East L.A. Blazers Go Beyond Classic R

The Blazers hail from L.A.’s Eastside, but their 90-minute set on Friday at the Palomino--framed with Chuck Berry’s “Down the Road Apiece” and “Bye Bye Johnny”--firmly placed the quartet in the city’s roots-rockin’ bar-band camp.

Classic R&B; is the foundation, but the Blazers incorporated healthy dollops of country, straight blues and rock ‘n’ roll. The group’s Spanish-language material is largely built on the slinky cumbia rhythm, which snugly fit the R&B; slant. “Short Fuse” and the country-guitar hook and ingratiating chorus of “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” indicate they can fashion convincing originals.

The band revolves around Big Manuel Gonzales, an extremely dexterous, fleet-fingered guitarist--he played a lot of notes, but they were marked by constant invention. Ruben Guaderrama complemented Gonzales with simple, melodic solos.

Sounds like another Los Lobos? Well, not yet anyway. The Blazers--whose debut album, due next month, will be produced by Lobos’ Cesar Rosas--lack the musical range of their East L.A. forerunners, and neither Gonzales nor Guaderrama matches Rosas or David Hidalgo as singers. But within its narrower framework, the band’s arranging smarts, energy and Gonzales’ stature as a budding guitar hero bodes well for the future.