Rico!

Artist Information

Biography

Rico is defined as a band with a rich sound of diversified musical cultures. A mixture of sophisticated melodic genres and ethnicity coming together is the essence of Rico!

The band creates an immense fiery soulful sound through bass, congas, percussion, drums, timbales, keyboards, guitar, and pure passion. Rico! does a Tribute to Santana's music, as well as their own! Rico! will move you physically and mentally with their hypnotic blend of afro-cuban rhythms, or purge deep into your soul with their eminent sense of melody. They are influenced and inspired by all the innovative rock, soul, jazz, afro-cuban, blues, funk, reggae, and hip-hop pioneers.

Rico! is a conglomeration of all the great musical idioms, with a cast of talented musicians to stir and season a rich flavorful sound. The world's music is Rico! and their vision is to play inspiring music bridging the gap and bringing all people together in peace, harmony and happiness.

LINKS:
Official Website - http://www.ricojams.com
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/ricojams1
Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/RICOJAMS
RICO's EPK - http://www.sonicbids.com/RicoJams
Video Clips - http://www.youtube.com/user/ricojams

Instrumentation

Ricky "Rico" Baker - Guitar
Devin Thompson - Lead Vocal
Charli Hunt - Lead/Backing Vocal
Jose Rendon - Congas
Jaime Claudio - Timbales / Percussion & Vocal
Jesse Tobias - Bass
Benjamin Lewis - Keyboards
Tony Taylor - Drums

Discography

Casa De Tambores (2006)
Make Music (2010)

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter

Audio

• Money
  Listen  
• Make Music
  Listen  
• What Shall I Be
  Listen  
• Passion
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Make Music
• Passion

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Review of Casa De Tambores [+ Show ]
  

  "This is a Latin rock album that will please lovers of pop, rock, funk and dance, and give a funky s..."This is a Latin rock album that will please lovers of pop, rock, funk and dance, and give a funky spin on convention for the Latin traditionalists.""
  

• Rico Review [+ Show ]
  

  This energetic Latin rock album is a guaranteed booty mover with lots of upbeat salsa rhythms and ro...This energetic Latin rock album is a guaranteed booty mover with lots of upbeat salsa rhythms and rocking guitars. Not being a connoisseur of Latin music, I am unable to draw close comparisons to many other artists within the genre, but I don’t think even the most versed Latin expert would deny that Rico bears a very close resemblance to present day Santana. Guitarist Ricky Baker’s melodic riffs dominate this album. His moody intro to "Surrender" is the perfect example of his skillful and tasteful playing style. It is very refreshing to hear a guitarist who knows his place within his ensemble as well as Baker does. He creates interesting fills and solos without ever stepping on the vocalist’s or other instrumentalist’s work. I was very thankful that the band gave him an entire song, the soulful "Loving You", to play with.
  
  The rest of the Rico ensemble is made up of a tight group of percussionists, keyboardists and a group of vocalists who alternate between Spanish and English. Rico loves to mix innovation with tradition by throwing a little funk into their Latin. The keyboards on "My Lady" are almost Stevie Wonder and the percussion and vocals on "Ya Viene" are almost P-Funk. The later ended up being my favorite track both for its message of racial harmony, a subject that seems less common in Latin rock than hip hop or rock, and for its short bursts of rap and funk vocals.
  
  Casa De Tambores was recorded with the utmost of precision. Each percussion instrument is given a distinctive pan, creating the perfect aural illusion of being surrounded by a pack of dueling conga players. The synthesizer sounds on "Surrender," "Catch 22" and a few other tracks sound a bit dated at times, but then again, it almost fits with Rico’s tendency to draw on retro 70’s and 80’s influences. This is a Latin rock album that will please lovers of pop, rock, funk and dance, and give a funky spin on convention for the Latin traditionalists.

Setlist

As needed for venue:
3x60 - three 1 hour sets
2x45 - two 45 min sets
1x90n - one 90 min set


Regular set includes original & covers songs

Full set of covers available for special Santana Tribute Show events

Basic Requirements

Calendar