One of the most viewed and commented album reviews over the past year has been Marlon Simon’s In Case You Missed It. People have responded to Simon’s outstanding musicianship, creative compositions, and kind nature with enthusiastic praise. Simon’s group not only performs some straight ahead Latin Jazz, he also incorporates Santeria bata drumming in a very real way and places his music in orchestral settings. It’s really quite an album; without a doubt, one of my favorites for 2007!

Latin Jazz fans around the Philadelphia area will have a rare opportunity to experience the vision that Simon created on the album firsthand. This Saturday, Dec. 1st, Simon will be performing with his core quintet, as well as a string quartet and group of bata drummers. The concert will be held at the Painted Bride, with 7:00 and 9:00 shows. This is a unique chance - it’s not easy to travel with a Latin Jazz group, and suffice to say, it’s very unusual to travel with an additional string quartet and bata section! Don’t miss it - this is one of those events that makes me question my West Coast home!

Check out the article on Simon, his group, and this performance below. In Case You Missed It is nominated for Album of the Year in the Vote Today!

Marlon Simon jazzes Up Chamber Music
Marlon Simon and The Nagual Spirits coming to Philadelphia.
Friday, November 23, 2007
By JERRY DUCKETT
The Express-Times
Chamber music doesn’t usually conjure up thoughts of jazz. It’s always been thought of as western classical music played only by string quartets.

Chamber Music America, an organization dedicated to promoting artistic excellence and economic stability within the profession, defines the genre as music for small ensembles in which players perform one to a part, generally without a conductor.

Chamber music today comprises many different musical styles, and more jazz artists have entered this particular world of music.

In 1995, native Venezuelan educator, percussionist and composer Marlon Simon formed his sextet, The Nagual Spirits. He is one of a few jazz artists to be awarded Chamber Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation grant, a competitive program in which the organization commissions and presents new works in the jazz idiom, recognizing both established and emerging artists.

One condition of the grant is that two concerts be performed featuring a new composition. Simon fulfilled half of that requirement in January with an appearance at New York City’s Blue Note. He completes his commitment at 7 and 9 p.m., Dec. 1 at the Painted Bride in Philadelphia.

The concerts will include 13 pieces, his core Nagual Spirits sextet, a string quartet and a Bata (drums) section. The experimental project, called “The Nagual Chamber Folkloric Project,” includes the newest piece, “Passing By.”

Simon, 46, immigrated to the United States in 1987, enrolling at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia to study the drum set and tympani. In 1990, he left for New York City and received a bachelor of arts in jazz and contemporary music from the New School for Social Research.

He wanted to advance his musical talents, particularly jazz, which he was attracted to after a friend found an old Betamax video of Dizzy Gillespie, which he thought was “pretty cool.”

From his home in Cherry Hill, N.J., Simon says, “Until then, I had never taken a music lesson and picked up everything by ear, listening and playing dance music in South America. I began performing in concerts and clubs, and by the age of 16, I was opening for national acts.”

His big break came in 1999, while working as a sideman on a recording session for bassist Charles Frambough. The producer took note of his talent as a percussionist and asked him to do his own recording, “The Music of Marlon Simon,” on K-Jazz Records.

“Rumba a la Patato” followed in 2000, on Cubop/Ubiquity Recordings, followed by “Live in Bolivia” in 2004 on Intrigue Records. His latest, “In Case You Missed It,” was released this year on the Jazz Heads label.

In January, Simon will release the first of a series, “Marlon Simon Latin Jazz French Project.”

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