By Pia Sarkar, Staff Reporter
The sound of hands pounding furiously on congas dominated conversations between hungry diners at Willie's Steakhouse on Westchester Avenue in Soundview.
Inside, Willie Everich stood jammed in a corner of the restaurant with sweat pouring down his face as he attempted to master the rhythms of Latin jazz.
With him last Wednesday night were four other artists who make up the Latin Jazz Society Ensemble, a group aspiring to preserve the music they grew up with.
"I first heard Latin rhythms years ago," Everich said before the performance. He began adapting to the music after the predominately Polish, Irish and Italian neighborhood he lived in between St. Ann's Avenue and 143rd Street changed into a largely Hispanic community in the 1950s.
Now, at age 45, he is trying to maintain the culture that has become his own. "I'm probably the only Ukrainian conga player you'll ever meet," he said.
Besides the congas, Latin jazz incorporates a variety of other instruments, including piano, bass, trumpets and trombones. The music is typically upbeat with no vocals -- aside from occasional hoots and hollers from band members to liven up the audience.
"It's kind of a avant-garde type of salsa," explained Steve Pouchie, a borough native who plays the vibraphone for the Latin Jazz Society Ensemble.
Latin jazz, he said, was a lot more popular in the 1940s and 1950s. However, recently it has been catching on in the borough.
To encourage its resurgence, Pouchie helped to form an organization last spring called the New York Latin Jazz Society to include more than 50 musicians, the majority of whom are from the borough.
There are six ensembles in the organization. Each retains its own identity. David Santiago's band, Latin Affair, for instance, plays Afro-Cuban music using bongos, trumpets and a Cuban guitar. "We add a different twist," Santiago said.
Most of their numbers are remakes of old standards, he said, but the group often tries to modernize the sound. "We never play a song the same way twice."
Though Latin jazz is experiencing a revival, there are few places in the borough where it can be heard, Pouchie said. Within the larger music scene in the borough -- including hip-hop, rap, classical and opera -- Latin jazz is still trying to find a home.
"A lot of people know about it but not a lot of people cater to it," Pouchie said. Most Latin jazz musicians find audiences in smaller clubs and restaurants like Montezuma's near Lehman College and Cafe Azul in Westchester Square. Some have performed in Joyce Kilmer Park and Poe Park on Grand Concourse.
But the New York Latin Jazz Society is trying to widen its scope by giving artists a larger stage on which to perform.
Currently, the organization is airing a cable series on Bronx Net, Channel 68, that will run for 13 weeks. The program, "Latin Jazz -- Alive and Kicking," showcases video performances of musicians three times a week, with a new group shown each week.
Performers hope to gain notoriety without commercializing the art of Latin jazz.
"We're the first generation that's reenacting this style of music in its pure form," Pouchie said.