>> Jose Conde y Ola Fresca
bio: OLA FRESCA – it means “fresh wave” -- is the name of the band. Founded in 2000 by singer-composer-lyricist and arranger Jose Conde, Ola Fresca features some of the best musicians in New York City, coming together for a fresh take on rootsy, funky, jazzy, Latin dance music. Born in Chicago and raised in Miami by his Cuban-immigrant parents, Conde has been living in New York since earning a BA from Berklee College of Music in 1997. After experimenting with jazz, rock, funk, blues and latin music in his first couple of years in New York, Conde realized his musical journey was leading him back to his Cuban roots. He formed Ola Fresca (Fresh Wave) in 2000 with a clear goal to write new, original music based on the foundation of traditional, Cuban rhythms and style, while incorporating non-traditional elements for spice. This goal blossomed in his cd Ay! Que Rico which Conde produced, and also arranged and wrote most of the songs. The album has been praised as “innovative, highly danceable, pleasantly cerebral” (Ed Morales, New York Newsday), the band described as “superb” (descarga.com), and the songs are “sung by Conde with the natural grace of the best soneros with a touch of contemporary elegance” (Miguel Sirgado, El Nuevo Herald). Conde has also composed and produced music for film and the theatre, most notably the PBS documentary by Juan Carlos Zaldivar’s 90 Miles, and the critically acclaimed off Broadway Intar production of Eduardo Machado’s The Cook
José Conde’s music fits into the powerfully danceable rhythmic system of Afro-Cuban music. A Cuban would say it’s got sabor de clave. He writes his own lyrics, too, and they have party flavor and humor, but they also have substance. Conde does his own arrangements – something few singers do – so both the charts and the production grow organically out of the words. Along with his band Ola Fresca, Conde has been featured at major Latin and World music festivals including New Orleans Voodoo Festival, Jazzfest, JVC Jazz Festival, South Florida Sunfest, Calle Ocho, Providence Waterfire, Hudson Riverfest, Manhattan River-to-River Festival, New York-Miami Latin Funk Festival, Long Island Music Festival, South Street Seaport Festival and venues such as (in NY) SOB’s, Copacabana, Joe’s Pub, Nell’s, El Museo del Barrio, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Zinc Bar, The Rainbow Room; (in Miami) Hoy Como Ayer, and the Van Dyke Café and many more.
Conde has expresses a personal commitment to nonviolence, and preservation of the Earth, and his cosmopolitan vision of the Latin world is a hopeful one. The title of his new album, (R)Evolución tells you that. The music lets you hear how it might sound.
