Caché

Caché’s Blended is a solid record that recalls the glory days of New York’s salsa-soul-funk era of the ‘70s, capturing the energy and the intensity of a hot salsa orchestra in its prime. An eight-piece band that works like a single hand finding its way around your waist on the dance floor, Caché is one of Toronto’s favourite salsa bands and a regular at Lula Lounge. The record, released as a snapshot of Lula Lounge’s cultural influence on the city, works to create a serving of even tropical salsa flavours and vintage grooves that recall the rhythms of Wille Bobo, Eddie Palmieri and the Joe Cuba sextet. Outside of the vocals, the entire record was done live in the studio without any overdubbing, accomplishing the difficult task given to producer Luis "Luisito” Obregoso of trying to capture the energy of this band in a studio environment without losing that essential ’70s-styled groove that the band had worked so hard to develop in the early years. Blended is a cleanly produced, sharp record that calls attention to a solid Latin music scene thriving within our own Canadian borders.

Is Canada’s scene capable of competing on a world market? Wilson Acevedo [timbales player and musical director]: The Latin music scene has grown a lot. A lot of people gave up, and I have tons of friends who left for Miami because they got fed up with Toronto because they thought it would never happen. The thing is we live in a city that is different, we’re not the States. People here appreciate music, all kinds of music. It’s a different menu here and you can’t compare it to the States.

Where does Caché fit into the history of Canada’s Latin music scene? Richard Morales [bass]: We’ve been able to create a sound that is a very special sound for us, I think it’s unique, it’s a trademark. Like New York salsa started in the ‘70s, I think we’re starting a new movement here. We want it to continue and with the help of Lula Lounge we’ll be able to do that.