old people and younger people – children. I said we had to record that.
The album “Canelita Sabrosa” is truly a treat produced by five-time Grammy winner Dru Castro (Usher), Chunky Sounds and two-time Grammy winner Julio Mirando. Four-time Grammy winner Ralph Cacciurri (Coldplay) was the project’s engineer. Most of the selections that I like are covers because I like the way they make the different instruments sing so well that you can almost hear lyrics. My favorites on the album include #1 Camila Cabello’s cover “Senorita” because the guitar playing is so hot and sexy; #3 “Si Se Puede (Yes You Can)” because of the rhythm of the congas and that horn playing that gives it that Latin feel; #6 Camila Cabello’s cover of “Havana” because of the way the guitar sings and I love the conga solo which gives it that Latin feel and I have to mention the trumpet solo, it’s warm and jazzy; #8 the Bill Withers cover “Use Me” because I like the way the congas start the track and then how the guitar sings again – I could almost hear the words – and I like the climax of the horn, and #9 The Cure cover “Love Song” because that guitar sings so much I didn’t get it! www.CandelitaSabrosa.com
SYNDICATED COLUMN: Dr. Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over one million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a public relations and business management strategist and consultant at Freelance Associates and is the director of promotions (at-large) for Tthe Baltimore Times. www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com EVENTS: Uplifting Minds II Entertainment Conference (ULMII), founded by Eunice in 1999, is in its 23rd year. The next events are coming Los Angeles through Zoom Saturday, November 5, 2022. The ULMII event is a free entertainment conference offering a Industry Professional Panel Q&A Sessiona Professional Talent Showcase and National talent competition (voice, songwriting, dance and theatre) where budding artists have the chance to receive over $17,500 worth of prizes/goods/services. Log onto www.UpliftingMinds2.com for more information or to RSVP for Zoom Access email [email protected].
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