Fulaso
Gig Seeker Pro

Fulaso

Brooklyn, NY | Established. Jan 01, 2014

Brooklyn, NY
Established on Jan, 2014
Band Latin Funk

Calendar

Music

Press


"Troker and Fulaso Bring the Fun - and the Music"

There was no particular sign that the New York City-based Fulaso was going to be a party band when it took the stage at the International Festival of Arts and Idea’s first big show on the Green Saturday evening.

The trombone player blew a few notes into his microphone. The band members took their positions. Someone counted off. "One, two." And boom: instant groove.

"Now I like salsa, and I like the mambo too," singer Erica Ramos crooned. "but nothing gives me that fever like doing the bugaloo."

Fulaso, which is an acronym for "funky Latin soul," does just what its name implies. It combines Latin rhythms with funk and R&B to produce a sound that lets the band roam from beat to beat while still keeping things tight. But the "fu" in Fulaso also stands for "fun." The people in the 10-piece band — Erica Ramos on lead vocals, Juan Sebastian Bowens Rodriguez on keys, Patrick Hall on trombone, Michael Irwin on trumpet, Mario Padrón on bass, Charley Rodriguez on timbales, Dawn Drake on congas, Maria Eisen on baritone sax, Stefan Feniuk on tenor sax, and Juan Carlo Lampreia Rodriguez on percussion — flashed one another smiles constantly as they dug into their set, encouraging each other as they soloed, and moving about the stage to be closer to one another when the music got particularly knotty. But Ramos also proved a consummate frontwoman. When she wasn’t singing, she danced across the stage, engaging the audience every second of the way.

And Ramos’s banter in between songs was almost as entertaining as the songs themselves. To introduce a song about, yes, bodega cats, she began: "I haven’t been to a lot of corner stores in Connecticut, but I was wondering if they have cats in them."

"Yeah! Yeah!" someone yelled from the front of the crowd. By then, halfway through the set, Ramos had her audience in the palm of her hand.

"And they keep out all the rats!" she said, to widespread laughter, before launching into the song itself — one of the strongest in a strong set that ended with an old-school R&B call-and-response singalong, followed by a smoking cover of Nina Simone’s "Feeling Good." - Brian Slattery


"Concierto de la Semana....!Un, Dos, Tres, Fulaso!"

“Sólo tenemos el aquí y el ahora”. Así define su filosofía Erica Ramos, vocalista y única mujer del conjunto Fulaso, una banda formada por diez miembros que aportan su expertise instrumental y sus raíces de Puerto Rico, California, Nueva York, México, Colombia y Cuba a este proyecto musical único. Se conocieron tocando juntos en Spanglish Fly, otra agrupación conocida en la escena musical latina de Nueva York por hacer Boogaloo, pero en seguida vieron que tenían mucho más que ofrecer y otros sonidos más variados con los que experimentar.

Hablamos con la líder de la banda, que se presenta este fin de semana en SOBs, sobre saborear el presente y el buen momento que vive la música latina en nuestra ciudad.

¿Cómo surge la idea de crear este grupo?

Después de coincidir en Spanglish Fly, queríamos hacer más música, no solo Boogaloo, queríamos experimentar con el género y lo que cada uno de nosotros podía aportar. En mi caso, mi familia es de origen mexicano y mi primera conexión con la música latina eran las rancheras y el Mariachi, hasta que me mudé a Nueva York y entré en contacto con la escena de la salsa, el boogaloo y músicas caribeñas.

¿Qué buscan transmitir con su música?

Definitivamente hacemos música para divertirse y dejarse llevar. Buscamos proyectar una energía especial con la que el público se olvide de todo y se sienta libre para moverse y estar presente. Mi filosofía es que solo tenemos el aquí y el ahora, nada más, y repetimos mucho esa idea en todos nuestros conciertos: “solo tenemos esta noche, así que… ¡arriba y a disfrutar de la vida!”

Para alguien que no los conozca, ¿cómo describirían su estilo?

