Some people are simply meant to be involved in their passion – they are pulled with a magnetic force towards their final goal. These type of people don’t see challenges as roadblocks to their dreams; they simply look past them and find an alternate route towards their destination. Life may consistently attempt to turn them in a different direction, but their inner navigation works magic, redirecting them towards their interests. These are the types of people that constantly inspire us, reminding the world that there’s always a way to connect with the things that drive you. Destiny moves them forward with a ferocious velocity, keeping them attached to the things that feed their soul.
Radio personality and bandleader José Rizo developed a strong passion for Latin Jazz and radio, consistently being pulled towards the two worlds. Growing up in Oxnard, California, Rizo heard a variety of music in his youth, ranging from popular music like James Brown and Tower Of Power to Glenn Miller. He played trumpet in high school band, but didn’t find a passion for jazz until he reached college. Inspired by Carlos Santana, Rizo dug deeper into artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane as he attended University of California at Santa Barbara. Discouraged by the representation of the Latino community on the radio, Rizo actively pursued a position as a disc jockey despite a lack of experience. He soon was learning on the job at local pop station KIST, hosting a public affairs show. He gathered a number of people with a similar interest, creating Radio Chicano, an organization where Rizo shared his growing knowledge about radio. The group spread back to the UCSB campus, where Rizo began taking an active part at their radio station KCSB. Music started steadily creeping into Rizo’s public affairs program until he started an all-music show, Barrio Salsoul. In addition, he began producing live concerts on campus and dedicating more of his time to music. This eventually drove him to leave school, getting a job at an electronics firm to support his wife’s continued schooling. Despite encouragement from musicians, Rizo stayed away from radio, focusing upon his financial responsibilities and eventually returning to school to finish his degree. As he listened to local Latin Jazz shows though, he noticed a lack of attention to the honest mixture between jazz and Latin styles. Dedicated to bringing a more authentic approach to Latin Jazz onto the radio, Rizo approach KLON about producing a regular program. After an audition, the station enthusiastically invited him onto the airwaves, and his show Jazz On The Latin Side became a huge hit. Rizo became a mainstay at the station, continuing Jazz On The Latin Side, expanding to traditional jazz programing, and eventually becoming music director. Even with jazz radio in decline, Rizo remains an important presence both on the airwaves and behind the scenes, guaranteeing a regular dose of quality jazz to the listening audience in Los Angeles.
Whether it was a lack of experience or other life obligations, nothing kept Rizo away from spreading the word about Latin Jazz on the radio. As a result, his passion touched countless people, as the Los Angeles jazz community became excited about the mixture of Latin rhythms. Musicians and fans alike enthusiastically supported Rizo on the radio, a trend that would continue when he became a bandleader. In Part One of our interview with Rizo, we looked at his connections with music as a youth, his brave jump into public radio, and his transition into music programming. Today we dig into the creation of his popular radio show Jazz On The Latin Side, his growth in music director at KJAZ, and the current state of public radio.
———- LATIN JAZZ CORNER: So much of the history of Latin music is written around New York, and much of that includes important radio figures such as Symphony Sid – were there any radio personalities on the West Coast that were influential to you in the same way?
JOSÉ RIZO: In my early stages of forming Radio Chicano, when I started doing radio, there was not really one person that inspired me. I kind of just tried to figure it out on my own. Eventually in my mid-twenties, I read this article in a Latin magazine about Chico Sesma. I thought, “This guy did radio too and he’s Latino, so I’ll read about him.” I did more research on him and found out that he was the one that started English language radio programming on Latin music. He was the first one out here on the West Coast to play Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, and all those early bands. But he did it in English. Later he worked on a jazz station doing the same thing, way back in the late forties and early fifties. He was a legend. He was the one that set up all the Hollywood Latin holidays. He was the first to bring Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Beny More to the West Coast. He would do these amazing concerts at the Hollywood Palladium once a month. When I learned about that, I had never really heard him and I wanted to know more about him. Eventually in my trips to L.A., I finally tracked him down and I met him. Since then, he became my mentor; he would sit me down and talk to me about music and life. I learned a whole lot from him. I’m still in touch with him. Whenever I bumped into Tito Puente or Celia Cruz, we’d have conversations and they were always telling me to say hi to Chico. He meant a lot to them.
When I started doing radio, people that came from L.A. directly would tell me, “you’ve got to listen to this guy, his name is Richard Liles.” By that time, I had already figured out what I wanted to figure out and I started getting deeper into Latin Jazz. I had pretty much developed myself as to how I felt comfortable on the air. I went back and I finally looked for a cassette of this guy, because I wanted to see what he sounded like. They finally gave me a cassette and to me it was no big deal – this guy was fumbling on the air and all he was playing was salsa. He wasn’t playing any jazz at all. But they grew up with that, so it was really important to them. I wasn’t all that impressed with what he was doing, and I thought that I was doing O.K.
