Felle Vega & La Orquesta de las Danzas Mezcladas
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La Orquesta de las Danzas Mezcladas is Unique, original and lively. The energy and vibe of the group is comparable to waking up to a beautiful sunrise on a clear new morning. The musicianship id of high quality and skill. The rich cultural vocals were wonderful as well. In the highly competitive commercial world music market, we belive La Orquesta de las Danzas Mezcladas would attract positive attention.
IMG Music Promotions, Inc.
Canada - IMG Music Promotions Inc.
Parara
Honorable Mention at Unisong Intl. Song Contest 2006
It would be easy enough to say that the actual main themes and melodies were memorable just as a bunch of notes over the chord progressions chosen and grooves. But in this case, it's a seamless marriage between the notes that are played and the power of how they are played in the stellar musicianship here. Plus the interesting arrangements of these melodies.
I really loved the main theme every time it came in as played on the violin. It really occupies a sonic place all its' own in my memory this way. Especially as a lot of the other melodies were more staccato & rhythmic in nature, almost like they melted into the track. This then sets this main theme even further apart as a melodic, flowing melody played on violin over this percolating track and rhythms below it. Very effective.
My only even slightly negative comment is that this main theme is the only one the violin ever plays as lead instrument until near the end where it also plays a short bridge section and more ad-lib nature things after it, eventually coming back to the main theme. It might have been nice to feature these kind of variations on a fiddle a bit earlier in the piece. And on one other subject, I must compliment you as well on the interplay between the more free style use of the lead guitar lines in almost improvisational fashion at times over the equally hypnotic circular bass lines beneath it. Very effective.
Your orchestra is a very talented bunch of musicians indeed interpreting your melodies & arrangements. Bravo!!!
Structure:
The intro build interest in the song, the structure keep the listener's interest and the different sections of the song fit together well.
Structure Comments:
When you've got a more than 7 minute instrumental piece, it takes a lot of variety that all fits together in just the rightway, to never lose the listeners interest. And you sure fill up the time here in admirable fashion, with a lot of unexpected twists and turns I really liked. And as expected in any piece like this..."the rhythm is the thing".
In this case the thing that captured my attention most was the varied and diverse drum & percussion arrangement throughout, and bass lines on top of that. Throw in the unusual textural combination of some of the melodies played on violin which you wouldn't expect, and it's a nice contrast. All in all, this is much more a listening experience than a 'song" by usual definition of it, but when the level of musicianship & playing is this strong and tasty, you pretty much just shut down your critical mind and go with the flow of it.
Title
The title create interest in the song and is the correct one for it.
Title Comments:
All one word titles have some inherent built in power and this word is no exception. It just has a snappy ring to it. But since I don't speak Spanish and therefore don't know what "Parara" actually means, I'm going to assume it the right title for this piece in emotion and content
ALAN ROY SCOTT
Unisong International Songwriting Contest
6520 Platt Ave. #729 West Hills, CA 91307-3218 USA
(213) 673-4067
info@Unisong.com
- Alan Roy Scott
If you’re looking for something entirely different, and musically emotional, then look no further than this album from the Dominican Republic. Felle’ Vega is a well respected Dominican musician of twenty five years plus, who critics have called no less than a “music wizard” when describing his musicianship. The music of Vega, and his group, is varied to say the least; taking in many styles and instruments so that you just do not know quite what to expect next!
Or, possibly; quite where the sounds could have come from. Amongst the accordion, guitar, and violin; are the things that give Felle’ Vega his most unique trait – the ability to make music from normal ordinary objects of day to day life, such as buckets, lids, and pots. This ability and talent, takes you from a Jazz group, on to something that cannot be held down with a label or a description; and truly needs to be heard to be fully appreciated.
From guitars that will move you, to violins that will twist you back and forth, and through to percussion that will have you tapping a foot even to the more downbeat and deeper songs; this is an album that will make you feel it has something from possibly everywhere. Drawing feelings from such influences as African, Spanish, Taino, the Oriental, and of course Dominican folklore – you feel like you are learning about the backgrounds and past of these locations purely by listening to the songs.
“La Orquestra de Las Danzas Mezcladas” are made up of many proven Dominican musical artists, such as Oscar Almonte on guitar, Jose’ Marte on accordion; and more extremely talented musicians. To find out more about this exciting and unique musical group, visit www.fellevega.com for information and lots more about them!
Peter Staniforth.
