Ritmo Loco (Crazy Rhythm):The popular Ritmo Loco Afro-Cuban Jazz Quintet features Bob Garcia on guitar, Owen Willingham ..boards, Marv Schmelling on bass, Dennis McDade on drums and timbales, and Sam Sloneker on congas and percussion. They played their first public engagement in the Morongo Basin at the Water Canyon Coffee Company in Yucca Valley in October of 2002, and have appeared locally on multiple occasions at Crossroads Café, the Beatnik Café, the Hi-Desert Playhouse, Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, private parties, and of course, their “birthplace,†Water Canyon. They have been featured at the Merry Mafia Christmas Concert, the Chuckwalla Fest, and have impressed audiences at the Joshua Tree Music Festival, as well as being chosen to play at the important “New Moon Over Joshua Tree!†celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act and the designation of Joshua Tree National Monument as a National Park. Ritmo Loco (Crazy Rhythm) performs selections from early Gregorian chant to show tunes (George Gershwin, Cole Porter, etc.), pop and jazz standards (Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, etc.), Latin classics (Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Antonio Carlos Jobim, etc.) and their own original compositions, all set to infectious, body-groovin’ Afro-Cuban Rhythms. “If you can sit still to this music, take your pulse.â€CONTACTS: Bob Garcia: (760) 365-0933;
[email protected] Sam Sloneker: (760) 366-9081;
[email protected]
