Millie Jocelyn, lead singer with Los Vecinos, won’t say how old she is, but it doesn’t matter. What’s clear is she’s a kid, as fresh-faced, brash and energetic as she was 19 years ago when she blew apart the New York dance scene. When Los Vecinos debuted in 1975, few people other than Jocelyn understood that they were just the tip of the iceberg that would soon become merengue mania.
Jocelyn and Los Vecinos performed Sunday night at Viva! Chicago, the sixth annual city-sponsored Hispanic music fest in Grant Park that took place Saturday and Sunday.
With attendance down to an estimated 60,000 from last year’s 100,000 (perhaps because the Rolling Stones were in town, or because Viva! coincided with Mexican Independence Day festivities at Plaza Garibaldi in Little Village, or because there were no real Puerto Rican headliners to draw that community), Viva! had a lackluster feel this year.
Empty seats dotted the audience; the dance area was desolate most of the night. Still, Jocelyn worked-finally getting the audience on its feet toward the end of her set-and never letting up.
Jocelyn fronts Los Vecinos, a 13-member merengue machine. The Dominican Republic’s national rhythm, merengue is a thrusting, exhausting style even more manic than West Indian soca.
Using a four-person percussion section, Los Vecinos creates layers of rhythm that seem to crash one on top of the other in a relentless, almost circular fashion. Keyboardist Martin Quezada pounded on his instrument in almost the same manner as the conga players.
Up front, Jocelyn made merengue look easy-jumping, dancing, twirling, shaking her hands all over her body as if on fire, and exhorting the crowd. Charismatic and delightful, Jocelyn growled, whispered, shouted and scatted her way through about an hour of non-stop music.
One of the few women in salsa, Jocelyn is tough and beautiful, playful and sexy, but never exploitative or stereotypical. She hires women in her band-and not just as backup singers: witness Julie Sasman in the spotlight on saxophone.
Viva! featured 19 other acts, including Zafra, a local salsa group that got folks going Saturday afternoon. Made up of graduates of Roberto Clemente High School, Zafra is an all-percussion band (except for a bass player) that employs steel drums to create its melodies. The resultant sound is lighter than most salsa, but harder than calypso.
Competing with crowd noise and radio broadcasts being blasted over the festival loudspeakers, Zafra’s youthful members played an infectious selection of Latino covers. The audience would have them return for an encore, but fest officials, eager to move the program along, rushed them off before they had finished their version of the classic, “Muevete.”
Viva! also included a midway on Jackson Boulevard. The food vendors this year seemed split in nearly equal numbers between North American fast-food chains and Latin American restaurants.
