LJC Community Conversations are designed to explore major ideas in the Latin Jazz world together as a community and inspire conversation through comments. My main motivator here is my belief that LJC readers hold a great deal of knowledge and passion around Latin Jazz, and I think that we can learn something from everyone. Whether you’re a seasoned Latin Jazz performer or a newcomer to the music, leave a comment and let your voice be heard!

This week’s Community Conversation takes a look at regional differences in Latin Jazz from coast to coast . . .

Being a musician based on the West Coast, I’ve often wondered about the secondary citizen reputation that the West Coast holds in both the traditional jazz and the Latin Jazz world. Regardless of the musical quality that you create, you always live under the stigma that you’ve got to go to New York to hear “the real thing.” I’ve heard Latin Jazz performed in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and more; I’ve seen both good and bad performances in each locale. I’ve thought about our dependence of history – just because the music originated in New York, does that mean that no one can ever perform it at an outstanding level? It’s been a discussion that I’ve shared many times . . . it always leaves me with more thoughts and questions.

East Coast musicians definitely established Latin Jazz and since then, there have been many innovations that were born on the East Coast. Bands like Machito and his Afro-Cubans and Tito Puente’s Orchestra defined the music’s essence and popularized Latin Jazz across the country. Dizzy Gillespie fused bebop with Afro-Cuban rhythms, providing a legitimate connection to the jazz community. Since then, numerous Latin Jazz giants have emerged from the East Coast scene – Jerry and Andy Gonzalez, Papo Vazquez, and Bobby Sanabria to name a few. The East Coast, especially New York, has existed as a hotbed of Latin Jazz from its early days of existence.

These fantastic musicians didn’t emerge from thin air – the East Coast created these bands for very specific reasons. New York became the center of cutting edge jazz in the 1940s, and it has remained the focal point of the jazz world ever since. Musicians have traveled to New York in droves, looking to expand their jazz repertoire and ingest all of New York’s diverse musical cultures. In close proximity, a significant Caribbean community planted their roots, looking for work and a better existence. This included a good number of musicians looking for work, both within the Latin dance world, and outside of it. The inevitable collision of these two musical ideas was meant to occur, for both artistic and economic reasons.

West Coast musicians have made their share of fantastic music, but in most cases, it’s hard to match the innovation found on the East Coast. Cal Tjader remains the most significant Latin Jazz musician emerging from the West Coast scene. He established the strength of West Coast Latin Jazz musicians, and in turn, influenced a wealth of musician from all over the country. A second generation of musicians carried the flame into the present – John Santos, Poncho Sanchez, Rebeca Mauleon, Bobby Matos, and more make sure that quality Latin Jazz lives on the West Coast. The cast of artists creating Latin Jazz on the West Coast is strong, but small in number compared to the east.

The West Coast lacked the organic development found back east, but the musical scene grew through the teachings of musical mentors. When Cal Tjader became inspired by Tito Puente’s band, he brought Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo back to San Francisco with him. More masters of Afro-Cuban music were soon to follow; Francisco Aguabella and Orestes Vilato settled into the West Coast scene, quickly finding high profile work. These musicians did more than perform on the West Coast – they taught the local musicians how to play the music authentically. Their teachings established a vibrant Latin Jazz community that never stopped growing. They spawned a group of followers that pursued even more education and brought that back to the West Coast.

At the risk of fueling the fire, I would like to look at the differences between East Coast and West Coast Latin Jazz. I’m not looking to establish that one Latin Jazz scene makes better music; I’d rather recognize the fact that they produce different types of Latin Jazz and then go from there. What musical differences do the West Coast and East Coast bring to the table and how do you envision them? Do you have a preference and why? I’d be very curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on this one.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

This is a sensitive topic for many, but it’s one that we need to address. Let’s get the discussion going – LEAVE A COMMENT and make your voice heard. I’ve isolated a few major questions:

* How Would You Describe the Differences Between The East Coast Latin Jazz sound and The West Coast Latin Jazz sound?

* Would You Break These Into Smaller Groupings – maybe San Francisco and Los Angeles sounds (West Coast) – New York and Miami sounds (East Coast)?

* Has The West Coast Made Any Major Contributions to Latin Jazz?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
LEAVE A COMMENT below with your thoughts – I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts; it would be especially insightful to hear from both coasts! Does East Coast Latin Jazz sound different that West Coast Latin Jazz? Do the differences even matter? Whatever your opinion, share it! Your comment will be appreciated!

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By the way, I’ve added a current releases tab at the top of the page. You’ll find links to recent Latin Jazz albums as well as upcoming releases. I’ll also be putting out a weekly post that summarizes news and releases relevant to that week. I’ve added a couple of performance highlights for this week as well – I’d like to create a larger section for performance listings, but that’s a pretty big project that will take some time to complete. Let me know what other type of information would be valuable to you – I’d like LJC to be a resource for fans, musicians, and more. Let me know how it’s working for you!

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