DeSol’s rhythms light up music scene

JERRY WOLKOWITZ The group DeSol, led by Albie Monterrosa (l) and Armando Cabrera, playing the tube cajon, can often be heard playing their infectious blend of Latin music, hip hop, pop and rock in venues around Red Bank. The group has been nominated for four Asbury Music Awards and has performed in pre-game ceremonies at Shea Stadium.

The crowd kept growing. People were dialing cell phones and calling friends to tell them to come join the party. What began as a street performance by Latin music group DeSol, had grown into a festive gathering of people brought together by the group’s infectious blend of Latin rhythms colored with pop, hip hop and rock influences.

"Everywhere we play we capture everyone’s imagination. It’s incredible," said Armando Cabrera, one of the group’s founders.

"It’s happy music that makes people feel good about themselves. It gets them dancing. You can’t help it, you have to dance to it.

"People feel what we feel on stage. They know we’re having fun and how much we love what we’re doing. They feel connected to us," added Cabrera, the group’s percussionist.

"That’s what I’m trying to convey — the gathering, the unity. In my house every occasion was a party. The music, dance, folk songs," said Albie Monterrosa, who, as DeSol’s lyricist, is the group’s "voice."

"It’s everything I’m trying to do. It’s everything I’m writing about."

The Red Bank street scene is played out at practically every performance by DeSol, which will appear this Sunday at the Long Branch Festival of Nations and on Aug. 24 at Red Bank’s Downtown Cafe.

Together for only seven months, the seven-piece band has been nominated for four Asbury Music Awards, has appeared on cable TV and has performed at pregame ceremonies at Shea Stadium.

DeSol’s founders, Cabrera of Oakhurst and Monterrosa, Long Branch songwriter/singer and guitarist, share a common background in Latin folk music, made modern by urban influences.

They form the nucleus of DeSol, which also includes percussionist James Guerrero of Matawan; Chris Guice of Red Bank, bass/guitar; Andy Letke of Asbury Park, keyboard; Ron Shields of Belmar, drums; and Rich Soto of north Jersey, lead guitar.

Born in Cuba, Cabrera was only 2 years old when his family fled that country for Miami in 1960, eventually settling in Puerto Rico.

Like many fleeing the revolution, they left with few belongings, but Cuban music was something that traveled well.

"There was music playing all the time in my home — old Cuban songs," recalled Cabrera who works for an Eatontown telecommunications company.

Growing up in Ponce, he recalls getting a set of timbales when he was 12 years old and buying himself a pair of congas, though money was tight.

"By the time I was 15, I was playing on a regular basis with local orchestras. I practiced by myself, playing along with records of Cuban music. I was always attracted to the rhythms," explained Cabrera, who put playing aside to pursue his education and a career in telecommunications, which brought him to the U.S. While he continued to play locally, Cabrera was searching for the right fit for his Latin music when he met Monterrosa last year.

Monterrosa, whose parents migrated from El Salvador, grew up in Queens, N.Y. In that urban setting, he said, music surrounded him, spilling out into the streets. The rhythms were Latin, and there were others with an urban genesis like rap and hip hop.

"Music was coming out of people’s cars, coming out of people’s houses. Run DMC are from my neighborhood," Monterrosa said. "Hip hop, rap — they used to scat that on the street corners. That’s where it derived from," he explained.

"I look at all Latin music as urban, and I call my music ‘urban-folk-pop-hip-rock.’ "

Monterrosa moved to New Jersey with his family eight years ago. A full-time musician, he played local venues as a member of local bands and was writing original group rock-oriented music when he had an epiphany.

"I was playing some of my music, and a Puerto Rican girl I met started adding rhythms on the congas that brought it to life," he revealed. "I decided to get a new group together. Pop music can only take you to one place. I’d been playing it for so long. I asked myself, ‘If I add new rhythms, what will it become?’

"I found Armando through a friend," Monterrosa continued. "He taught me about Spanish rhythms. We had an unspoken energy. It’s like when you’re a child and you’re playing together, it’s so natural."

Cabrera, too, was searching for a band his music would resonate with.

"The lyrics were great," he said. "I’m very creative. It’s a challenge to write rhythms for his music."

"I was speaking of growing up in Queens, of street scenes that included drugs, prostitutes and homeless people. He saw a connection," said Monterrosa.

"I was a street guy, too, and hung out in an urban setting," Cabrera added.

"We had come from the same place," Monterrosa explained.

Each had something unique to bring to DeSol. Cabrera grounds the group in the structure and rhythms of the many expressions of Latin music.

Monterrosa is the band’s voice, providing the lyric of their lives and experiences.

"I call him ‘El Conductor,’ " Monterrosa quipped, "because I look to him to guide me. I’ve been hearing this music in my head since childhood, and he defines it. I’m playing something, and he adds rhythm and structure to a song. He inspires me."

"I believe in it, so I put a lot of passion into it," added Cabrera.

The third person to join the band was Guerrero whom Monterrosa has known since both were 4 years old and living in Queens.

"He’s a dancer, a stylist. His energy fills the room; he has charisma. He’s a born entertainer and gives energy to a group," Monterrosa said.

"The three of us did some shows together," Cabrera said, "but we were trying to get more people because this music needs a lot of instruments.

"For six months we looked for people," he added. "They needed to be really talented, plus they needed to know how to play together. We added members one by one.

"The beauty of it is, everybody brings their own influence to it."

By January, the group had begun to work together, and by February, DeSol had a showcase in New York.

"The place was completely packed," Cabrera said. "We took off from there, and this year we’ll do 100 shows.

"We’re believing in ourselves and what we’re doing," Monterrosa said of the group’s success. "When we’re together, we love each other plus we love the music.

"We’re bringing these rhythms to a lot of people who are not familiar with them," Cabrera noted. "We’re not necessarily bringing it just to Latino people, but to everyone."

"It appeals to a wide age range," Monterrosa agreed. "The reason is the rhythms are so old, they’re rooted deep in the earth, deep in the spirit of people.

"Some people don’t even look you in the eye or speak to you. Music can change that," he said. "It brings people together in the same way that going to church does.

"We’re very blessed. I think we can heal people through this music from the stresses, the sorrows of life."