Friday at Levitt: Latin-infused band Incendio makes Dayton debut

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Musical innovation remains paramount for Incendio, presenting a night of Latin-infused instrumentals at Levitt Pavilion in Dayton on Friday, July 29.

The California-based group has continually evolved since Jean Pierre “JP” Durand (guitar, guitar synthesizer) began collaborating with his future wife, Liza Carbé (bass) in 1995. This adventurous streak continued with the additions of Jim Stubblefield (guitar) in 1999 and Timothy Curle (drums), who has been with Incendio for about a decade. The band released its debut album, “Misterioso,” in 2000, introducing its unique style of world fusion music. The band’s 11th and most recent full-length is “Summoning the Muse” (2019).

Durand, whose parents emigrated to the United States from Lima, Peru, recently answered some questions by phone.

Q: You mentioned you had some connections to Dayton. What are they?

A: My dad worked at NCR in Riverside, San Bernardino and in Los Angeles for years. It’s a little bit of a homecoming for me, in a very strange way. I’m like, ‘Oh, Dayton, that’s where NCR is from.’ That’s a funny little connection. I’ve been hearing about Dayton for years, but I had never been until we actually came out to visit a friend in Dayton. We’ve never played there so it’s particularly exciting for us to play Levitt Dayton for the first time.

Q: What have the Levitt Foundation venues meant for Incendio?

A: We’ve had a very long relationship with them and they’re awesome. It all comes down to the directorship at each place and how plugged in they are. It’s about having their ear to the street and going to the booking conferences. They really take the time to go to showcases to find what’s out there and bring music to their communities. This happens in a lot of places that are civically minded. Across the board, all of the Levitt Pavilions go out and get acts. They really do a thorough job. It’s really, really cool.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Q: What do you think about the free aspect of Levitt shows?

A: It’s so different from ticketed events. A for-profit model can bring in a lot of great acts and that’s great but the community aspect of the Levitts is to bring music to everybody regardless of their economic position. It’s something everybody can enjoy, and they can bring family. There are so many great acts that might not fit in well with a ticketed event but are fantastic. We’ve found so many cool bands by seeing the Levitt roster and many of them have gone on to be very successful doing ticketed events at other places.

Q: What was happening with Incendio when everything shut down in March 2020?

A: We did a show on March 14 at a place called Spaghettini here in Orange County, on Seal Beach, a favorite venue. Things were already starting to get weird, and everything shut down on March 16. When things shut down, Liza and I immediately went into concerts with our duo, Carbé and Durand, (which) were broadcast over the Web. We did six or seven of those shows to start with over consecutive weekends. Then, we started to do shows sponsored by venues we played a lot, so we played to everybody. It was a matter of giving our fanbase something that made sense and that worked and helped.

Q: Did you do any recording during lockdown?

A: We did a lot of recording but not specifically for the band. Liza and I did the duo concerts and we finished writing a book called “Thrive and Survive in Music and Business.” The (book) is kind of a guide to independent music making and self-promotion. We also compiled a number of previous concerts, some of which were unreleased material, and put that out on YouTube to give people a sense of the history of the band. That was pretty cool. We did some recording as our duo. Jim Stubblefield, the other co-founder, did a little bit of solo recording.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Q: What are the plans for a new Incendio album?

A: We were going to go through live material and compile it, but we just got so busy with everything, which is good. It was a very head-clearing and future-defining time for all four of us in our band. It was definitely a strange time to get the brakes put on, but we had a little time to reflect. We could think of other directions and other ways we could be moving, both inside and outside of Incendio. I think all bands went through that. Everybody went through it but creative people, in general, figured out how to maximize their time and really reflect upon what they want to do.

Q: What does that mean for Incendio moving forward?

A: We didn’t communicate a whole lot during the break so when we got back together, which was in the summertime, everybody seemed really fresh. Everybody came back energized and focused, which is really cool, and that freshness has continued through now, so things are really good. The stage show is always evolving. I occasionally use a guitar synthesizer on stage. We have several backing tracks with piano so we’re presenting the music in a way we never really did prior to the pandemic. We did a little bit before but now we’re really doing more and presenting a much fuller-sounding show, which we’re really happy about.

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.

HOW TO GO

Who: The 2022 Eichelberger Concert Season presents Incendio

Where: Levitt Pavilion, 134 S. Main St., Dayton

When: 7 p.m. Friday, July 29

Cost: Free

More info: www.levittdayton.org

Artist info: incendioband.com

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