Susie Hansen Latin Band
Susie Hansen Latin Band
Phil Elwood of the San Francisco Examiner described them this way: "It's a sizzling, swinging Salsa Band. Hansen can solo as if her bow was afire. The whole room was jumpin' for joy." Her music combines hard-driving Salsa in Spanish and English, traditional Cuban Charanga and the influence of straight-ahead jazz. Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times says, "Hansen was a ball of energy, creating an atmosphere of high voltage excitement."
In 2004, Nelson Rodriguez of Latin Beat magazine selected Susie's CD Solo Flight as one of its top 100 Independent Latin Jazz recordings. As Mark Holston wrote in JAZZIZ Magazine, "her violin speaks the language of Latin Jazz with total fluency." Their music appeals to audiences of all ages and all ethnic backgrounds. Susie and her band play familiar and traditional Salsa in Spanish, many original Salsa and Latin Jazz compositions, Latinstyle interpretations of American jazz standards, typico Cuban Charanga music, and great Salsa and Cha Cha Cha in English. Their music also includes the popular Latin dance styles of Cumbia, Merengue and Bolero. The Salsa vocals are authentic and improvisational. The band is truly a crowd pleaser with its rhythmic energy and drive. A long-time favorite in Los Angeles, Susie and her band play more than 150 live performances every year, including such events as the Playboy Jazz Festival, Fiesta Broadway, San Jose Jazz Festival and Newport Beach Jazz Festival. Susie has toured nationally with her band, and has personally appeared and/or recorded with Tito Puente, Orquesta Los Van Van, Giovani Hidalgo, Vikki Carr, Orquesta Aragon, Paquito d'Rivera, Francisco Aguabella, Macy Grey, Jose Rizo's Jazz on the Latin Side All- Stars, Tierra, El Gran Combo, Rachel Z, Bobby Matos, Orquesta Broadway, and Sonora Poncena. The band has opened for Los Lobos, Diane Schuur, Andy Montanez, Tito Nieves, Nestor Torres and more. Her recorded music has charted well with radio and club DJs across the US and throughout the world.
This year's festival hosts national headliner Susie Hansen Latin Band. Popular in the LA Scene, violinist Susie Hansen and her band are celebrating their twentieth anniversary as well as the release of Susie's third CD, Representante de la Salsa. Susie and her band play Afro-Cuban Salsa and Latin Jazz, and they have really cranked up the dance energy for their new recording. A favorite in Los Angeles for many years, the Susie Hansen Latin Band has performed to hundreds of thousands of people. They get the audience up and moving-as Susie says, "We aim for the feet!"