Bio Ritmo's new self-titled CD marks a return to form for the horn-powered salsa band. With lead vocalist, songwriter and percussionist Rei Alvarez charting the way, the nine-member Virginia-based band embarks on a festive, full-circle excursion back to its Puerto Rican roots.
While samba and Afro-Cuban influences surface along the way, triggering brief shifts in tone and meter, most of the music on the album was inspired by the salsa music that came out of New York City's Puerto Rican community in the '60s and '70s. Alvarez, who was born in Puerto Rico and boasts a strong, soulful voice, plays a key role here, whether evoking his rhythmic roots with the bomba-flavored "El Cambio" or introducing changes in mood, which range from the inspirational tone of "El Monte" to the soul-baring bolero "El Rayito."
The tunes not entirely composed by Alvarez add more color, especially the Afro-Cuban flavored "Para los Romperos," written by timbales player Justin Riccio, and the brassy, rhythmically contagious "Atrevete," co-written by keyboardist Marlysse Simmons and Alvarez. A gifted newcomer to the 12-year-old ensemble, Simmons also mixes romantic lyricism with retro keyboard interludes, complementing conguero Gabo Tomasini's churning polyrhythms and the flaring brass charts played by trumpeters Bob Miller and Tim Lett and trombonists Stefan Demetriadis and Toby Whitaker.