If there was one jock that I could pinpoint that really influenced me that I heard on the air, it was probably Chuck Niles. Chico was an influence because of his accomplishments, definitely. I listened to him a little bit, but it was later, after I was already doing my thing. While I was at UCSB, I would listen voraciously to KBCA and KGGO in L.A. whenever I could catch them. I would catch as much as I could – I would always listen to Jim Gosa and Chuck Niles. So the jazz jocks were my idols.
LJC: You started your Jazz On The Latin Side program in 1990 – how did you get from KCSB to KLON?
JR: At UCSB, I got so deep into the music that I left my studies. I was an electrical engineering student, but I couldn’t study anymore. Music always occupied my mind. So I told my wife, “Let me get a job at a nearby electronics company; I’ll put you through school and then we’ll figure it out.” So I did; we moved into student housing and my wife finished her teaching credential. I was working at a little electronics firm, just trying to make a living and help her through school.
Then all of a sudden, my first boy was born. I looked at that little face and I thought, “I’ve got to get this together.” I felt like I couldn’t screw around anymore and I had to focus on getting my engineering degree. So my wife got a job here in East L.A. and I decided to go back to school to finish my engineering degree. That was our plan. We stuck to it.
I really knew Poncho from my UCSB years – during that time he would come do gigs, visit me on the air at KCSB, and more. I was living in East L.A. while I was going to school and he would always call me up and ask, “Aren’t you ever going to get back into radio?” I would say, “No, man, I’m focused. I’ll hang out and listen to music, but I’ve got to finish this.” Through the years that I was here in East L.A., he would come around. “Hey, Jose, I’m playing near, I’m going to pick you up.” So he would pick me up and we’d hang out. It would be the same thing with him and Ramon Banda – “Don’t you miss it? Don’t you want to get back into it?” I would say, “No, I just don’t feel it.”
Then I started listening to some of the programming on KKGO. The guy that was doing the Latin Jazz show was playing all instrumental salsa; he had no knowledge of jazz at all. I thought to myself, “The library must be amazing there, but he’s just playing instrumental salsa!” So already in my mind, I was making notes of things that would work for a Latin Jazz show. I wanted to play all the great jazz artists that brought in Latin percussionists and all that kind of stuff. Plus there was the music that was going on with Tito and Jerry Gonzalez. I thought, “If I could put all this together in one show, it would sound pretty cool.” The bug was growing.
Then one day, it just hit me that I had to get back into it. That other show was driving me nuts. So I finally went to KLON – that was really my favorite station. They were playing the real stuff while KKGO was starting to get a little commercial. I called up Ken Borges and said, “I used to do Latin Jazz in Santa Barbara; I know the jazz end and I know the Latin end. I could help you with a Latin Jazz show.” He said, “I’ve got a few audition cassettes here, but people are playing salsa. We don’t really want to go there; we want jazz from a Latin point of view. We just don’t know if that exists.” I said, “I think that I could help you. I’ll come in and do a demo.”
So I went there and did a demo on a cassette. I was bringing all my Arieto and Egrem albums – I was deep into Afro-Cuba, Arturo Sandoval, Chucho Valdes. People here had never even heard of these guys before. I was pulling all these gems into what I thought a Latin Jazz show should have. I left a demo and he called me the next night. He goes, “Where did you get all this incredible material – what is this?!?” I said, “It’s what I think a Latin Jazz show should be.” He said, “You’ve got jazz knowledge, these artists are amazing . . . When do you want to start?”
Then I called Poncho and said, “Guess what? I’m going to be back on the radio.” He said, “Where, where?” “I’m going to be at KLON.” He said, “I’ve got to call them up, I’ve got to let them know that they’re doing the right thing. I’ve got to make sure that they know that they found the right person!” Then Ken called me and said, “You know Poncho Sanchez? He gave you raving review – now I know I made the right choice.”
When I was in college, that was my dream – to come to Los Angeles and do this with a larger audience. At that time, there really was no definition of what a Latin Jazz show was, so I played with it, put different pieces together, and got really into it from the jazz point of view. I was able to do that and mix it together with music from Jerry Gonzalez, Poncho, Tito, and Tjader. I also got into Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Hubert Laws, the Jazz Crusaders, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, and all the music from that end; I wanted to make sure that was all there. It was beautiful that I was finally able to present that whole package to an audience that totally had never heard anything like that before.
LJC: Was the jazz community into your show?