Hacemos música latina y funky en inglés y en español, con influencias de James Brown, Orlando Marín, Eddie Palmieri, Jonny Colón… de todos los pesos pesados del Boogaloo realmente.

¿Cuál es una buena canción para empezar a escuchar y entender FuLaSo?

“Working Hard” (trabajando duro), escrita por David Frankle, es un buen punto de partida. Es muy funky, pero claramente latina y para bailar.

¿Cómo te sientes siendo la única mujer en un grupo de hombres?

Sinceramente, es un honor. Trabajo con un grupo de músicos con mucho talento y muy trabajadores. Que confíen en mí para ser la voz del proyecto es tremendo […] ¡Vivimos en Nueva York! Podrían haber elegido a cualquiera, pero me eligieron a mí y eso es una gran responsabilidad.

¿Crees que es un buen momento para la música latina en Nueva York?

¡Oh dios mío! Es increíble, la música latina está tan viva en esta ciudad… Hay muchas bandas nuevas que están surgiendo ahora de estilos tan diferentes como salsa y cumbia psicodélica, rock latino, cantautores, mariachis… somos como una familia en la que todos se apoyan. -


"Fulaso was my Favorite Act"

"While the Carnival stage was definitely enjoyable, it was the Rumba stage that really brought up the festival experience with West End Mambo and Fulaso, by playing a bunch of Salsa and Latin Boogaloo oldies which got the large crowd forming on the outskirts of the park’s muddy grass jamming hard. Fulaso was my favorite act, the band’s chemistry and the way the songstress of the group, Erica Ramos, worked the crowd was a fascinating experience, it’s not often that there’s a band solely dedicated to Latin Boogaloo; one of those genres of music that generates energy whenever it’s played." - Luis Rambaut


Discography

Funky Latin Soul EP
1. Boogaloo Is Here To Stay
2. Workin' Hard
3. Masterpiece
4. No Mires
Produced and Released by Fulaso, c 2015
Recorded to Analog at The Creamery Recording Studio in Greenpoint Brooklyn

The Funky Basement EP
1. La Rumba
2. My Little Baby
3. Bodega Cat
Produced and Released by Fulaso c 2017 in conjunction with Peace & Rhythm Records and Enlace Funk to limited print vinyl 45
Recorded to Analog at The Creamery Recording Studio in Greenpoint Brooklyn

Photos

Bio

Fulaso, short for Funky Latin Soul, is an unparalleled dectet impassioned by mixing classic salsa and boogaloo arrangements fueled by Latin World rhythms with slammin' funk and soul.  Led by Los Angeles born front woman, Erica Ramos, with    “…Broadway star power and control over an audience, a neo-blues-mama personality and pipes to match that fit the repertoire perfectly (Dave Coyne, Glide Magazine 2017), this tight troupe is committed to igniting bodies and minds with rhythmic reactions so powerful, it wakes and shakes the unconscious!

From the David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center and notable festivals like the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and GreenRiver Music Festival, to the notorious NYC night clubs Brooklyn Bowl, Nublu, and SOBs, Fulaso is spreading a high energy dance party epidemic with a signature sound that emanates the 60’s and 70’s of Spanish Harlem in New York City since its inception in 2014.  This unique ensemble has opened for iconic legends Joe Bataan, Harvey Averne, and Ismael Miranda.   They have also been fortunate share the stage with contemporary favorites Pedrito Martinez, Troker, Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, and Karikatura, to name a few.   

Fulaso's recoded music is a pure window into the band’s incredible soul and original live sound. Fulaso boasts two self produced EP’s recorded LIVE to analog, and a third recorded this past November at The Creamery Recording Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  Following their first EP, Funky Latin Soul released in 2015, The Funky Basement was released on a two-side vinyl 45 of La Rumba, backed with My Little Baby courtesy of Peace & Rhythm in association with Enlace Funk.  Fulaso expects to release their third EP no later than summer 2018 and can’t wait to share the newest additions to their signature brand of Funky Latin Soul!  

Band Members