¡Suéñalo!

The band's name translates roughly as "We'll ring it!, and we went to hear the commotion Friday night at the release party for their fourth CD at the Green Parrot. They rang all right, and the place rang back.

Combine salsa, cumbia, reggae, funk, Afro-Cuban jazz and a whole lotta soul and you get a little idea of what they can do. Better idea: Get to their homepage and click on the "play" button. What you won't get are the goosebumps I got hearing their trombonist play a conch shell above their wall of sound just like a bugler plays a bugle -- chromatics even without valves. Amazing.

Even sweeter: Ginger King, the legendary Fantasy Fest queen and fundraiser extraordinaire, found us in the throng and came over to squirm to the beat shoulder to shoulder with us for a couple hours. It was the best we could do: The place was too packed to really dance, and even the sidewalks on Southard and Whitehead were overflowing.