JR: Oh yea. They brought me in thinking that I was going to connect directly with the Latino audience. But it didn’t work that way. I connected really strongly with the African-American community. They were my hugest supporters at the beginning. That surprised me. In the first membership drive, it was good, but there were no Latino names coming in on the pledges. That shocked me – this was all new to me. The jazz audience had open arms though; they were eating this up. They had never heard jazz from that point of view before. They had never heard Chucho Valdes, Emiliano Salvador, or Arturo playing with that versatility. All the stuff was totally alien to the listeners, but there were amazing musicians. They were just eating it up – they were listening to it and they were supporting it.
LJC: You grew that into a full time gig, eventually becoming music director . . .
JR: I’ve been there 23 years now. As with anything, you evolve. After many years, they saw me as the Latin Jazz disc jockey. When they finally needed people to fill in on the jazz shows, they said, “Oh, but you only know Latin Jazz.” I said, “You guys don’t know my other side. In fact, I learned jazz before I learned Latin Jazz; that was something that I picked up later.” So I started sitting in on the jazz shows, and they were saying, “Wow, you know this stuff!” But everybody looked at me and saw the Latino, so I was the Latin Jazz guy. Eventually, I earned my respect there on another level, as a jazz person. Then when the new management came in, KLON became KKJZ, I started taking care of the music and helping with all the new releases coming out; so I became music director.
I dealt with the same thing with The Grammys. I’ve been serving for 18 or 19 years on screening committees, but they always had me on the Latin committee. I always had to deal with that thing – I’m jazz; just because I’m Latino, you don’t have to put me in this Latin category. But that’s how it’s always happened. Five or six years ago, they put Latin Jazz back in the jazz category, so they included me in there. So now I’m part of the nomination committee for jazz.
LJC: Public radio has long been a lifeline for jazz, but things are different today due to the internet. Do you think that jazz radio is healthy or worse off?
JR: Jazz radio used to take up full stations, but that’s not the case anymore. There’s only five full-time jazz stations left in the whole country. That’s pretty serious – that’s in the whole country. So maybe ninety-nine percent of the country can not drive around their town or city and listen to jazz full time. They have to wait for certain jazz programs on public radio and college stations to be able to listen to jazz. Or they have to find it online. Full-time jazz stations are incredibly rare. There’s KCSM in the San Francisco Bay Area, KSDS in San Diego, my station KKJZ in Los Angeles, KUVO in Denver, and WGBO on the East Coast. That’s it – those are the only full time jazz stations left in the country. As far as jazz over the air, that’s a serious problem. Now people are picking it up on satellite radio and there’s a lot of web shows now that do jazz. So jazz is surviving one way or another. But when you’re talking specifically about jazz radio, we’re in a pretty serious point in terms of it going away all together – maybe even in the next few years if it’s not supported.
Come back tomorrow for Part Three of our interview with composer José Rizo where we’ll dig into the creation of Jazz On The Latin Side All-Stars, their growth as a band, as well as their fantastic albums The Last Bullfighter and Tambolero. Don’t miss it!
The first half of 2011 has resonated with two distinct themes: outstanding music and an unacceptable lack of respect for the artists that create it. On one side of the equation, some of the Latin Jazz world’s greatest musicians have released unforgettable albums. On the other side, the National Academy Of Arts And Sciences eliminated the Latin Jazz Grammy, along with 30 other diverse musical categories, making an unacceptable statement about the place of these musics in our culture. In order to describe the status of the Grammys in 2011, we could turn Frank Sinatra’s famous quote upside down and say, “Remember ladies and gentlemen, it’s about popularity, not excellence.” With that in mind, we’re going to spend several days looking back at Latin Jazz releases from the first half of 2011 that represent musical excellence . . . and since the state of Grammys in 2011 had nothing to do with excellence, these albums will not be winning Grammy Awards.
Why You Should Hear It:
Sanabria creates a fitting tribute to the king of Latin music on Tito Puente Masterworks, Live!!! while passing on his legacy to a new generation of musicians. Puente’s reputation was firmly linked to the big band mambo, and the group tears through complex and danceable charts like “Cuban Nightmare” with confidence and verve. Puente classics like “Ran Kan Kan” are sprinkled throughout the set, invoking lively solos from alto saxophonist Jonas Ganzemuller and trumpet player Anthony Stanco. Sanabria makes sure to show all sides of Puente’s legacy, including his swing arrangement of Oscar Pettiford’s “Bohemia After Dark,” which the band lights on fire. Puente liberally brought jazz into Latin contexts as well, as seen on his arrangement of the classic tune “Autumn Leaves,” where Norman Edwards skillfully channels El Rey’s prodigious vibraphone technique. Memories of Puente’s long and fruitful musical collaboration with Celia Cruz come flowing through “Me Acuerdo De Ti” brought to life through a marvelous performance from vocalist Rachel Kara Pérez. Tito Puente Masterworks, Live!!! paints a vivid picture of the master musician’s vast contributions to jazz and Latin music and shows its relevance to the modern musical world.
