CONCERT REVIEW: Salvador Live

It felt like August had arrived a few weeks early. This was a hot, steamy summer night – even for Queens, New York – as several days into a July mini-heatwave, a few hundred people crowded under and just outside the tent-like shelter that would soon be host to another kind of heat, in the form of the Latin-influenced Christian ‘jam-band,’ Salvador. People sat close together in rows of white plastic chairs, all within shouting-distance of the just-high-enough stage up front. The prospect of stage lights, temperature in the nineties, high humidity and Salvador’s particular brand of salsa was almost enough to intimidate the gringo in me into staying home, which would have been a mistake since this band is, well – pretty cool.

Salvador’s front line is impressively laid out, left-to-right, with Herman Jimenez and Leif Shires on trombone and trumpet, Nic Gonzales on lead vocals and guitar, and Nic’s cousin Josh Gonzales on bass. Dressing up the songs with various well-played keyboard parts is Chris Bevins, who’s joined in the back by Ben Cordonero laying a solid foundation on drums and Eliot Torres handling the percussion kit with fiery enthusiasm. The band is obviously fine-tuned by touring, and can seemingly go anywhere that Nic takes them, covering songs from all of the band’s albums with competence and energy.

The band navigated through ballads, Latin-edged worship songs, and, of course, their special brand of funky, jazz-inflected Santana-like rock. Turning up the temperature and the tempo on songs like “David Danced,” and the Spanish-sung “Montaña,” Salvador took over the stage, dealing a knock-out blow to the heat of this New York summer night, rendering it a lightweight contender compared to the fire that was on-stage. By the time the band launched into the familiar opening chords of “How Far Is Heaven,” it was clear that the crowd was theirs, singing along with the title-phrase in perfect New York rhythm.

The Salvador touring-band is a strong performing unit, headed up by Nic Gonzales, whose undeniable charm and warmth easily wins over the audience. Thankfully, the two-man horn section does an excellent job reproducing the riffs we hear on the albums. Bevins’ keyboard alternately provides a Latin piano element as well as a classic Hammond rock sound to cover all spectrums of what the band is capable of doing. Each member of the band gets a shot at soloing on his instrument, and the only thing missing is a strong lead guitarist along the lines of the amazing George Cocchini or Chris Rodriguez, who have each contributed stunning, gutsy guitar work to Salvador’s studio projects – still, Nic Gonzales fills in the gaps with some funky riffs and displays a nice, bluesy feel of his own.

Salvador works hard in concert, yet seems to genuinely enjoy every minute of it. The show is spontaneous and seems ‘unscripted,’ and is musically authentic enough to please a ‘mixed’ crowd of the churched and unchurched, with front-man Nic presenting an honest, unpretentious introduction to the Gospel message that fuels the band.

While Salvador’s current project seems to be pulling them more into the mainstream, there’s no question that these seven men still know how to cook with plenty of spice, served hot and fresh in a live context.

(All photography courtesy of Bert Saraco.)

• www.salvadorlive.com
• www.myspace.com/salvadorofficial

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