PATTI GRIFFIN/CHARANGA CAKEWALK
Stubb's BBQ; Austin, Texas
May 17, 2005

Michael Ramos of Charanga Cakewalk

An end of tour show in the artist's hometown is something to behold. Combined with the barbecue pit that is Stubb's backyard in Austin, this occasion becomes an entirely different animal.

At the tail end of a cross country jaunt was local heroine and NPR goddess Patty Griffin, who in support of her most recent Impossible Dream LP, gave a performance that was combination homecoming hoopla and good ol' backyard rave-up; a sound many Austinites have grown to recognize as the sound of home, for better or for worse.

It was opener Charanga Cakewalk that, despite a supporting slot throughout the tour, provided a low profile surprise. Offering a shortened set of material from its recent debut Loteria de la Cumbia Lounge, the ensemble stretched out the album's more cerebral tracks into an elastic fusion of guitar heavy rock and Latin groove that traversed a rickety bridge between Calexico, Santana and straight up kitsch. Classic folk arrangements and bursts of dense percussion punctuated by bandleader Michael Ramos' heavily reverbed accordion that meshed into borderline psychedelia and an undeniably refreshing twist on Latin music usually overheard pumping from the kitchen of tamale houses.

Griffin even joined the band on percussion for its last number, less in celebration of their final night together and more in homage to the Ramos, who after years of playing second fiddle to the likes of Paul Simon, John Mellencamp and Griffin herself, can finally watch his star own rise. Don't be surprised if, come the dog days of summer, this stuff becomes the soundtrack to every patio bar in the city. (Jeremy Erwin)

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