pressrel
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Meghan Helsel at 626-585-9575 or Meghan@jensencom.com
REMIX RECORD OF SSB’S 2008 SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM IN THE WORKS; THIS FALL, THE BAND TOURS AS OPENING ACT FOR CARLOS SANTANA AND THE SANTANA BAND’S U.S./CANADA WEST COAST TOUR;
The Salvador Santana Band (SSB) will perform a special date at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, CA on Wed. August 20 as part of BMI Presents Verano Alternativo (Alternative Summer). The evening celebrates hip, contemporary Latin music with a bill spotlighting four buzz-worthy bands that have created distinctive artistic signatures by fusing their Latin cultural heritage and passion for genre-bending experimentation. BMI – Broadcast Music, Inc., the U.S. performing rights organization – presents the festive mid-summer event in association with tastemakers MTV tr3s, LARemezcla, Filter Magazine and Descarga.
In addition to SSB, Verano Alternativo’s bill boasts Allà, Quetzal and ZocaloZüe. The event is open to the public (18+), with pre-sale tickets available for $8.00 through Ticketmaster and the Knitting Factory box office (7021 Hollywood Boulevard, LA, CA, 90028); day-of admission is $10.00. BMI recently presented a similar showcase at S.O.B.’s in NYC, drawing an enthusiastic multicultural crowd of Latin alternative music fans, and the L.A. date is expected to be an equally hot summer ticket for the Southern California Latino music community. Doors open at 7:30PM for an 8PM showtime.
Featuring bandleader, vocalist, composer & keyboardist Salvador Santana, SSB is known for its energetic brew of conscious hip-hop, rock, funk, R&B and Latin sounds. Their self-titled debut album was released earlier this year on Salvador’s VBE imprint with distribution through Tsunami Label Group. Salvador served as album producer for SSB, which features collaborations with Asdru Sierra of Ozomatli, DJ Nu-Mark (Jurassic 5), Ryan Tedder of One Republic and Carlos Santana. SSB’s core line-up also includes: vocalist Quincy McCrary (ex- Quetzal and Burning Star), bassist Emerson Cardenas, guitarist Woody Aplanalp (Lauryn Hill, Nels Cline, Thomas Mapfumo, etc.), drummer Tony Austin (Solomon Burke) and ex-Ozomatli multi-instrumentalist Jose “Crunchy” Espinosa.
Currently, a remix record of SSB is underway, with reinvented tracks coming from a diverse assortment of top producers, DJs, mixers and turntable stars including Del: tha funkee homosapien (“Hella Tight”), Scotty Coats (“Why Yo”), Pinker Tones (“Sounds Good”), Jason Roberts (“Me & U”), Brazilian Girls (“My One True Love”) and Ozomatli, Money Mark and Wayne Jobson, all for the buoyant “Summer’s Day.”
Shortly after playing BMI’s Verano Alternativo, SSB hits the road as opening act for the Western U.S./Canada leg of Carlos Santana and the Santana Band’s 2008 world tour. The itinerary kicks September 4 at Chico State University in Chico, CA and wraps October 12 at Concord, CA’s Sleep Train Pavilion. Stops also include General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC (9/7), Dallas, TX’s Superpages.com Center (9/17), Phoenix, AZ’s Cricket Pavilion (9/27), the Nokia Theatre in L.A. (10/2-3) and the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (10/4), among many other highlights.
SSB, which formed in San Francisco in 2004, has previously opened for Santana on tours in both the U.S. and Europe, and have toured with other acts including B-Side Players, deSol, Galactic, Los Lonely Boys, John Popper, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Rusted Root. SSB also regularly plays major festivals including Bonnaroo, High Sierra, San Francisco’s North Beach Jazz Festival, Jazz Aspen Snowmass and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
SSB can also be heard on the digital benefit compilation album Voto Latino – It’s Your Country…Represent!. The non-partisan Voto Latino promotes an enfranchised America and supports voter empowerment in the Latino community. All proceeds from iTunes downloads will directly support Voto Latino’s voter registration, education and empowerment initiatives (www.votolatino.org).