In a smartly conceived roller coaster ride of a set-list, the group plays through pieces from every era of Puente’s career, painting a vivid picture of this multi-faceted artist. The album gives a sense of Puente as an insightful jazz artist, a fun dance bandleader, a highly skilled composer, and a knowledgeable percussionist. It’s an opportunity to enjoy some great music, stand in awe of his massive talent, and soak in a serious history lesson.
This album certainly draws upon a very important historical repertoire, but Tito Puente Masterworks, Live!!! is more than a simple rehash of the past. Contemporary arrangements, youthful exuberance, and the momentum of a live performance provide a new perspective. It’s a loving exploration of Puente’s music, with an even balance of tradition and modern musical conceptions.
This is a group of musicians full of potential, just waiting to define the next generation of musical excellence. Recorded at a concert in 2010, the Manhattan School Of Music’s Afro-Cuban Orchestra shines under Sanabria’s leadership, playing with professionalism, passion, and grace. Sanabria’s love for Puente and his legacy, as well as his precise attention to detail, leaps from the performance, and these elements have obviously passed onto his students.
More from Bobby Sanabria:
Sanabria is one of the most knowledgeable and passionate Latin Jazz artists on today’s modern musical scene, delivering an amazing blend of history and modern musical performance. His recordings with his big band, various small groups, and the Manhattan School Of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra all resonate with musical excellence and deserve a listen. Bobby Sanabria: Big Band Urban Folktales
Bobby Sanabria Conducting The Manhattan School Of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra: Kenya Revisited, Live!!!
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Don’t let this attack on Latin Jazz go unnoticed – send your e-mail in support of the Latin Jazz Grammy today. You can start with a message to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow, his e-mail address is: neil@grammy.com Make sure that you sign the petition to get the Latin Jazz Grammy reinstated – you can find it HERE. Get additional information and updates on LJC’s Support Page For The Latin Jazz Grammy.
There’s nothing stronger in the human soul than a message that you need to share with the world. Most people aren’t born with this type of drive, and some people never capture it during their lifetime. Still, there are insightful individuals discover issues in their life that drive them to educate, inform, and speak on topics ranging from politics to race, art, and more. The simple discovery plants a seed in their head and continued exposure causes their desire to grow over time. As the need for change, bubble inside them, they find their way towards venues to spread their word. The connection between a message and the means to spread it inevitably lead towards forward motion and a number of potentially powerful opportunities.
Radio personality and bandleader José Rizo found the need for a strong, professional, and powerful Latino voice on radio and made large steps to create change. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Rizo’s family moved to Oxnard, California when he was still a baby, raising him in the area’s large Mexican-American community. He had a diverse exposure to music during his youth, ranging from Santana, Tower Of Power, and the popular music of the day, to Glenn Miller and Tito Puente. Rizo connected with music through his school band, but didn’t dive in deeply until he found his way to college at the University of California in Santa Barbara. It was there that he first checked out Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and more, expanding the range of his musical tastes. Disappointed with the representation of Latino culture on radio, Rizo actively pursued an opportunity to provide a more professional voice. Despite a lack of experience, he offered his services to local radio stations and pop music station KIST replied. Rizo soon found a mentor to walk him through the basics and radio and started a public affairs show. Seeing the need for an even larger representation of Latino radio, Rizo started Radio Chicano, an organization dedicated to sharing his new knowledge. The group grew in both size and presence, eventually spreading back to UCSB, where Rizo and his peers also began broadcasting. Along the way, Rizo began integrating his expanding musical tastes into his public affairs show, making him think that he should start a show based exclusively on music. He soon started Barrio Salsoul, a show dedicated to Latin Soul, Latin Jazz, salsa, and more. His growing connections with the music community led to his participation in concert promotion, starting with annual Cinco De Mayo dance concerts. Throughout his college years, Rizo made huge strides in establishing an important voice for the local Latino community in Southern California radio and began building a significant connection with the music.
Seeing a gap in radio representation of the Latino community, Rizo actively found ways to spread the right message and laid the groundwork for an important career. He would eventually become an important voice in Southern California jazz radio and an advocate for Latin Jazz. His passion for the music would eventually move beyond radio and extend into all-star collections of musicians that would deliver awe-inspiring musical performances. In Part One of our interview with Rizo, we look at his early explorations of music, his bold step into public affairs radio, and his eventual move towards music radio.
———- LATIN JAZZ CORNER: You were born in Guadalajara, Mexico – how were you exposed to music as a child?
