Online Forty Niner: v8n2: 'Blas' of Latin jazz welcomes students

Underneath a gloomy August sky, the Latin jazz sounds of Johnny Blas cheered up a medium-sized crowd yesterday in the University Student Union South Plaza.

In the first event of the school year for the Union, the band roared through its set with little down time between songs. This included minimal talking from Blas, who was apparently content to let the music speak for itself.

The only time he said a word was when he introduced the various band members and when he introduced the song "Inglesas" off of his last compact disc.

Blas, who has been played professionally since 1992, played for an hour backed by a six-piece band that featured diverse instrumentation throughout the course of the set.

This incarnation of his backing band has only been together for the past six months but played with the chemistry of a seasoned veteran band.

While the instrumental seven piece failed to get any of the Union crowd out of their seats and dancing, they did manage to get more than a few feet tapping and received a favorable response from the crowd that drifted in and out of the plaza.

Blas has put out four discs, with his most recent one being "King Conga" released in 1999 on the CuBop label.

Photos by Caroline Limuti

Operatic Bassist, Larry Vasquez above,plays in the band "Johnny Blas," a Latin Jazz band , shown at the very top, in the South Plaza of the University Student Union.The band was created in 1992 by percussionist Johnny Blas and consists of 7 to 11 ever-changing band members. Out of the 7 that played Monday, six had been in the been less than six months.