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Mas Cabeza

Listen to the traditional Spanish vocal intro and standard Latin rhythm that opens "Descarga Mas Cabeza," the first cut off Mas Cabeza's debut album, E=Mas Cabeza2, and you might just dismiss it as a generic effort by another San Francisco Latin band. But once leader Patrick Morehead slashes into the proceedings with his badass psychedelic organ sound, you realize something different is on tap here.

Formed in 2001, Mas Cabeza combines the melodies of Morehead and bassist Ezra Gale with the rhythms of two of the area's finest Latin percussionists, congero Alan Rivera and drummer Pepe Jacobo, to round off its Frank Zappa-battles-Eddie Palmieri sound. By conveniently crossing from Latin into jam-band territory without pandering to typical "we funky"-isms, Morehead's compositions have brought enough of the required balance of head-expanding and booty-shaking to make the band a regular at jazz clubs like Bruno's, Butterfly, and the Latin-jazz-themed 850 Cigar Bar. And any act that successfully reconfigures the Oscar Hammerstein standard "All the Things You Are" with a Latin swing deserves to be your friend.

Aside from being a local salsa scene fixture, Morehead, along with Gale, also plays in the electric-era Miles Davis inspired combo Bitches Brew. That kind of diversity on its leader's part brings a daring twist to Mas Cabeza, which presents its largely instrumental mix of Latin jazz, Cuban rhythms, funk, and reggae dub with a slight space-rock edge.
Text copy from sfweekly.com/