JOSÉ RIZO: My parents brought me over to the States when I was forty days old. I would go back and visit family pretty frequently. I had a godfather, who I got real close with; he would always have these really early albums of Tito Puente and Beny More. He’d also have these old 8-tracks of Glenn Miller and all these big band things. Early on, I would listen to the stuff that I would hear with friends, like War and Tower Of Power, but on the side, I was also listening to my uncle’s Glenn Miller things, Tito Puente, and Beny More albums. That was my mix.
LJC: You played trumpet when you were in high school; were you deeply into music at that point?
JR: No, because I hadn’t really discovered real jazz yet. I started plying trumpet in third grade and went up through high school. It was funny because I played football too, so I couldn’t March with the bands at the games. I had to suit up and play football! But I had that combination.
Early on, I wanted to play in bands other than school bands. I grew up in the barrio in Oxnard; it’s a little rough there. Especially in those days in the seventies. A couple of times I tried to join some bands and there were some pretty rough characters there. I remember there was one band that I really wanted to be a part of, because they were playing all of this James Brown and Tower Of Power stuff – they were called the Flaming Skulls. I joined band for a little bit on trumpet with my friends from our school band. But some of these guys were in the corner before rehearsal, and they were shooting up heroin. I looked at my friend and said, “You know, I don’t think this is a good thing for us to be part of!” So I finally said, “Forget this, I’ll just stick with the school band and then move on.” So I never really had any kind of music that I hooked with to really want to play badly after that experience.
When I went to UC Santa Barbara, I got deeper into the Santana albums and made the connections, where he mentioned that he was influenced by Coltrane and Miles. I said, “Let me listen to a little bit of that.” I did, and I just got hooked to Trane, Cannonball, and Miles. Then it grew into Mingus, Monk, and all that stuff. That’s where it started.
LJC: Santana was such a launching point for so many of us on the West Coast . . .
JR: He was the bridge. Especially on recordings with Luis Gasca. Luis told me personally that he introduced Carlos to jazz. He brought Carlos in as a young pup, playing with Joe Henderson and these other great jazz cats. That was Santana’s first connections with jazz.
LJC: You got into radio at UC Santa Barbara as well. How did you connect your love for music and your interest in radio?
JR: Back then when I left my neighborhood in Oxnard and went to UC Santa Barbara, it was weird. I was like a lot of youths in the neighborhood at that time, getting into trouble. I finally left Oxnard and for some reason, I took the SAT test and I scored pretty high. I got some grants to go to UCSB; I thought, “Sure, it’s free, I’ll go!” I was 18 years old. I jumped on my low rider and drove up the coast from Oxnard to UCSB.
On my trips to UCSB, I would listen to the show called La Hora Chicana on one of those local stations. I thought, “This guy is representing our people, and he’s coming off with all of these unprofessional ways of doing it.” That got me frustrated. So later on in my first freshman year at school there, I thought, “Let me try to do some of this stuff, I can do better than that.” I had no idea about radio, so I just started writing some letters to the local stations there around Santa Barbara to see if they would give me a shot at doing a public affairs show.
I started getting feedback and requests for meetings, so I went to the meetings. The first one was KIST, a top forty station in Santa Barbara. They said, “We’d like for you to come in and do some shows. Where have you worked before?” I said, “I haven’t worked anywhere before, this is my first thing. I just want to do this.” There was a guy at that time who was a media consultant at UCSB, Luis Torres. He was so gracious to teach me about radio. He said, “What are we going to call this group?” I said, “Let’s call it Radio Chicano.” So we did, but it was only him and me, that was it. After teaching me for about three or four months, he had to leave. I thought, “I guess I’m going to have to take that and go a long way with it.” So I did, I started picking up from there and I started training other students. Before you know it, within two or three years, I had about twenty-five people in the organization Radio Chicano. I would do training sessions with them.
I started doing this public affairs show for KIST called La Voz De La Raza. I would interview social service centers, car clubs – just different people from the Mexican-American community that had some contribution to the community at large. Little by little, I started adding a little bit of music in there. Back then, it was just what I knew – Santana, El Chicano, Daniel Valdés, the great Chicano guitarist. Then it just kind of grew. At the same time, I started listening to some jazz. I got into whatever type of early Latin Jazz that there was. There wasn’t really a whole lot available back then – you had to really dig to get it. I was still learning about this stuff – I was getting turned onto Gil Scott-Heron, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters – I was digging into all of that stuff. I was seeing them live in concert at UCSB too. They were coming around the campus and I was going out to check out The Headhunters, Gil Scott-Heron, The Midnight Band . . . I was eating all that stuff up. I was learning very quickly.
