Get ready to rock your Gypsy soul, and let your beatnik spirit fly with Kona’s own, Leche De Tigre.
Get ready to rock your Gypsy soul, and let your beatnik spirit fly with Kona’s own, Leche De Tigre.
The Big Island’s multifarious, fusion band will rock the lanai at Daylight Mind Coffee Co. tonight with its signature sound of “Latin Gypsy Funk.” With downbeat at 7 p.m., the band’s newest blend of percussive Spanish, Gypsy, and rock inspired funk, will reverberate along Alii Drive on the upstairs lanai of the ocean-side, live music venue, in the heart of Kailua-Kona. The event celebrates the release of Leche De Tigre’s new EP album, “EP One.”
“The whole idea with this show and the EP, is that we are trying to get to California this July and play at Guitarfish Festival. We were looking at how we could get support and we decided to do an album and have a show,” said Dan Brauer, the band’s guitarist.
The band was invited to play at the Guitarfish Music Festival in Lake Tahoe, Calif., which takes place this summer. The festival is a community event designed to raise awareness of overfishing and pollution of the ocean, and to help preserve the nation’s fresh watersheds, rivers and streams. With a focus on preservation and positive change, Leche De Tigre plans to use proceeds raised from tonight’s event to travel to and perform in the festival. They hope their participation will help provide a safe, fun environment to celebrate and educate.
An EP, is short for extended play, and is a musical recording that contains more music than a single, but is shorter than a full studio album. The term EP originally referred to specific types of vinyl records, but is now applied to mid-length CDs and music downloads.
“We’ve been working on making an album and decided we wanted to get something done sooner than later, so we decided on doing this EP release which is going to be five songs. Everyone’s been asking what an EP is — it’s an ‘extended play,’ which is an abbreviation used back in the record days. We’re doing it all ourselves which has been really fun. The songs are all written by the band collectively, and it sounds really great.”
The idea for the band Leche De Tigre formed in 2009 at a sushi bar in Kona. The band was created from a weekly acoustic jam session in the back of Ceviche Dave’s. The musical gatherings started to gain a following as a growing audience came out to enjoy the unique and exotic styles of music.
Although the band developed here on the Big Island, the band has expanded its reach and has completed several successful tours on the mainland since the release of their debut album, “Lactophilia.” The blend of musical styles referred to as “Latin Gypsy Funk,” is infused with rock influences and brings audiences to their feet at every Leche De Tigre performance.
Soulful and engaging, Leche de Tigre is known for entertaining fans with Rock ‘n’ Roll groove, fused with Spanish, Cuban, and South American instruments doused with accents of trumpets and both male and female vocalists. With the impetus to get to the festival in California this summer, the band has been inspired to create a new sound with its music.
“It’s really pushed us into the mindset of reworking our material and rewriting all the stuff that we’ve been playing live, and the songs have completely changed in a good way,” said Bauer.
Relying on strong percussion grooves and dramatic impacts from their soulful vocals and acoustic musical formulas, the band’s sound is always evolving. From their first album, to their latest release, ‘EP One,’ Leche De Tigre always delivers with their eclectic originals and traditional cover tunes.
Opening for the band this evening, is local acoustic singer, Kaahele.
“Kaahele is a folk, acoustic artist that’s been on the Big Island for awhile,” said Brauer. “She’ll be opening for us at the event. We’re really excited about Daylight Mind because it’s a great place to play. The ocean front scenery, and being outside on the lanai; it’s perfect.”
The current band, with both original and new members, consists of Dan Brauer on nylon string and acoustic steel string guitar; Cuban Tres on vocals; Lee Motter on vocals; Chris Wilson on drums; Robby Malovic on bass; Luis Feliu on percussion; and M!chaeloha Elam on trumpet.
Tickets to the Daylight Mind Coffee Co. show are $15 in advance and can be purchased at LecheDeTigreMusic.com, Daylight Mind Coffee Co., Kona Wine Market, and Kiernan’s Music. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
To sample some of the band’s music, and for more information, visit LecheDeTigreMusic.com and Facebook.com/LecheDeTigre.