Los Perros Cubanos

What: A performance by Los Perros Cubanos. Also, two members of the Milwaukee-based band Twang Dragons will perform an opening acoustic set.

Where: The Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St.

When: Saturday (March 16). Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Admission: $10. This is an all-ages concert. Alcohol will be available to those with IDs.

More information: Visit www.rhodecenter.org

A balmy Caribbean breeze will blow into the Rhode Center for the Arts on Saturday (March 16) when Los Perros Cubanos performs a high-energy show filled with salsa and cha-cha as well as other musical forms.

The show is part of the Rhode’s Rebuilder Concert Series.

The Highland Park, Ill.-based band features six members playing instruments including electric, acoustic and lap-steel guitar, timbales and congas.

We asked Roger Sosa, the band’s leader and a first-generation Cuban-American, some questions via email. Sosa plays acoustic guitar and sings.

Question: How and when did the band come together?

Answer: The band came together in 2009 as an outgrowth of my previous band, Blue Fog.

Blue Fog was a blues-rock act that (fellow Cubanos band member) John Manos and I played in for 10 years.

We were searching for a new direction, and I had always wanted to do more with Cuban music, since I grew up listening to it as a kid and kind of came back to it later in life.

So we started small with just an acoustic act and found great musicians who shared our vision of creating music that we call “Cubano fusion.”

Question: What is your background as a musician?

Answer: I started playing piano at age 7 and picked up guitar and trombone along the way. Actually, for a while trombone was my best instrument, but I really haven’t played it since high school.

Guitar took over, and I have played in a number of bands over the years in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

I grew up a Cuban kid in southern Illinois, so while I heard lots of Cuban music at home, I also grew up listening to rock, blues, country —you name it.

My musical taste is all over the map. I like everything from Nat King Cole to Frank Zappa. One of the things we try to do in the band is to fuse those influences with the traditional music to create something both new and familiar at the same time.

Question: Describe the band’s music.

Answer: Los Perros Cubanos features the music of Cuba’s Golden Age of the 1940s and 1950s blended with rock, jazz, soul and blues influences to create Cubano fusion — a totally unique sound.

Since its inception, the band has become one of the Midwest’s hottest Latin acts. We combine the traditional Cuban music styles of Son Cubano, salsa, cha cha, and charanga with modern instrumental prowess to produce a captivating sound that moves your feet.

For example, on a song like “Como Fue,” we add lap-steel guitar, which is not a traditional Cuban instrument. It gives the song a bit of a country feel and adds the feeling of longing of the original song.

On “Cuarto de Tula,” we substitute dueling guitars for horns but still get the same “jam like the building is on fire” feel.

Question: You are a first-generation Cuban-American. So this music must be very personal for you. Please elaborate.

Answer: Very personal. One of the motivating factors for forming the band for me was the passing of my aunt and uncle, who had both been very encouraging to me about my music and always wanted me to learn more Cuban songs.

My parents have been very supportive also in that they are always suggesting musicians and songs that I haven’t heard before.

I remember taking trips with my family and listening to Orquesta Aragon and Beny More on my dad’s eight-track tapes.

I also remember seeing the cover of Perez Prado’s “Havana 3 a.m.” since my dad had it on the turntable a lot. So, this music is very personal and brings back strong memories for me.

Question: “Perros” translates to “dogs” in English. So you are the Cuban Dogs?

Answer: Yes, we are. There is a joke that is the origin of the name — but the punch line is that the Cuban dog gets the girls! So, we are the Cuban Dogs.

Question: Do you ever travel back to Cuba?

Answer: I have not been back to Cuba as an adult, but was baptized there in 1958 — on Dec. 31, the day before Fidel Castro took over from Batista.

My parents were already living here, but wanted me baptized there. We got out on one of the last planes that afternoon after they had me baptized. Life is a game of inches.

Question: Please add any other comments you’d like to make.

Answer: We hope folks come out to have a good time on March 16. We are very excited to bring our music to Kenosha. We hope to see all our Wisconsin friends.