Then I went back to UCSB and thought, “Well, there’s a station on the campus too.” So I thought that I could do the same thing on campus. They let me do it. I had started adding music to the public affairs show little by little, so I told them that I could do a whole music show. All this was happening when I was 18, 19, and 20 years old. Eventually I had my own show on Sunday nights on KCSB called Barrio Salsoul. There I mixed in Latin Soul with whatever Latin Jazz I could find at that time.
I wrote a letter to Jerry and Alex Masucci at Fania Records. They responded really well, I even talked to them for a while. They sent me a huge box of Fania Records; I had them all in my apartment. I thought, all these albums are just taking up space, I should listen to them. I had a little turntable so I started opening up some of those records – I had a good 150 or 200 albums there. Then I started listening to Ray Barretto and Johnny Pacheco; I thought, “Woah, this is some good stuff.” That was totally different for me – in Oxnard, we listened to oldies, Santana, Malo, and that stuff. We didn’t listen to salsa, that was alien to me. But I discovered that world. It was really a beautiful and rich time where I was just soaking all of this stuff in.
I started doing the Cinco De Mayo dance concerts too in my early twenties. I would bring in people like Pete Escovedo, Los Lobos, Poncho Sanchez. The concert producer was impressed with the work that I did; he saw that I used his monies properly for these Chicano Cinco De Mayo concerts. So he would give me all-access backstage passes to all of the stadium concerts that he was doing. I was backstage hanging out with The Doobie Brothers, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, and all these rock bands. I used to hang out with Santana a lot. He would really trip out – he would come in and I was still dressed like I was, but I knew about Coltrane and Miles. It would tripped him out. So he’d have me come back after the concert to talk more. Those are my memories – me in my early twenties hanging out with Carlos with his Perrier water and all his guitars. I’d be hanging out with him and all these people would come in to greet him and talk to him. I was thinking, “Wow, this is pretty cool.”
LJC: Did you find any kind of resistance for you going out and having a Latin presence on the radio?
JR: Oh yea. There wasn’t as much in the commercial radio. They welcomed a Latino voice, because that pretty much fulfilled their public affairs commitment – their requirement to air the voices of the complete community. I kind of fulfilled that for them on KIST. I did that for only a couple of years and then after that I kind of left it. At KCSB, when I started getting involved, there were no other Latinos really working there except for one other gentleman, he was the public affairs director. So the element was a little alien for them. Especially with me coming from the barrio. I had a lot of resistance. But I’ve always been a really hard worker that was able to stay focused on things that I really liked and I really learned things as much as I could. So they were impressed and I grew within that station.
I eventually became program director at KCSB. It got to that level, where I was pretty much running all the programming there. As program director, I set up daily Chicano/Latino programming with all of the members that I was training through Radio Chicano. I would have a daily slot between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. at the University where I would present the young people that I was training. It wasn’t only Chicanos – it was Latinos, African Americans, Anglos – it was whoever was interested in the music. The music was all that counted, we just stayed with the name Radio Chicano. I had a whole interesting mix of personalities there, and it continued for a few years. For me, that was a really creative point in my early involvement in radio.
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Come back tomorrow for Part Two of our interview with composer José Rizo where we’ll dig into his love of Latin Jazz, his transition into jazz radio, the creation of the Jazz On The Latin Side All-Stars, and more Don’t miss it!
The first half of 2011 has resonated with two distinct themes: outstanding music and an unacceptable lack of respect for the artists that create it. On one side of the equation, some of the Latin Jazz world’s greatest musicians have released unforgettable albums. On the other side, the National Academy Of Arts And Sciences eliminated the Latin Jazz Grammy, along with 30 other diverse musical categories, making an unacceptable statement about the place of these musics in our culture. In order to describe the status of the Grammys in 2011, we could turn Frank Sinatra’s famous quote upside down and say, “Remember ladies and gentlemen, it’s about popularity, not excellence.” With that in mind, we’re going to spend several days looking back at Latin Jazz releases from the first half of 2011 that represent musical excellence . . . and since the state of Grammys in 2011 had nothing to do with excellence, these albums will not be winning Grammy Awards.
Why You Should Hear It:
Flautist Mark Weinstein explores the symbiotic connection between jazz and Brazilian music on this beautiful album full of professionally elegant performances. Weinstein and his group fluidly place several classic jazz standards over Brazilian rhythms, refreshing tunes like Thelonious Monk’s “I Mean You” with an authentic samba flavor. Music from Brazilian composers, such as Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Triste,” become vehicles for jazz improvisation, benefiting from masterful solos from Weinstein, and pianist Kenny Barron. The group looks ahead on the album too, displaying their own musical perspective on original tunes like Matta’s “Sambosco,” a lively tune with a joyfully rollicking solo from Barron. The group investigates the connection between Brazilian music and modern jazz as well, drawing upon contemporary pieces like Herbie Mann’s funky “Memphis Underground,” which resonates with the percussive beauty of Weinstein’s bass flute. Filled with masterful performances, a varied repertoire, and a wonderfully straight-ahead approach to Brazilian Jazz, Weinstein delivers another classic with Jazz Brasil.
