I picked up a salsa gig in the middle of this past week, playing tonight at the tapas restaurant Eclipse di Luna in Miami Circle. It was sort of two gigs in one:
1. The first two sets were a quartet (guitar, bongos/vocals, congas/vocals, and saxes/flutes). We played latin jazz, bossa novas, and a couple of Buena Vista Social Club tunes. I fared very well in these circumstances, playing the melody and taking a solo.
2. In the second two sets, we swapped the guitar for a keyboardist. We also changed to much more authentic salsa and merengue, and it was here that I had my ass handed to me time and time again, as I vainly attempted to read handwritten, dog-eared charts, at 250 BPM. In fact, I was surprised that I didn't get fired in between sets (which I would have welcomed because I was so embarrassed).
I'm pretty sure I won't be getting called for this one again!