Comments - Kensoha News

What: A performance by Los Perros Cubanos. Also, two members of the Milwaukee-based band Twang Dragons will perform an opening acoustic set.

Where: The Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St.

When: Saturday (March 16). Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Admission: $10. This is an all-ages concert. Alcohol will be available to those with IDs.

More information: Visit www.rhodecenter.org

A balmy Caribbean breeze will blow into the Rhode Center for the Arts on Saturday (March 16) when Los Perros Cubanos performs a high-energy show filled with salsa and cha-cha as well as other musical forms.

The show is part of the Rhode’s Rebuilder Concert Series.

The Highland Park, Ill.-based band features six members playing instruments including electric, acoustic and lap-steel guitar, timbales and congas.

We asked Roger Sosa, the band’s leader and a first-generation Cuban-American, some questions via email. Sosa plays acoustic guitar and sings.

Question: How and when did the band come together?

Answer: The band came together in 2009 as an outgrowth of my previous band, Blue Fog.

Blue Fog was a blues-rock act that (fellow Cubanos band member) John Manos and I played in for 10 years.

We were searching for a new direction, and I had always wanted to do more with Cuban music, since I grew up listening to it as a kid and kind of came back to it later in life.

So we started small with just an acoustic act and found great musicians who shared our vision of creating music that we call “Cubano fusion.”

Question: What is your background as a musician?

Answer: I started playing piano at age 7 and picked up guitar and trombone along the way. Actually, for a while trombone was my best instrument, but I really haven’t played it since high school.

Guitar took over, and I have played in a number of bands over the years in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

I grew up a Cuban kid in southern Illinois, so while I heard lots of Cuban music at home, I also grew up listening to rock, blues, country —you name it.

My musical taste is all over the map. I like everything from Nat King Cole to Frank Zappa. One of the things we try to do in the band is to fuse those influences with the traditional music to create something both new and familiar at the same time.

Question: Describe the band’s music.

Answer: Los Perros Cubanos features the music of Cuba’s Golden Age of the 1940s and 1950s blended with rock, jazz, soul and blues influences to create Cubano fusion — a totally unique sound.

Since its inception, the band has become one of the Midwest’s hottest Latin acts. We combine the traditional Cuban music styles of Son Cubano, salsa, cha cha, and charanga with modern instrumental prowess to produce a captivating sound that moves your feet.

For example, on a song like “Como Fue,” we add lap-steel guitar, which is not a traditional Cuban instrument. It gives the song a bit of a country feel and adds the feeling of longing of the original song.

On “Cuarto de Tula,” we substitute dueling guitars for horns but still get the same “jam like the building is on fire” feel.

Question: You are a first-generation Cuban-American. So this music must be very personal for you. Please elaborate.

Answer: Very personal. One of the motivating factors for forming the band for me was the passing of my aunt and uncle, who had both been very encouraging to me about my music and always wanted me to learn more Cuban songs.

My parents have been very supportive also in that they are always suggesting musicians and songs that I haven’t heard before.

I remember taking trips with my family and listening to Orquesta Aragon and Beny More on my dad’s eight-track tapes.

I also remember seeing the cover of Perez Prado’s “Havana 3 a.m.” since my dad had it on the turntable a lot. So, this music is very personal and brings back strong memories for me.

Question: “Perros” translates to “dogs” in English. So you are the Cuban Dogs?

Answer: Yes, we are. There is a joke that is the origin of the name — but the punch line is that the Cuban dog gets the girls! So, we are the Cuban Dogs.

Question: Do you ever travel back to Cuba?

Answer: I have not been back to Cuba as an adult, but was baptized there in 1958 — on Dec. 31, the day before Fidel Castro took over from Batista.

My parents were already living here, but wanted me baptized there. We got out on one of the last planes that afternoon after they had me baptized. Life is a game of inches.

Question: Please add any other comments you’d like to make.

Answer: We hope folks come out to have a good time on March 16. We are very excited to bring our music to Kenosha. We hope to see all our Wisconsin friends.