Musicians On The Album:
Flautist Mark Weinstein
Pianist Kenny Barron
Bassist Nilson Matta
Drummer and Percussionist Marcelo Pellitteri
What The Grammys Are Missing:
Weinstein has spent a lifetime creating cutting edge Latin Jazz that never ceases to explore new avenues. From his ground breaking Cuban Roots to his recent collaboration with modern Cuban musicians, Timbasa, Weinstein’s releases are always overflowing with creativity and excitement. Jazz Brasil is no exception, providing the outstanding musical experience so closely associated with Weinstein.
Jazz Brasil is a serious meeting of musical masters, with Weinstein playing alongside one of the traditional jazz world’s piano greats, Kenny Barron. Weinstein’s decades of experience in the Latin Jazz world are matched by Barron’s extensive immersion in traditional jazz. As expected, the results are stunning, providing a professional, interesting, and engaging look at top-notch Brazilian Jazz.
Jazz Brasil benefits from the co-production of Nilson Matta, one of the Brazilian Jazz scene’s smartest and most experienced musicians. He not only grounds the recording with solid bass playing, but he directs the music through his vast knowledge of jazz and Brazilian styles. On every level, this approach brings out the best in Weinstein and inspires a memorable group performance.
More from Mark Weinstein:
Weinstein has a long history that walks between jazz and Latin music with an exuberant interest in breaking new boundaries. The performances are always distinctive, the approaches are original, and the bottom line sparkles with creativity, guaranteeing an inspirational listen. Timbasa
———-
Don’t let this attack on Latin Jazz go unnoticed – send your e-mail in support of the Latin Jazz Grammy today. You can start with a message to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow, his e-mail address is: neil@grammy.com Make sure that you sign the petition to get the Latin Jazz Grammy reinstated – you can find it HERE. Get additional information and updates on LJC’s Support Page For The Latin Jazz Grammy.
Latin Jazz This Week will bring you a weekly look into news from the Latin Jazz world. You’ll find new releases, recommended performances, web finds, and more. You can check out some current sounds in the Listening Center tab at the top of the page. Performance dates will be kept in the Live Latin Jazz tab at the top of the page.
NEWS
As we covered this past week at LJC, pianist Mark Levine returned his Grammy nomination to NARAS, making a statement about the corrupt nature behind the recent elimination of the Latin Jazz Grammy and 30 additional categories. Levine’s bold statement made quite a stir around the internet, spreading like wildfire to a number of blogs, jazz sites, and news sources, keeping the issue in the spotlight. Levine’s decision didn’t appear out of the blue though, there’s an interesting backstory that was covered this week at Grammy Watch – this is a must read, you can take a look at it HERE. Things are certainly heating up, so keep your eyes on the protest of the NARAS restructuring by regularly visiting Grammy Watch.
The Argentinean side of jazz just doesn’t get enough attention, so it’s always great to see coverage of the style across the internet. NPR’s A Blog Supreme paid tribute to the influential composer Astor Piazzolla with an article focused upon his primary instrument, the bandoneon. There’s some brief but nicely written background information on Piazzolla and his instrument and then five album listening recommendations. There’s some good choices there – all highly recommended stuff. Check out the article HERE.
A Blog Supreme also streamed a concert from a live version of WBGO’s The Checkout this past week, featuring bassist Pedro Giraudo’s Jazz Orchestra performing at 92Y Tribeca. It’s a fantastic concert that showcases Giraudo’s brilliant compositional style and arrangement mastery, not to mention the powerful playing of his musicians. The show is archived on A Blog Supreme, along with another great show from bassist Ben Williams, who shared the bill with Giraudo – you can take a listen HERE. Once you hear Giraudo’s marvelous group, make sure that you’ve read the recent LJC interview with him – here’s Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
If you’re in SOUTH AMERICA this week . . . SOFIA TOSELLO/YURI JUAREZ
With Manante WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE: Jazz Zone
Av. La Paz 646
“El Suche,” Miraflores, Lima
Peru TIME: 10:45 p.m. TICKETS: 40 soles
If you’re in EUROPE this week . . . HILARIO DURAN WHEN: Thursday 7/28/11 WHERE:Piazza Marconi
Atina, Italy TIME: 9:45 p.m.
WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Caloganone Jazz
Sardegna, Italy TIME: 9:30 p.m.
OMAR SOS WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Parc Floral de Paris
Paris, France TIME: 4:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
If you’re on the EAST COAST this week . . . ANDREA BRACHFELD WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE:Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe
236 East 3rd Street
New York, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: $7
ANNETTE A. AGUILAR WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE:The Backyard Bistro
16 Division Street
New Rochelle, NY TIME: 6:00 P.M.
