Yahuba Garcia: Press

Field Report Review

Pollotronic All-Stars
The Barley Pub
Dover, NH


Old school funk-jazz was in the air at the Barley Pub in Dover last Wednesday evening when the Pollotronik All-Stars rolled into town for a one nighter at the Garrison City establishment. The sextet, led by conga/percussionist Yahuba Garcia laid down some nasty funk grooves over which the various soloists in the band created imaginative improvisations. In addition to Garcia, the other members included Nate Wilson on keyboards, Pete Fedele on guitar, Steve Giannaros on tenor saxophone, Ben Alman on bass and Pete McLean on drums.
The set I caught drew heavily from the Herbie Hancock/Headhunters book. The band opened with a driving version of Hancock’s Hang Up Your Hangups and featured stirring well crafted solos form Wilson, Giannaros and particularly Fedele, whose guitar work was a pleasant revelation to me. Fedele has a fine sense of structure in his solo work, creating improv’s that have a story like arc to them. A hypnotic slow funk version of John Coltrane’s India followed with everyone getting into the solo act including a superb series of exchanges between Garcia and McLean. Hancock’s Watermelon Man ala the original version from the composer’s Blue Note Recording Takin’ Off followed with Giannaros and Wilson playing well conceived and imaginative solos. The set closed with a decent take on Hancock’s Actual Proof form the Headhunter’s Thrust recording. A difficult tune to work with, this was the loosest tune of the evening. But, the individual playing was spot on and the band brought it home with a rousing climax.
Most notable about the players in this band was their collective spirit and enthusiasm for the music they played. They’re all highly accomplished players. Giannaros has a beautiful full sound on the tenor, Wilson continues to amaze with his continued growth and assurance as an improviser, Fedele as mentioned earlier was a pleasant surprise and the bass drum team of Alman and McLean has a rock solid groove pocket that bends and flexes when needed. They compliment each other beautifully. And then there’s Yahuba, who is in my mind one of the finest young percussionists to come on the scene. He has a great set of ears and a terrific sense of musical color. This is a terrific band with plenty of promise.

-Alan Chase
Alan Chase is a musician and writes concert reviews for New Hamshire's arts paper, The Wire.