Comments - Kensoha News

This Midwest hot Latin act brings El Sabor Cubano to BB’s. Los Perros Cubanos combines traditional rhythms and blues, rock, country and jazz to produce a totally unique sound – Cubano Fusion. 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. - Explore St. Louis

This Midwest hot Latin act brings El Sabor Cubano to BB’s. Los Perros Cubanos combines traditional rhythms and blues, rock, country and jazz to produce a totally unique sound – Cubano Fusion. 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. - Explore St. Louis

There’s an old, politically incorrect joke from which the band Los Perros Cubanos derives its name.

In English, the name means the Cuban Dogs.

Roger Sosa, the band leader and only Cuban-American (first generation) member, chuckles when he tells the version of the joke he knows.

A female French poodle across the street turns the heads of an Irish dog, a German dog and a Cuban dog. The three male dogs race across the street to vie for her affection. She tells them she wants the smartest one, so the one who can best use the words liver and cheese in a sentence will win her heart.

Chuckling, Sosa affects an Irish brogue and says, “Ah, lassie, I loves me liver and I loves me cheese.” That dog is dismissed. Doing a German accent for the German dog, Sosa says, “Ach du lieber! Have you ever had the liver and cheese in Germany?” Not smart enough.

It’s a winner

“The Cuban dog looks at both and says, ‘Liver alone, boys. Cheese mine,’?” Sosa laughs.

Basically, it comes down to winners and losers, and Los Perros Cubanos is looking and feeling like a winner these days since scoring a July 24 show at S.P.A.C.E., where several polished up-and-coming bands play (Alabama Shakes last December) as well as widely-known veterans (Judy Collins on July 12).

Los Perros Cubanos mostly covers songs from Cuba’s golden age, the 1940s and ’50s, by artists such as Guillermo Portabales, Perez Prado, Beny Moré and others, but with a little more punch.

The guitar players have a rock background, while the backline is Latin-sounding.

“The idea is we’re fusing those two things together,” Sosa says. “We call it Cuban fusion.”

Between listening to the records his parents brought to the U.S. when they immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1954 and hearing Cuban music on frequent trips to Miami as a child, Sosa became familiar with the music of his heritage early on.

But, being a kid growing up in the United States, he was greatly influenced by rock ’n’ roll. He went on to play in rock cover bands, including Blue Fog, which disbanded in 2009. However, Blue Fog’s repertoire included songs by Latin bands and Latin-influenced bands, such as Buena Vista Social Club, Santana and Tito Puente.

Sosa found his singing voice was best suited for those songs. He began entertaining more seriously the notion of reaching his full potential singing Cuban songs.

“It’s too vibrato-y,” he says. “The style, I would say, is declamatory, like I’m trying to tell a story.”

Then, his Aunt Irma, who was one of his biggest fans but had always told him he should know more Cuban songs, died. That was the final push for forming Los Perros Cubanos in 2009.

“I do get a feeling I’m getting a smile when I’m playing because I try to play some of her favorite stuff,” he says. “We play old, old stuff. We cut it off at the Castro period.”

Classic Cuban

But, it’s not so old it’s outdated. Cuban music from that era appeals to young as well as old, and to non-Latino as well as Latino.

Sosa points to Mike Rodriguez, 35, and Sam Werk, 26, as two of the younger members of the band, but who bring “a lot of passion, discipline and integrity to what we do.”

And, while they’ve played mostly Latin events, such as the Festival Cubano and the Back of the Yards Fiesta, they’re getting booked more often now at general audience venues, such as S.P.A.C.E. and the Tap House Grill in Highwood. Sosa is seeing a lot of audience crossover.

“Santana is maybe two, three standard deviations away from what we do, further in the rock direction. But it’s the same basic idea,” Sosa says. “And, people like to dance.”

Audience favorites include “Como Fue,” by More, which is a slow dance song, and “El Cuarto de Tula,” by Buena Vista Social Club, a song that sends the crowd out into the night wanting more.

“Everybody gets turned loose,” Sosa says about the musicians. “It’s a throw down.”

Los Perros Cubanos might not have existed if it weren’t for good timing. Although born in Illinois in 1958, Sosa was baptized in Cuba on Dec. 31, and returned to the U.S. that afternoon. On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro had seized control of the island.

