Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos
The album “Bichos” by Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos is drenched in Latin Jazz, raw funk and afro beat. The Venezuelan bassist Raúl Monsalve leads an all-star ensemble of music pioneers, including “the voice of Venezuela”, Betsayda Machado, singer Luzmira Zerpa and drummer Dave De Rose.
Raúl spent a large part of his life studying and carrying out traditional Afro-Venezuelan music and he was even an apprentice with one of the best percussionists in his home country. At the same time, he had a lot of interest in jazz rock and African music as well.
With producer, engineer and drummer Malcom Catto in the recording and mixing booth, Raúl brought together a like-minded cast of friends from Venezuela, Paris and London to help him carry out his vision. Together, they created a fresh new sound that successfully manages to capture the essence of African and indigenous roots of Venezuelan music, as well as the future-facing sounds of afrobeat, Latin Jazz and experimental, electronic music. A new album is on the way and as part of its promotion, the band will go out on a short Dutch tour, which includes a performance at Merleyn.
Line-up:
Raul Monsalve: bass, percussion, vocals
Lya Bonilla: vocals
Andrés Vela: sax, vocals, FX
Edgar Bonilla: keyboards, FX
Sebastian Betancur: Drums, percussions, pad
