By Larry Claflin Jr.
When members of Grupo Fantasia visit their home countries or vacation in Latin America, they never return empty-handed. The musicians — who hail from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the island of CuraÃßao — bring the latest Caribbean songs back for the Beverly-based band to learn.
"People love Grupo Fantasia because we have the hottest music before any band is doing it," said Angel Wagner, a percussionist who founded the nine-member group with his wife, Karen, in 1993. "It keeps it fresh."
The band recently won Best Latin Band at the 2009 New England Urban Music Awards.
Besides crowd favorites like Santana's "Oye Como Va," the group mixes in fresh songs from Juan Luis Guerra, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Anthony Santos and others. Members even beat Hollywood to the punch in 2006, when they learned and performed tunes from the sound track of "El Cantante," the film starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, before it was released.
"(The band) knows hundreds of songs from all over the Caribbean," Karen Wagner said. "The members of our band are mixed; our music is mixed. ... We're not exclusive of one island or country, (and) that sets us apart."
Karen Wagner said she closed her successful jewelry shop to help start the band in 1993, using the proceeds from selling the North Beverly business's inventory to buy equipment. Now the couple manage the band together, and both work as substitute teachers at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School to make ends meet.
Many of Grupo Fantasia's members are also tutors and teachers, Angel Wagner said, allowing for flexible schedules, especially in summer when they play several times a week. Most are original members, Karen Wagner added.
Besides Wagner, the band includes bassist Luis Rodriguez, pianist Robert Silver, percussionist Denis Pimentel, saxophonist Raiden Novas, Amado Rodriguez on bongos, singer Miguel Ortiz, trumpeter Jesus Ramirez and guitarist Roderick Camalia.
Angel Wagner, a native of Moca, Dominican Republic, said he's played professionally since the age of 10. His first percussion instrument was a crude guira he fashioned out of a sheet of metal and a fork. He now masters more than 25 percussion instruments, including the tambura, timbales, congas, bongos, maracas, even the cowbell.
Stylistically, Grupo Fantasia is just as diverse: It plays salsa, rhumba, cha-cha-cha and danzón music of Cuba; vallenato and cumbia from Colombia; some samba and bossa nova from Brazil; and, from the Dominican Republic, merengue and bachata, country music from its mountains. Also, the band mixes in some calypso and reggae.
Members tap into all these styles when the band visits schools and adult centers for educational workshops, as it has for about 15 years. The classes, which are funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the New England Foundation for the Arts, take students on a one-hour Caribbean tour, Karen Wagner said.
"We start in Cuba, with roots in Africa, then travel to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico," she said, teaching the history of Caribbean music, its instruments and dance styles.
Karen Wagner said the band plays gigs in Boston, New York and all over New England. Currently, it has a standing Thursday-night slot at Agave in Portsmouth, N.H.
Grupo Fantasia has been hired by some A-list celebrities, according to Karen Wagner, who named David Ortiz and Whoopi Goldberg as fans. The band also performed at former Gov. Mitt Romney's inauguration party and helped Sen. Ted Kennedy celebrate his 76th birthday at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, she said.
The band is very inclusive, she added, and fans often have dinner and socialize with members.
The audience is invited to jump on stage and dance along with the choreographed moves of the band, said Angel Wagner, who has an ever-present smile on his face.
Grupo Fantasia on the North Shore this summer
July 18: Forest River Park Latin Barbecue, 32 Clifton St., Salem, 1-5 p.m. Cost: $10, free for senior citizens and free for anyone who brings a senior.
Aug. 1: Beverly Homecoming Dance for River House, Cove Community Center, East Corning Street, Beverly, 7:30-10:30 p.m. $10 tickets include salsa lesson and barbecue dinner.
Aug. 16: Leather City Common Concert, Lowell Street, Peabody, 6-7:30 p.m. Free.
Sept. 13: Peabody International Festival, Main Street, late afternoon. Free.
Oct. 4: Topsfield Fair, Route 1, Topsfield. 2 and 7 p.m., in the Grandstand Arena. Free with the price of fair admission.