“A game of inches,” Sosa says. “You know what, though? I’d still be in music.”

Maybe just not the winning dog like he is with Los Perros Cubanos, though.
- Chicago Sun-Times

There’s an old, politically incorrect joke from which the band Los Perros Cubanos derives its name.

In English, the name means the Cuban Dogs.

Roger Sosa, the band leader and only Cuban-American (first generation) member, chuckles when he tells the version of the joke he knows.

A female French poodle across the street turns the heads of an Irish dog, a German dog and a Cuban dog. The three male dogs race across the street to vie for her affection. She tells them she wants the smartest one, so the one who can best use the words liver and cheese in a sentence will win her heart.

Chuckling, Sosa affects an Irish brogue and says, “Ah, lassie, I loves me liver and I loves me cheese.” That dog is dismissed. Doing a German accent for the German dog, Sosa says, “Ach du lieber! Have you ever had the liver and cheese in Germany?” Not smart enough.

It’s a winner

“The Cuban dog looks at both and says, ‘Liver alone, boys. Cheese mine,’?” Sosa laughs.

Basically, it comes down to winners and losers, and Los Perros Cubanos is looking and feeling like a winner these days since scoring a July 24 show at S.P.A.C.E., where several polished up-and-coming bands play (Alabama Shakes last December) as well as widely-known veterans (Judy Collins on July 12).

Los Perros Cubanos mostly covers songs from Cuba’s golden age, the 1940s and ’50s, by artists such as Guillermo Portabales, Perez Prado, Beny Moré and others, but with a little more punch.

The guitar players have a rock background, while the backline is Latin-sounding.

“The idea is we’re fusing those two things together,” Sosa says. “We call it Cuban fusion.”

Between listening to the records his parents brought to the U.S. when they immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1954 and hearing Cuban music on frequent trips to Miami as a child, Sosa became familiar with the music of his heritage early on.

But, being a kid growing up in the United States, he was greatly influenced by rock ’n’ roll. He went on to play in rock cover bands, including Blue Fog, which disbanded in 2009. However, Blue Fog’s repertoire included songs by Latin bands and Latin-influenced bands, such as Buena Vista Social Club, Santana and Tito Puente.

Sosa found his singing voice was best suited for those songs. He began entertaining more seriously the notion of reaching his full potential singing Cuban songs.

“It’s too vibrato-y,” he says. “The style, I would say, is declamatory, like I’m trying to tell a story.”

Then, his Aunt Irma, who was one of his biggest fans but had always told him he should know more Cuban songs, died. That was the final push for forming Los Perros Cubanos in 2009.

“I do get a feeling I’m getting a smile when I’m playing because I try to play some of her favorite stuff,” he says. “We play old, old stuff. We cut it off at the Castro period.”

Classic Cuban

But, it’s not so old it’s outdated. Cuban music from that era appeals to young as well as old, and to non-Latino as well as Latino.

Sosa points to Mike Rodriguez, 35, and Sam Werk, 26, as two of the younger members of the band, but who bring “a lot of passion, discipline and integrity to what we do.”

And, while they’ve played mostly Latin events, such as the Festival Cubano and the Back of the Yards Fiesta, they’re getting booked more often now at general audience venues, such as S.P.A.C.E. and the Tap House Grill in Highwood. Sosa is seeing a lot of audience crossover.

“Santana is maybe two, three standard deviations away from what we do, further in the rock direction. But it’s the same basic idea,” Sosa says. “And, people like to dance.”

Audience favorites include “Como Fue,” by More, which is a slow dance song, and “El Cuarto de Tula,” by Buena Vista Social Club, a song that sends the crowd out into the night wanting more.

“Everybody gets turned loose,” Sosa says about the musicians. “It’s a throw down.”

Los Perros Cubanos might not have existed if it weren’t for good timing. Although born in Illinois in 1958, Sosa was baptized in Cuba on Dec. 31, and returned to the U.S. that afternoon. On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro had seized control of the island.

