A slice of Jamaica will complement the Thai cuisine at Bangkok Paradise, when SeƱor Perfecto and the One Drops — a North Shore based reggae band — performs at the Salem restaurant tomorrow night. The show will be a precursor to a weekly reggae night at "The Bangkok" planned for the fall, according to SeƱor Perfecto's bassist and director, Steve Spungin.
Spungin of Marblehead said tonight's lineup is expected to include a mix of the band's regular members and some special musical guests.
"It's all about us getting together and playing music, as opposed to the same lineup (every time)," he said.
Recent members of the collective group include Spungin, who just switched from guitar to bass and sings; Will Pirone of Salem on harmonica and keyboard; Ken Clark of Swampscott on keyboard and vocals; Benny Benson of Beverly on drums; Steve Peabody on drums/percussion; Christine Lucas of Marblehead, vocals, Marc O. on saxophone and vocals; Mike Kenny of Rockport on guitar and vocals; Mike Rivela on guitar, and Stevie Wah of Salem on guitar and bass.
Members performing at Bangkok Paradise tomorrow include Spungin, Pirone, Lucas, Mark O., Wah and Kenny.
Spungin is a graduate of Berklee College of Music who has toured Europe and the Eastern United States. He's a guitarist who said his style is based in Flamenco with hints of western European classical, Celtic, South American, Cuban, Mexican and Middle Eastern influences.
Reggae is not Spungin's forte, nor that of the rest of the band, but he said it's "common ground" for members, who fuse a diverse variety of musical influences into the genre.
Normally the band plays more than 40 songs, many written as alternative-rock originals turned into reggae songs, according to Spungin; tomorrow, they will play mostly covers.
Music is also Spungin's day job: He owns the Marblehead School of Music and will open the Salem School of Music in the fall. The new school will be located in the former Landry and Acari building, which he purchased, at Pleasant and Bridge streets. Like the Marblehead location, the new school will offer workshops, summer camps, lessons in guitar, drums, piano bass and voice. He also plans to open a retail store and cafe at the Salem School, where parents can wait for their children to finish lessons.
SeƱor Perfecto takes the stage at 9:30 p.m.
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Staff writer Larry Claflin Jr. writes his "Music Notes" column regularly. He can be reached at lclaflin@salemnews.com
