Silvana Kane's voice ranges just above gravelly, not at all masculine, she sounds all woman, but her tone catches one right in the center and makes you feel something. This wonderful voice is brilliantly combined with a broad range of percussion played by Toby Peter on bass and drums. Rounding out the group is an extraordinarily talented guitarist, Adam Popowitz. These three sound so balanced there is not any one part that holds the ear, their music approaches as a comforting whole.

The group's songs flow effortlessly between English and Spanish. This gives their song "Sweet" an enjoyable and unexpected twist. Just as the back muscles relax and one become comfortable with the songs progression the song transitions and becomes something so much more. Another favorite song is Estrellas de Miel, which may not be so good to read by as feet and legs behave on their own, servants to the samba beat.

The overall effect of the band's album, Asuncion, is to place a person's mind firmly on the Pacific coast, sitting in a beach chair curled up with that favorite novel and watching the sunset over the horizon.

Do try to get out of your beach chair though, and see them live at the Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver or Bumbershoot in Seattle among others, click the photo for more.

P.R. Seitz - July 2008