It only took nearly two decades for Richmond’s most popular and influential international band to make it into the Richmond Folk Festival. During those years there have been other, highly danceable salsa bands, often considered to be highlights of the event. However, there seems to have been some programming concern about “authenticity,” a slippery term that has as much to do with perception as substance.
“Honored and excited to play the Folk Fest,” says Bio Ritmo leader and keyboardist Marlysse Simmons. “It has been a long time coming, and we are very thankful to everyone in Richmond who has been pushing for almost a decade to make this happen.”
But why was a concerted push even necessary?
“It’s rather funny,” says frontman Rei Alverez. “I suppose we’ve never been considered because maybe we’re seen as a group of Americans that play a foreign music that isn’t naturally ours. The fact is that we’re a group of Americans that play an American folk music. Some of us are of Latino descent, some not. Salsa was invented in New York by a very similar cross-section of people.”
A lot of traditional music is surprisingly modern. Musicians like Bill Monroe formalized bluegrass as a commercial style in the 1940s, after English, Irish and Scottish immigrants in Southern Appalachia created it. The hard-hitting sound of Afrobeat, developed by Fela Kuti in Nigeria in the late 1960s, was heavily influenced by America’s own James Brown. Salsa was brewed up in the Big Apple melting pot, the core rhythms rooted in the Cuban/Puerto Rican diaspora. Yet some of the major figures were Jewish, and the most famous bands, led by Tito Puente and Machito, employed a lot of Anglo horn players. This music was originally about innovation, not purity – and Bio Ritmo is heir to that tradition.
“[We are] a rarity on the North American salsa scene in that we are keeping an American form of folk music alive,” says Timbales player and founding member Giustino Riccio. “We respect the traditions and continue to expand the concept beyond what has been codified over the past few decades.”
The band’s innovative approach, sometimes mixing rhythms in a single song, or bringing in unusual elements from other musical genres from jazz to hip-hop, has occasionally gotten pushback from dancers who prefer no surprises. But mixing and matching forms is how salsa came into being in the first place. “In a way, we are more traditional than the average band continuing to play the old repertoire without considering the possibility of adding something uniquely their own to the mix,” Riccio adds.
This weekend, Bio Ritmo should be playing to an appreciative hometown crowd. “I know everybody locally is going to be really thrilled to see [them] make their festival debut coming off the heels of their 30th anniversary last year,” said Blaine Waide, associate director for the National Council For the Traditional Arts.
In that celebratory spirit, there will be some original members in the house.
“We are bringing Coco [Hector Barez] and Jorge [Negron] from Puerto Rico, and the great JC Kuhl will join us on baritone sax,” Simmons says. “It has been a challenge to figure out which songs to present. Jorge is going to sing one that probably hasn’t been performed since our very early days. Actually, he doesn’t know this yet.”
Also for those who collect vinyl, Plan 9 will have new editions of the band’s classic albums, including a 45 of the the late ‘90s tune, “Piraguero” b/w “Asia Minor” [Merge Records], a double LP of the eponymous 2003 “green album” and 2010’s “Salsa System” [Electric Cowbell]. The latter was recorded by legendary, Grammy-winning salsa engineer Jon Fausty, who recently died on Sept. 29. Known for his work on the legendary Fania label, Fausty helped shape the sound of Latin music over six decades.
Bio Ritmo will also be doing a Jam Inc.-sponsored, warm-up performance at Richmond Community High School a few days before the festival.
“We are excited about bringing this music to the kids,” says Simmons. “And we know this festival will help us connect to the community. There is a whole generation of folks who don’t know we exist. What? An all-original salsa orchestra out of Richmond? It doesn’t make sense, but it is all true.”
Bio Ritmo performs at the Dominion Energy Dance Pavilion at the Richmond Folk Festival on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8:15 p.m. The group also performs on Sunday, Oct. 15 at the same location at 3:45 p.m.