“A game of inches,” Sosa says. “You know what, though? I’d still be in music.”

Maybe just not the winning dog like he is with Los Perros Cubanos, though.
- Chicago Sun-Times

There’s an old, politically incorrect joke from which the band Los Perros Cubanos derives its name.

In English, the name means the Cuban Dogs.

Roger Sosa, the band leader and only Cuban-American (first generation) member, chuckles when he tells the version of the joke he knows.

A female French poodle across the street turns the heads of an Irish dog, a German dog and a Cuban dog. The three male dogs race across the street to vie for her affection. She tells them she wants the smartest one, so the one who can best use the words liver and cheese in a sentence will win her heart.

Chuckling, Sosa affects an Irish brogue and says, “Ah, lassie, I loves me liver and I loves me cheese.” That dog is dismissed. Doing a German accent for the German dog, Sosa says, “Ach du lieber! Have you ever had the liver and cheese in Germany?” Not smart enough.

It’s a winner

“The Cuban dog looks at both and says, ‘Liver alone, boys. Cheese mine,’?” Sosa laughs.

Basically, it comes down to winners and losers, and Los Perros Cubanos is looking and feeling like a winner these days since scoring a July 24 show at S.P.A.C.E., where several polished up-and-coming bands play (Alabama Shakes last December) as well as widely-known veterans (Judy Collins on July 12).

Los Perros Cubanos mostly covers songs from Cuba’s golden age, the 1940s and ’50s, by artists such as Guillermo Portabales, Perez Prado, Beny Moré and others, but with a little more punch.

The guitar players have a rock background, while the backline is Latin-sounding.

“The idea is we’re fusing those two things together,” Sosa says. “We call it Cuban fusion.”

Between listening to the records his parents brought to the U.S. when they immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1954 and hearing Cuban music on frequent trips to Miami as a child, Sosa became familiar with the music of his heritage early on.

But, being a kid growing up in the United States, he was greatly influenced by rock ’n’ roll. He went on to play in rock cover bands, including Blue Fog, which disbanded in 2009. However, Blue Fog’s repertoire included songs by Latin bands and Latin-influenced bands, such as Buena Vista Social Club, Santana and Tito Puente.

Sosa found his singing voice was best suited for those songs. He began entertaining more seriously the notion of reaching his full potential singing Cuban songs.

“It’s too vibrato-y,” he says. “The style, I would say, is declamatory, like I’m trying to tell a story.”

Then, his Aunt Irma, who was one of his biggest fans but had always told him he should know more Cuban songs, died. That was the final push for forming Los Perros Cubanos in 2009.

“I do get a feeling I’m getting a smile when I’m playing because I try to play some of her favorite stuff,” he says. “We play old, old stuff. We cut it off at the Castro period.”

Classic Cuban

But, it’s not so old it’s outdated. Cuban music from that era appeals to young as well as old, and to non-Latino as well as Latino.

Sosa points to Mike Rodriguez, 35, and Sam Werk, 26, as two of the younger members of the band, but who bring “a lot of passion, discipline and integrity to what we do.”

And, while they’ve played mostly Latin events, such as the Festival Cubano and the Back of the Yards Fiesta, they’re getting booked more often now at general audience venues, such as S.P.A.C.E. and the Tap House Grill in Highwood. Sosa is seeing a lot of audience crossover.

“Santana is maybe two, three standard deviations away from what we do, further in the rock direction. But it’s the same basic idea,” Sosa says. “And, people like to dance.”

Audience favorites include “Como Fue,” by More, which is a slow dance song, and “El Cuarto de Tula,” by Buena Vista Social Club, a song that sends the crowd out into the night wanting more.

“Everybody gets turned loose,” Sosa says about the musicians. “It’s a throw down.”

Los Perros Cubanos might not have existed if it weren’t for good timing. Although born in Illinois in 1958, Sosa was baptized in Cuba on Dec. 31, and returned to the U.S. that afternoon. On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro had seized control of the island.

“A game of inches,” Sosa says. “You know what, though? I’d still be in music.”

