Bichos

In recent years a diasporic Venezuelan sound has reverberated around the world, thanks to artists such as Family Atlantica, Betsayda Machado and InSólito UniVerso, and its the bassist for the latter, along with members from the others, who continue this mission with this defining album of Afro-Venezuelan fusion. Bichos feeds off the golden era of fusion in the 70s, channelling embryonic Irakere, Africa 70, Return to Forever and George Duke’s heavier early forays, but doing so through a distinct Venezuelan prism. This is clear in the chattering quitiplás percussion of ‘Bocón’, featuring the vocals of Family Atlantica’s Luzmira Zerpa, and the sangueo rhythm used on ‘La Mariposa’, a beguiling track that starts as a skittering groove before breaking into a street-corner call-and-response jam. You can even hear the influence of pioneering Venezuelan composers like Daniel Grau and Ángel Rada in the future jazz-funk groove of ‘Palo de Agua’.

Monsalve’s bass, allied with Dave De Rose’s drumming, and various percussive embellishments, give the album a solid but lively rhythmic bass that veers towards Afrobeat terrain but always surprises, as on the final track, ‘Pa’ Los Maestros’, an irresistible chachachá, with vocals as bright and instruments as razor sharp as Fania’s finest.