Salsa Celtica formed in 1996 with musicians from across the Scottish jazz and folk scenes and have toured continuously since, taking in most of the Hebrides from Iona to Orkney, jazz and folk festivals across the UK and Ireland, and touring as far as Georgia in the East and Iceland in the North.
In 1997 Salsa Celtica honed their salsa skills with a visit to Cuba to study with the masters and absorb the musical culture and influences of the country. Inspired by the trip, they released their debut album Monstrous y Demonios, Angels and Lovers (on the Eclectic label) which received critical and popular acclaim.
Since then Salsa Celtica have performed at every major event in Scotland, headlining at Scotland’s biggest music festivals - T in the Park, Celtic Connections and Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dundee Jazz Festivals.
The band have toured the Scottish Highlands, gaining new musical inspiration and spreading the gospel of salsa. They have appeared at the Hebridean Festival, The Highland Festival and visited island communities including Iona, Mull, Barra, Orkney and Skye. Building on their sell-out reputation in Scotland, the band went on to appear at some of the UK and Ireland’s major festivals such as Glastonbury Festival, Cork Jazz Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival and Trowbridge Folk Festival.
Salsa Celtica have also packed the dance floors at salsa clubs alongside top Cuban and South American stars. During 1998 they were commissioned by Assembly Direct in Edinburgh to put together an eighteen-piece group featuring renowned Venezuelan Salero Carlos Pena and South African trumpeter Claude Deppa. The Salsa Celtica Big Band played a specially written set of original and classic salsa.
1998 culminated with Salsa Celtica performing at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations in front of 40,000 revellers, broadcast live on UK television. In 1999 the band returned to Cuba after being invited to appear in Havana and Santiago to work with Conjunto Folklorico de Cutumba.
Their March 2000 album release The Great Scottish Latin Adventure featured in the top 10 of the European and Canadian World music charts. Following on from a sensational breakthrough in 2003 when ‘El Agua De La Vida’ reached number 5 on the World Music Chart of Europe, and was also their first album released in the US on Compass Records, 2004 saw the band take their unique fusion of Latin and Celtic sounds on tour in England for the first time. The nineteen date tour highlight was a sold out headline performance at the UK’s premier World Music venue, Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank as part of the La Linea Festival, which saw the entire audience on their feet throughout the show and led to much dancing in the aisles. In Autumn 2004 they performed in front of 40,000 people as part of the prestigious BBC Proms In The Park and in November were chosen to close Belfast’s Queen’s Festival. Salsa Celtica had established themselves as an important force in World Music in the UK and beyond, winning new fans and reaching a new level of profile and critical acclaim.
In 2005 tours of the UK and Canada followed as well as one off shows in Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Scotland and more. In June the band travelled to London to film two scenes for the movie Driving Lessons, starring Julie Walters and Rupert Grint. Then in the Autumn the band went back into the studio to record a new album, after a three year break, bringing in Calum Malcolm as producer and including a collaboration with folk diva Eliza Carthy.
Members of the band over the years have included Stevie Christie, Paul Harrison, Galo Ceron-Carrasco, Jenny Gardner, Martyn Bennett , Andi Neate. Galo Ceron Carrasco Toby Shippey, Barney Barnett, Steve Kettley David Donnelly, Fraser Fifield, Doug Hudson, David Robertson, Andy Thorburn, Guy Nicholson, Mario Caribe
Latin Access correspondent Iris Almario introduces us to a band that have crossed over in another way. They found the rhythms of Salsa in the hills of Scotland.
Latin Access discovers Salsa in the hills of Scotland
Scottish Salsa? No. It's not a new Mexican side dish. But it is hot -- one of the most innovative new crossover artists into the Latin scene. Salsa Celtica.
In recent years, some of the biggest Latin sensations from Shakira to Enrique Iglesias have crossed over into English and found great success. However, Latin Access correspondent Iris Almario introduced us to a band that crossed over in another way. They found the rhythms of Salsa in the hills of Scotland.
Wearing Scottish kilts and typical Cuban Guayaberas, Salsa Celtica found a way to mix traditional Scottish music with the beat of the conga drums to create a new musical inspiration. Creating a new style with bagpipes, gaelic fiddle and timbales, this Endinborough based band was started eight years ago by Tobey "El Leon" Shippey.
"The first tune I ever heard was Oye Como Va…it's universal. I completely loved it." Shippey started to go to salsa clubs and got drawn into it. "When we started in Scotland, we were the only Salsa band in Scotland. We played a lot of parties and weddings. At weddings you always have a traditional Scottish band; with our band, they would also get salsa music."
The two bands started to jam together towards the end of the wedding and something new developed. "The first time we did that we started laughing and it was such a brilliant thing. It was great. It became the voice of the band."
Venezuelan-born and London-raised vocalist Lino Rocha describes Salsa Celtica's music as a mix of all things salsa. "A bit of cha cha, a bit of salsa, a bit of guaguanco. It is a lot of variations, put it in a pot and get the celtic thing and mix it up to create beautiful music." Rocha writes the Spanish language lyrics for the group. "Most songs deal with everyday things that happen in life you know, life in the street, life in the pub. Just basically about life. It's love about life."
This 12 piece band released their first album, Monstrous y Demonios, Angels and Lovers, in 1997. Their latest album, The Great Scottish Latin Adventure, has alot of different things, not just New York Salsa.
Shippey attributes his love for Salsa to Latin music legend Tito Puente and the Salsa beats that flow from the streets of New York. "I love the mix. That is the most amazing thing. The first thing I like about Salsa is the rhythm. The rhythm is so amazing…and the dancing. And also the passion. I really love the passion."
With up to eleven musicians from countries as diverse as Venezuela, Ireland, Cuba and Scotland, playing a unique mix of instruments that includes brass, celtic pipes and congas, plus a song from Eliza Carthy this is another winner from Scotland's brilliant world music concert band
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