If you’ve listened to our show, you know our theme music is the work of PALO!
That’s PALO! with an exclamation point because the music’s like a jolt of Cuban coffee. Its founder Steve Roitstein is the bandleader who makes the cafecito.
PALO! is an Afro-Cuban funk band made in Miami. Their sound is Miami. Their influences come from the 305 and the music of the Caribbean.
Roitstein founded the band in 2003 while he was a studio musician and teaching business classes at Miami-Dade College. He’d worked with all-time greats like Celia Cruz and Willy Chirino to make Grammy-winning music for them.
Roitstein wanted to put his own spin on Miami beats and PALO! was born.
People noticed. Roitstein was nominated for a Grammy and a Latin Grammy. And PALO! continues to make music in this, its 20th year — with new members and new sounds.
They’ll be performing Thursday night at the Miami Beach Bandshell.
On the Feb. 13 episode of Sundial, Roitstein tells us about PALO! at 20 — and maybe the next 20.
On Sundial's previous episode, Niven Patel told us about the joys of farming and cooking. The Miami-based chef was raised in Jacksonville and owns three restaurants in Miami: Ghee Indian Kitchen, Mamey and Orno. He started a farm in Homestead almost a decade ago to grow produce for the dishes he serves at his restaurants.
Listen to Sundial Monday through Thursday on WLRN, 91.3 FM, live at 1 p.m., rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Missed a show? Find every episode of Sundial on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
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