Cuban Band Sintesis Scorches in Edgy, Funky Performance

Blending the ominous drumming and chanting of Afro-Cuban religious rituals with the psychedelic intensity of ‘70s-inspired jazz-rock, a concert by veteran Cuban ensemble Sintesis can easily make the entire rock en espanol genre sound hesitant and immature in comparison.

Sintesis’ scorching appearance Saturday at the California Plaza was also an important reminder of the remarkable vitality of Cuban music.

Just when you are ready to turn away from the island (tired perhaps of the timba genre or the son revival), there comes another group, novel style or new album to convince you that Cuba will never run out of dazzling musical ideas.

“Ancestros,” Sintesis’ now classic debut album, must have sounded pretty trippy when it was released back in 1977. Today, the times have finally caught up with Sintesis.

At the California Plaza, the group’s funky workouts sounded edgy, but also palatable enough to have people of all ages dancing.

Led by bassist Carlos Alfonso Valdes, the nine-piece band has perfected the art of blending soaring female vocals with complex, tribal polyrhythms. These incandescent chants are then enriched with melancholy cushions of synthesizers and piercing guitar solos.

It’s as if Los Munequitos de Matanzas spent a summer jamming with Weather Report and the rhythm section of Sly and the Family Stone.