Alex Wilson's eight-piece band was introduced as the "Buena Vista Youth Club" on the final night of the second Bray jazz festival. With slow, balmy melodies geared for the dance floor, the group certainly borrowed a rhythm or two from the Cuban elders who played Dublin last Saturday. An accomplished pianist with lordly graces, Wilson did the canny showman thing with aplomb, urging the "gentlemen of Bray" to join the ladies of north Wicklow in the dance. This they did - eventually.
Yet there was more to Anglo Cubano than just that. Mostly merry, the mood was exuberant salsa - with polished, jazzy turns, well-planned and well-executed. British-born to a Sierra Leone family, Wilson is a deft arranger sensitive to the talents of his "multi-lingual, multi-national" band members. Indeed, that description is no exaggeration. Drummer Vancho Menolovic is Macedonian, while bassist Jimmy Martinez is from Cuba.
Wilson's talky piano was backed by a strong horn section, comprising trumpeter Paul Jayosinha - a Londoner with Sri Lankan links - and alto-saxophonist Finn Peters, who doubled on "tootling" flutes. Bravado lead singer Ronald Infante was the main man up front. But best of all was the singing of Mary Pearce, who is new to the band. A diva intimate in style, she handled songs such as Sting's Englishman in New York with a sensitive, individual touch.