Maybe just not the winning dog like he is with Los Perros Cubanos, though.
- Chicago Sun-Times

There’s an old, politically incorrect joke from which the band Los Perros Cubanos derives its name.

In English, the name means the Cuban Dogs.

Roger Sosa, the band leader and only Cuban-American (first generation) member, chuckles when he tells the version of the joke he knows.

A female French poodle across the street turns the heads of an Irish dog, a German dog and a Cuban dog. The three male dogs race across the street to vie for her affection. She tells them she wants the smartest one, so the one who can best use the words liver and cheese in a sentence will win her heart.

Chuckling, Sosa affects an Irish brogue and says, “Ah, lassie, I loves me liver and I loves me cheese.” That dog is dismissed. Doing a German accent for the German dog, Sosa says, “Ach du lieber! Have you ever had the liver and cheese in Germany?” Not smart enough.

It’s a winner

“The Cuban dog looks at both and says, ‘Liver alone, boys. Cheese mine,’?” Sosa laughs.

Basically, it comes down to winners and losers, and Los Perros Cubanos is looking and feeling like a winner these days since scoring a July 24 show at S.P.A.C.E., where several polished up-and-coming bands play (Alabama Shakes last December) as well as widely-known veterans (Judy Collins on July 12).

Los Perros Cubanos mostly covers songs from Cuba’s golden age, the 1940s and ’50s, by artists such as Guillermo Portabales, Perez Prado, Beny Moré and others, but with a little more punch.

The guitar players have a rock background, while the backline is Latin-sounding.

“The idea is we’re fusing those two things together,” Sosa says. “We call it Cuban fusion.”

Between listening to the records his parents brought to the U.S. when they immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 1954 and hearing Cuban music on frequent trips to Miami as a child, Sosa became familiar with the music of his heritage early on.

But, being a kid growing up in the United States, he was greatly influenced by rock ’n’ roll. He went on to play in rock cover bands, including Blue Fog, which disbanded in 2009. However, Blue Fog’s repertoire included songs by Latin bands and Latin-influenced bands, such as Buena Vista Social Club, Santana and Tito Puente.

Sosa found his singing voice was best suited for those songs. He began entertaining more seriously the notion of reaching his full potential singing Cuban songs.

“It’s too vibrato-y,” he says. “The style, I would say, is declamatory, like I’m trying to tell a story.”

Then, his Aunt Irma, who was one of his biggest fans but had always told him he should know more Cuban songs, died. That was the final push for forming Los Perros Cubanos in 2009.

“I do get a feeling I’m getting a smile when I’m playing because I try to play some of her favorite stuff,” he says. “We play old, old stuff. We cut it off at the Castro period.”

Classic Cuban

But, it’s not so old it’s outdated. Cuban music from that era appeals to young as well as old, and to non-Latino as well as Latino.

Sosa points to Mike Rodriguez, 35, and Sam Werk, 26, as two of the younger members of the band, but who bring “a lot of passion, discipline and integrity to what we do.”

And, while they’ve played mostly Latin events, such as the Festival Cubano and the Back of the Yards Fiesta, they’re getting booked more often now at general audience venues, such as S.P.A.C.E. and the Tap House Grill in Highwood. Sosa is seeing a lot of audience crossover.

“Santana is maybe two, three standard deviations away from what we do, further in the rock direction. But it’s the same basic idea,” Sosa says. “And, people like to dance.”

Audience favorites include “Como Fue,” by More, which is a slow dance song, and “El Cuarto de Tula,” by Buena Vista Social Club, a song that sends the crowd out into the night wanting more.

“Everybody gets turned loose,” Sosa says about the musicians. “It’s a throw down.”

Los Perros Cubanos might not have existed if it weren’t for good timing. Although born in Illinois in 1958, Sosa was baptized in Cuba on Dec. 31, and returned to the U.S. that afternoon. On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro had seized control of the island.

“A game of inches,” Sosa says. “You know what, though? I’d still be in music.”

Maybe just not the winning dog like he is with Los Perros Cubanos, though.
- Chicago Sun-Times