Every musical community needs a place to gather, share thoughts, and bond over their common interests. When this community exists on a local level, this central gathering place might be a club, a house, or school. Local musicians might get together and jam, demonstrate new musical ideas, and refine their brewing artistic concepts. Other times, musicians might simply talk about new releases they like, discuss recent concerts, or go over important musical history or elements. These types of community events help the overall musical scene grow quickly, and they enable extensive collaboration. These types of places also spread education about tradition, musical culture, and overall artistic appreciation. As a result, the musical scene develops a built-in support system that encourages enthusiastic creation and a sense of pride around their work. The community needs the gathering place as a starting point; without the place, musicians are limited in their ability to communicate. When the community exists on a larger level, across a state, country, or around the world, the community still has a need to gather, they might just have to be a bit more creative about the venue.

Ten years ago, the Latin Jazz community had a number of localized scenes, but in many ways, these different pockets of activity needed some way to connect. While many musicians had befriended each other through their travels, their conversations remained disjointed, isolated to phone calls. The internet remained young in the 1990s, still lacking the type of social media connection we’ve now taken for granted. Duke University started some of the earliest online gathering points for communities, developing Usenet groups, an online bulletin board system. Usenet groups allowed for an ongoing conversation, but in the nineties, most of these groups covered large topics; the rec-music-afro-latin Usenet group served as the popular forum for most Latin music lovers. This group benefited from contributions by Latin musicians throughout the world, but the range of the group was broad – members discussed Latin Jazz, salsa, folkloric music, Latin pop, and more. Latin Jazz fanatics had to sort through a tall stack of messages to find their golden content – a need existed for a Latin Jazz gathering place, someone simply needed to organize it.

In 1999, Latin Jazz fanatic Luis Moreno recognized that need and acted upon it. As he tells it:

The Latin Jazz e-group has its roots in the old Usenet group rec.music.afro-latin. I’d been a member of that group for years and made many friends there. One of these is Goyo Pappas. I posted a message to the group one day about a recording by Mark Levine’s group Que Calor - Keeper Of The Flame.

Goyo replied, “Hey, why hadn’t you told me about this album before?!”

“You know what we need?” I said, “A group devoted to Latin Jazz!”

I didn’t think too long about it. I was aware that there were different sites on the internet that offered the service. So I started one on e-groups which was later bought out by Yahoo. I started by inviting many of the participants of rec.music.afro-latin and then I spent years scouring the internet for contacts to Latin Jazz musicians and inviting them. The group was an instant smash. It doubled and doubled in size and attracted all of the industry people. It was clear that the need had been great.

A few months later I invited Goyo to help moderate and he has been a moderator ever since. At different points of expansion and contraction there have been other moderators and even a period of unmoderated status, but Goyo and I are able to handle the volume well now.

A Poignant First Post
Moreno posted the first message to the e-group on October 17, 1999, and it summed up the group perfectly – “A forum for Latin Jazz aficionados to work out their obsession or make it worse.” Many early group members took this message to heart and jumped right into the sense of community imbedded in the music. Within a week, 84 messages had been posted to the group and a number of important musicians and radio personalities had given into their obsession. Pianist Mark Levine, drummer Chuck Silverman, and guitarist Pablo Menendez all jumped into the conversation within the first week. Latin Jazz radio mainstays Arturo Gomez and Awilda Rivera both extended the discussion with several messages. Within the next week, the group reached 157 messages and new members included saxophonist Jane Bunnett, drummer Willie Martinez, and percussionist Rafael Ramirez. By the time the group reached a month, it was a definite success with 407 messages and a multitude of new members.

Early Conversations
The conversations in those early days reflected different themes that would become ongoing forces behind the group – a quest to discover new artists, an unquenchable thirst to describe the music on a deeper level, and an avid appreciation for high quality Latin Jazz. In that first month, the group started long conversations about several active Latin Jazz musicians that were heating up the scene, such as Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Tony Martinez, and Chucho Valdes. Listening recommendations started in that first week with posts about Nuyorican Nights from Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Band, Best Friends from Giovanni Hidalgo and Humberto Ramirez, and Celebrating Chico Buarque De Hollanda from Edsel Gomez. The group dug into the meaning behind the word Maferefun, the title from a Tony Martinez album and the bandages that Mongo Santamaria would wear on his fingers during performances. There was plenty of awareness about live performances, with posts about the Havana Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, as well as dates from the Susie Hansen Band and Ray Vega. In every way, the Latin Jazz discussion group became a prime meeting place for the international Latin Jazz community to indulge their passion.

