Bright 2017 beckons for fusion group Baile an Salsa

Baile An Salsa play Monroe’s Live on Saturday, January 21. The 10-piece band was the brainchild of Uruguayan singer Andres Mantorell who had the idea to fuse trad and salsa while he was playing with a salsa band in the city’s Massimo Bar back in 2008. On his break, he used to go to the nearby Crane Bar, where there was a regular session. The two disparate genres fused, and Baile An Salsa was born.

Alan Preims is Baile An Salsa’s conga player. What challenges does the band present to him, as a percussionist?

“I think the challenges are to choose the right Latin/Afro-centric rhythms, not to be, I guess, repetitive,” he says. “You can put something together quickly, but if you don’t give it thought they can kind of neutralise each other. “I think selecting the rhythms that we put together from the Irish with the salsa is the challenge, to keep the Afro- Cuban elusive, so that it’s supporting the Irish.”

The gig in Monroe’s will celebrate the band embarking on their first US tour, which will take them to Kansas, Providence and Chicago with a few more stops along the way.

The band will release their debut album in April or May – it’s being produced by five-time Grammy winner Walter Flores.

Doors at 9pm, tickets €8.