The Lula Salsa All-Stars was made up of musicians selected from six different bands who play regularly at Lula Lounge — Caché, who has been playing at Lula since it’s first year, Proyecto Charanguero, Energia Latina, Pacande, Cimarron and Ricky Franco. There were sixteen of them, including the special guests. They all have impressive resumes and many are as familiar on the jazz scene as they are on the Latin scene. They are a diverse group with roots in Cuba, Peru, Venezuela, Columbia, Guatemala and Canada. Open in spirit, and musically tight, they meshed as though they play together all the time. The camaraderie, the joking, the enthusiasm and the cooperation on stage set the mood for everyone present.

The band’s configuration continually transformed as special guests came and went and as the material changed. The music flowed through styles such as charanga (salsa with the horn section replaced by flute and violin) and other Cuban styles, New York 70s style, Columbian style and salsa dura.

To choose highlights is a near-impossible task and to single out individual performers seems almost against the grain of the night. During a particularly exciting solo from trombonist Yankar Gonzalez, singer Juan Carlos Cardenas succeeded in catching a cameraman’s attention with his frantic pointing at Yankar behind him, and bent sideways to give the cameraman a clear sightline, a perfect illustration of the generosity of spirit that filled the night.

The pieces played were taken from the repertoire of all of the bands represented, The first set started with “First Stop” from Proyecto Charanguero featuring the pure sound and faultless rhythm of Bill McBirnie’s flute and Bennie Esguerra on violin. Bennie would later amaze us with his bongo technique but for this tune, it was Alex Godinez whose fleet hands beat the skins. Juan Carlos Cardenas was next in the spotlight as he sang a piece from Caché’s repertoire and the trombones (Jamie Stager and Yankar Gonzalez) joined the band. Wilson Acevedo, also from Caché took his voice front and center next. Diego Marulanda, leader of Pacande ran the show for the next three tunes with his guitar technique and sometimes his voice. I say sometimes because Luisito Orbegoso sang lead on one of the songs. The trumpets were in by now and everyone was going strong, congas, guiro, maracas, bongos, piano. Luis Mario Ochoa of Cimarron sang the last piece, leaving us hoping for more in the second set.

There were a couple of pieces in the second set from Caché and Proyecto Charanguero but this set was centred on Luis Mario Ochoa and Ricky Franco. David Virelles on piano was solidly interesting and unusually relaxed, breaking into smiles all the way through. Ruddy Bolanos on bass and Daniel Stone were pillars of strength, never getting a break and never faltering. There were impassioned solos from the Cuban trumpet pairing of Alexis Baro and Rufino Maceiro trying to outplay each other and an all out blast of power from everyone including Ricky Franco who sent words rioting off his tongue like drum rolls in what had been introduced as the last tune. They continued with two more pieces.