Peter is a UK based sports and music journalist
- Peter Staniforth- UK music journalist
Discography
"Retreta para el alma", 2005.
Internet sales at:
• CD Baby: www.cdbaby.com/cd/fellevega
• Outbound Music: www.outboundmusic.com/fellevega
• Tower Records:http://www.towerrecords.com
• New Artists Online: http://newartistsonline.com
• Apple iTunes http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=81597309
Retail distribution in EU, Canada and PR by NPG-RED-Sony.
"Fufú" is the next album, coming soon...
Photos
Bio
Fellé Vega has been a well- respected Dominican musician for twenty-five plus years. He has devoted his career to finding “the sound of life” and has distinguished himself through his experimentation with recyclable materials and everyday objects that have percussive possibilities, such as pails, lids and pots, which he then turns into musical instruments. His use of such materials to create music, his voice and the special way he plays and manages the audience, has earned him on many occasions the title of “Musical Wizard” from Dominican music critics when describing his musicianship.
The music of Felle Vega and his group is varied to say the least; taking in many styles and instruments so that one just does not know quite what to expect next.
If you’re looking for something entirely different, and musically emotional, then look no further than this truly world music band from the Dominican Republic. From guitars that will move you, to violins that will twist you back and forth, and through to percussion that will have you tapping a foot even to the more downbeat and deeper songs. The music from this band is will make you feel it has ingredients from everywhere, drawing feelings from many influences. The repertoire is made up of compositions with varied rhythms from all around the world with a strong ethnic fusion of influences such as African, Spanish, Taino, the Middle East and, the Orient with Dominican folklore; taking in many styles and unique instruments. The sound is just mesmerizing! Purely from listening to the music you will feel like you are learning about the backgrounds and past of these varied locations.
“Danzas Mezcladas” is a Spanish spoken word that in English means “mixed dances”. The name was inspired by music that makes your soul feel like dancing and the mixed feelings you experiment through listening or being at a live performance.
Fusion, World, Folk, Latin or Acoustic? You don’t know under what musical category, genre or radio station that can situate this music and that’s the point! This is Felle’s real intention like musician to make music that can’t be packaged into one specific music box but make music for all demanding tastes of every corner of the world under one new category called “Imaginary Folklore” which refers to his musical style.
The concerts are very interactive with the audience and each one is unique and different. Special moments are present at every concert because you can see people dancing on their seats and tapping their feet with the up tempo beat. You sense the crowd enjoying the deepest songs, which may take them into a sort of tranquil shock that will turn into a great applause.
The way Felle Vega manages and divides the audience in groups, inviting everyone to sing and make different sounds while the band plays, is one of the most important things that makes La orquesta de las danzas mezcladas concerts just simply unforgettable.
The reaction of most of the people who see the band for the first time is to be surprised at Felle’s “drumming set” and wonder how all the dissimilar instruments used are going to sound together, also because they wear white clothing in all the performances, transmitting feelings of clean , peace and trust.
After 3 years performing, every live concert has had it’s own significance. Many moments to be proud of; the atmosphere, the good interchange of energy between the audience and the musicians are things that make any one present feel like are the problems of that day are non-existent.
The band is composed by seven well-known Dominican musicians with vast experience in their craft: Oscar Almonte-Guitars, Jose Marte- Accordions, Eugenio Monte de Oca- Tuba, Ivanova Casimiro-Violin, Cukin Curiel- Percussion, Eliezer Ramirez- Percussion
And Fellé Vega- Lead, vocals and percussion.
The album “Retreta Para El Alma” is their first album, recorded live at Casa de Teatro, in Santo Domingo and contains 11 tracks with something entirely different and musically emotional.
This band has performed in such lots of concerts in the Dominican Republic during past and present years and some of them are: The Dominican Jazz festival 2004 (http://www.drjazzfestival.com) , Casa de Teatro Jazz Festival 2004 to 2006 (http://www.casadeteatro.com) and concerts at Centro Cultural de España performing with the well known merengue player Francisco Ulloa (http://www.ccesd.org/sociales.html).
Their most notable concert, where Felle kept attention and exposed to legions of new fans, was being the opening act for the world famous musican Sting at his Broken music concert tour last April in Altos de Chavón, Dominican Republic, where Sting also invited Felle to play percussion in the theme "Fragile" along with Juan Luis Guerra.
Another important event in Felle career was being elected to star in a commercial featuring the Dominican Republics premier export, President beer. The theme being “Dominican people to be
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