Having survived both the wild winds of the pandemic and the wild swings of the music industry, the Pacific Mambo Orchestra remains grounded and surprisingly invigorated. Led since 2010 by co-founders trumpeter Steffen Kuehn and pianist Christian Tumalan, the Grammy-winning, 20-piece ensemble recently released a new MP3 single, “Suite Tito Puente.” In the track’s 12:33 minutes can be heard the unexpected mix people ironically expect from PMO: modern arrangements of classic Latin jazz music, traditional salsa tunes and boleros, covers of American jazz standards and R&B hits, and classical music such as Tumalan’s mambo arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s “Concerto #2 for Piano and Orchestra.”
Appearing May 22 in the Oakland Museum of California’s Friday Nights series, the orchestra will light up the crowd with the new release and other tunes. The event in addition to PMO includes a gallery chat, DJ Sizzle spinning out a genre-bending blend of beats and a salsa dance lesson with Ramón Ramos Alayo. Off the Grid food trucks, picnicking and access to galleries make it a celebratory stop to end the workweek.
In a phone interview two weeks before showtime, Tumalan admitted the pandemic was an incredible blow to the ensemble. “We’d been working on our third album [The III Side] and had big plans for it,” he said. “Right when we released it, the pandemic hit. We knew people might listen to it, but there was no chance to perform it before a live audience.”
It was a downer that took an emotional toll on everyone. What helped them rebound was strength found in their numbers. “When you’re a soloist or with a very small group, it’s very hard holding the boat,” he said. “With PMO, if I was having a rough time thinking of ideas, a singer or musician would say, ‘I have an idea.’ It compounds. If everyone keeps asking what we’ll be playing, the spirit to keep going is still there.”
The new release finds its origin in a performance at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. The venue’s intimate environment belies its production capabilities, which include multi-track recording and multiple video cameras. PMO’s production manager, Jimmy Goings, listened to a recording of the show and advised Tumalan and Kuehn to do the same.
“I did and thought, ‘Geez, this is good stuff,’” Tumalan said. “It’s fresh, organic. In the set is this tribute to Tito Puente that’s a single arrangement. It’s flawless and was worth mixing and polishing the equalization and levels. When that was done, I looked at the video and said to Steffen it was what we needed. The most important thing is that it captures the energy of how we play live.”
Among other highlights is a solo delivered by percussionist Carlitos Medrano in the track’s last two minutes. “He’s a remarkable conga player and transports me to Cuba,” Tumalan said. “With adding the last touch, when he sings ‘Guantanamera,’ it was the cherry on top. Listening to that song after all the fancy harmonies and horn arrangements was, for me, going back to our roots. It’s powerful, like a cycle of life.”
Tumalan said the piece is definitely on the set list for OMCA and, also, a June 12 Fiesta Cultural headliners appearance at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts.
Tumalan said PMO will not issue another full-length album in the coming year, but has “something cooking.” Pressed for more details, he added, “Nowadays, people appreciate singles. It’s how the industry is changing. We’ll have more new single releases, but we want it to be a surprise, so I won’t say more.”
What he did say is that PMO’s greatest priorities will remain unchanged. “Quality is always there,” he said. “It’s in how we present ourselves, our recording production [levels], our relationships with people contracting with us. And we want to keep integrity with anyone around the orchestra. Regardless of the musical climate, everything is done with those main ingredients. Quality and integrity aren’t just in the front, the performers, but in the administration, production crew and all the little details of organization.”
