| Babaloo!, featuring in The Boston Globe’s City Weekly |
| 02.15.06 | No Comments |
Ran in City Weekly section of The Boston Globe, January, 2001
BABALOO!
The band grooves. And it plays its share of rock clubs. It pleases young, jam band fans. But to call Babaloo a rock band is like calling Burger King a barbecue restaurant.
One of the defining factors that exclude it from being a rock band is its lack of a drum kit. The solid slap of the typical skins is shoved aside here for a jambalaya of world rhythms on congas, maracas and other handle things that dangle from the percussion tree.
“We just don’t play rock at all,” says percussionist/trumpet player La’Zik Chillem. “We don’t have a drum set, which is a phenomenon to me. We bridge every gap in prejudices. Our sole purpose is to be sweaty and celebrate and enjoy life through the spirit of our music.”
Though it isn’t rock, jazz or folk, Babaloo pulls elements from African, Latin-American, reggae, salsa, Irish, Samba, ska, mambo, bossa nova, juju, cha-cha, calypso, Caribbean and other sandy music. In fact, Chillem says this band is best suited for jamming on a cruise ship or an island somewhere. Sesame Street ought to think about booking Babaloo to play on the street with the Muppets. It would be perfect.
Babaloo has enjoyed bills with Maceo Parker, Burning Spear and most recently, on the Levi Stage at the Santana show at the Tweeter Center.
“We are something we originally created, and I don’t think anything sounds like this. I’ve been working in the Boston scene for 15 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this. Every show we go to, people’s heads spin and they tell me this is the best band they’ve ever heard.”
Marked by quick electric reggae guitar chops, layered percussion, slinky bass and bright lines of trumpet, Babaloo calls its sound “Punk Mambo Hardcore JuJu,” and named its first two independent albums (on its own label, Butcher’s Ghost) to reflect that.
“We just took the rock out of punk rock and put in mambo,” says Chillem. “If I were to compare it, it would be Tito Puente mixed with the Ramones. Mix King Sunny Ade and the Sex Pistols and that’s hardcore juju.”
Musically, the band could be compared to Tito Puente or King Sunny Ade, not to the Ramones or the Sex Pistols. The punk comes in the form of attitude – the DIY ethic.
‘97’s Punk Mambo! would make even the biggest tight-butt feel like strapping on a coconut bra and grabbing onto some hips in a conga line, particularly the undeniably fun “What’s in the Banana,” “McDuff,” “Samba Formosa” and “Your Dough.” Hardcore JuJu, released in 1999, is a lot more of the same good stuff.
Six years ago, the basic sound for Babaloo simmered in a Jamaica Plain cellar called “The Hole,” where singer Bruno Molto and guitarist Mary Beth Cahill traded licks on guitars and…. Kazoos. The basement eventually became a microcosm, or reflection, of world music. Joining the voices, guitars and kazoos were the trumpet, congas, bass and anything else that would fit. It was about the mood, the people and the music. Pure punk approach – not a punk sound.
According to percussionist/guitarist/vocalist Mike Weidenfeller (a.k.a. Peter Pants or Captain Kickass), there have probably been between 20 to 25 members of Babaloo over the years. And the names of the players change even more.
“We don’t really take the names too seriously,” says Pants, “so whenever somebody thinks of a name that’s more funny than their old one, they change it.”
Presently, the line-up and names are: Chillem, Pants, el Presidente al dente or B (who is really Molto), freebassist Slim “Family Man” Goody, vocalist/timbales player Pongo Jankowitz and percussionist/vocalist el Plenero de Pspino, Puerto Rico or Furioso. Molto tells us that Smith Crankshift (Cahill) got shot by an arrow last year, and has since only played sporadic gigs with the group.
Got it? Doesn’t matter.
Sung in seven languages including Swahili, French, English and Spanish, Babaloo’s music is as diverse as its members.
“We’re subterranean culture out of Boston,” says Chillem, “kind of like Brooklyn. We’re very diverse, open-minded and high-spirited people, except like now when I’m completely run down.
“Every one of us is very different. We’re like the League of Nations, man. We’re eclectic. We come from difference places, family, upbringing … music even. When you’re in a band you’re with each other 24 hours a day, a lot of things happen. It’s like a family. No matter what happens. Even if we scream at each other, we meet at the music. Music is our safety net. It’s a beautiful thing.”
They meet at the music, and meet at the Milky Way, which certainly isn’t the Love Boat. But Babaloo and its many fans can pretend they’re on a cruise ship. Feel free to bring a limbo bar, leis or straw hats to heighten the experience.