Looking At History Through The E-Group
Digging through the Latin Jazz group’s archives delivers some serious historical landmarks that frame the music in an interesting way. During the first month, Goyo sent out a question about a Moacir Santos recording, and who was the first to send a detailed reply to his query? Mark Levine, of course, whose current album Off & On presents an incredible tribute to Santos. Several messages recall a different political era when pressures eased between the United States and Cuba, allowing for Stateside performances from Irakere, Los Van Van, and more. A 1999 article posted to the group discussed a “Latin Jazz” breakthrough with cutting edge music from Paquito D’Rivera, David Sanchez, Valdes, and Rubalcaba. Discussions around the first Latin Grammy presentations question the motivation behind some moves, wondering whether music or industry drives the awards. Numerous posts include reviews about the recent releases of the time, providing time sensitive details to everything from Tribute to the Masters by John Santos and the Machete Ensemble to Latin Spirits from Poncho Sanchez and Descarga Total by Orlando “Maraca” Valle. The group frames major events in the music with fascinating perspectives; looking into Tito Puente’s death reveals a flood of messages with personal reflections and historical facts. With all ten years of the e-group’s messages cataloged on Yahoo, we’ve got a collection of incredible facts and opinions available for research and more.

An Essential Online Gathering Place
For the past ten years, the Latin Jazz e-group has provided an essential online gathering place for the Latin Jazz community, one that we should celebrate. Over the years, the Latin Jazz group has also become a place where both personal and professional connections have formed. Musicians discussed the art form and business behind Latin Jazz; fans sent messages to their heroes; managers, promoters, writers, and radio personalities connected with musicians. It’s a place where a question about Latin Jazz might inspire a detailed response from Levine, Bobby Sanabria, Jose Madera, Bobby Matos, John Santos, Sonny Bravo, Robby Ameen, Janine Santana, Kat Parra, or more. The newest Latin Jazz listener can visit the group and find a long list of important recordings to hear while the most experienced musician can exchange ideas with their peers and colleagues. It remains a place where Latin Jazz addicts still can work out their obsession or make it worse . . . and fortunately many, many people have chosen to make it worse!

Thanks for Luis and Goyo for ten outstanding years of community, education, and entertainment – we all hope for ten more!

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Latin Jazz musicians, promoters, and fans have all found a home on the Latin Jazz e-group, so I asked some of them to send their thoughts about it. Here’s some reflections on the group – enjoy!

Mike Freeman
As a member for half (or more) of its 10 years in existence, I view the Yahoo Latin Jazz group as part educational and informative on a variety of levels (learning of new recordings, videos, musicians and groups I was unfamiliar with, gaining a better understanding of various styles of the music as well as behind the scene insights into the business, social-political aspects, and people/personalities in and around the music) and part a source of networking (having met new musicians, radio programmers and business contacts, as well as made stronger bonds with folks I already knew and or played music with).

The group has seen it all with discourse (both interesting and not) on almost everything, arguments (both civil and not so civil) about almost everything, a wide variety of humor (laugh and or groan) and has generated a large coming together of sometimes disparate people (both musicians and non musicians) to engage in their passion for music, Latin Jazz first and foremost, and things related.

Nick Marrero
Mundo Jazz U92 WUMR
I was part of the group when I was doing Latin Jazz Expressions on WWSP in Stevens Point Wisconsin back in 2001. For me the group has been instrumental in getting me contacts and information so that I could present this music to places that really did not have one locally to present it. I am now in Memphis and once again the Latin Jazz Group is still very important in my efforts to keep the music out there. Here is to an informative and successful network for all of us who love this music so much.

Jamie Scott
I’ve only been a member for a few weeks, but already this group has provided me with a wonderful experience! Through the group I found out about Bobby Sanabria’s event at The National Jazz Museum where screenings were held of the first 2 hours of the Latin Music USA documentary on PBS.

It was exciting to share this screening with other people who love this music! And who certainly know more about it than I. Often, I go to music events alone, or sit home alone watching these documentaries. Sharing it was so much more meaningful for me. It made me (currently unemployed) want to fight to stay in New York!

The only “problem” with the Sanabria event was that on same day, there was a bass master class that I was eager to attend, to see what I might learn there. Oh, what a wonderful conflict to have–all thanks to the Yahoo group.

Janine Santana
I love this group. I feel much more a part of the community since I’ve joined (and trust me, I live in a very isolated area). I have connected with many fellow musicians, radio personalities who specialize in our beloved Latin Jazz culture, and supporters of our music who sometimes even stop me on the street because of the intimate friendliness of this group. I can ask or comment directly to my heroes and long-distance friends very easily here.

I have learned more directly from the other musicians themselves about our history and their adventures, misadventures and thoughts on our music than I could have learned on my own in a lifetime of “studying”. I even have had lots of joyful laughter as I’ve read some posts, gotten recipes, advise, …all priceless.

I LOVE this group, the first and only e-group I’ve ever joined.

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Did you miss the first ten years of the Latin Jazz e-group? Do yourself a favor and catch the next ten years - this is essential stuff for any Latin Jazz fan. Don’t forget, you can check out the archives of the first ten years as well, so there’s plenty of reading! Sign up for the group HERE.

If you’ve been a member for a while, join in our celebration of the group and leave a comment below with your thoughts on the group!

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Check Out These Related Posts:
Four Missing Resources In Latin Jazz Education
Latin Jazz Standards: 10 Versions Of Manteca
Jazz Now: 5 Latin Jazz Albums From The Present Moment
5 Ways To Build Enthusiasm Around Latin Jazz Through Latin Music USA

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