La Gallera Social Club – Trópico Salvaje (Tortuga Music, 2020)
La Gallera Social Club is the musically colorful project of two Venezuelan twin brothers from Maracaibo, multi-instrumentalists Alexis and Miguel Romero who moved to France in 2011, and percussionist Carlos Guillén. The multicolored cover of their album Trópico Salvaje (Wild Tropic) gives a good idea of what the album is about. La Gallera Social Club make a spectacular mix of genres deeply grounded in Venezuelan traditions.
Maracaibo is a city in northwestern Venezuela and the heart of its oil industry. It is a crossroads, where the tropical Caribbean meets the Andes. La Gallera Social Club make infectious, futuristic danceable music where Afro-Venezuelan rhythms and vocals intertwine with psychedelic sounds and electronic beats along with the cuatro guitar, representing Spanish influences, and flutes that reflect indigenous roots. The group also incorporates elements from other Caribbean traditions such as steel drums from Trinidad and Tobago.
The lineup includes Alexis Romero on guitar, cuatro, sampler; Carlos Guillén on percusión, timbales, laptop, electronics; Miguel Romero on bass, cuatro, keyboards, vocals.
Guests: Juan Luis Martinez on tamborera, bumbac, cowbell; Osmán Antúnez on congas, cumaco, jembe, laureles; Melvin Portillo on congas and guayo; Oscar Vargas on keyboards; Benjamin de Saint-Léger on drums and drum pad, balafon; Fabien Mornet on electric guitar; Vincent Leservoisier on trumpet; Emmanuel Vandorne on trumpet; and Manuel Ruzza on keyboards.
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.