WHEN: Sunday 7/22/11 WHERE:Garden Cafe
4961 Broadway
New York, NY TIME: 7:00 P.M.
CHILCANO 2.0 WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Tutuma Social Club
164 East 56th Street
New York, NY TIME: 11:55 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
CIDINHO TEIXIERA WHEN: Sunday 7/31/11 WHERE:Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street
New York, NY TIME: 8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m., & 11:30 p.m. TICKETS: $10 with 2 Drink Minimum
CURTIS BROTHERS WHEN: Thursday 7/30/11 WHERE:Peekskill Jazz & Blues Festival
Division Street at Park and Central Avenues
Peekskill, NY TIME: 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
FRANK VILLAFAÑE WHEN: Friday 7/29/11 – Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE: Cubacan
800 Ocean Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ TIME: 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
GABRIEL ALEGRIA AFRO-PERUVIAN SEXTET WHEN: Friday 7/29/11 – Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Tutuma Social Club
164 East 56th Street
New York, NY TIME: 8:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
GRUPO LOS SANTOS WHEN: Tuesday 7/26/11 WHERE:Miles’ Cafe
212 E. 52nd Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY TIME: 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10 cover/$10 minimum
HECTOR DEL CURTO WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Boarding House Park
40 French Street
Lowell, MA TIME: 2:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Market Street Stage
Market and Palmer Streets
Lowell, MA TIME: 4:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Sunday 7/31/11 WHERE:Market Street Stage
Market and Palmer Streets
Lowell, MA TIME: 5:15 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
HENDRIK MEURKENS WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Dock’s
633 Third Avenue
New York, NY TIME: 11:30 a.m.
WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD TIME: 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: SOLD OUT
JOHN BENITEZ
Latin Jazz Jam Session WHEN: Sunday 7/31/11 WHERE:Terraza Cafe
40-19 Gleane Street
Elmhurst, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
PEDRO GIRAUDO
Jazz Orchestra WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE: Harbor Conservatory
1 East 104th Street
New York, NY TIME: 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WILLIE MARTINEZ WHEN: Thursday 7/28/11 WHERE:Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe
236 East 3rd Street
New York, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: $7
If you’re in the MID-EAST this week . . . PAULINHO GARCIA WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE:Piccolo Mundo
1642 E. 56th Street
Chicago, IL TIME: 6:00 p.m.
If you’re in the MID-WEST this week . . . ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ WHEN: Sunday 7/31/11 WHERE:Sun Valley Pavilion
300 Dollar Road
Sun Valley, ID TIME: 6:30 P.M. TICKETS: $50 – $500
If you’re on the WEST COAST this week . . . ALEXA WEBER MORALES WHEN: Friday 7/29/11 WHERE:Cafe Claude
7 Claude Lane
San Francisco, CA TIME: 7:30 P.M. TICKETS: FREE
BILL CABALLERO WHEN: Thursday 7/28/11 WHERE:Voz Alta
1754 National Avenue
Barrio Logan, CA TIME: 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
BRIAN ANDRES & THE AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ CARTEL WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE:Fremont Park
Santa Cruz Ave at University
Menlo Park, CA TIME: 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:The Park Chalet
1000 Great Highway
San Francisco, CA TIME: 2:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
EDMAR CASTANEDA WHEN: Monday 7/25/11 WHERE:Kuumbwa Jazz Center
320-2 Cedar Street
Santa Cruz, CA TIME: 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: $20 in advance; $23 at the door
WHEN: Tuesday 7/26/11 WHERE:Campbell Recital Hall
541 Lasuen Mall
Stanford, CA TIME: 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: $28
WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE:Athenaeum
1008 Wall Street
La Jolla, CA TIME: 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: $24
WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Los Angeles County Museum Of Art
5905 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA TIME: 5:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
GILBERT CASTELLANOS WHEN: Wednesday 7/27/11 WHERE:El Camino
2400 India Street
San Diego, CA TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
JOHN CALLOWAY WHEN: Friday 7/29/11 WHERE: Birdland Jazzista Social Club
Berkeley, CA TIME: 10:00 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
LOUIE CRUZ BELTRAN WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE: Steamer’s
138 W. Commonwealth Avenue
Fullerton, CA TIME: 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: $8
PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA WHEN: Monday 7/25/11 WHERE:Cafe Cocomo
650 Indiana Street
San Francisco, CA TIME: 9:30 p.m. TICKETS: $10
PAQUITO D’RIVERA
Guest Soloist With The Centrum All-Star Big Band WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:McCurdy Pavilion
Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, WA TIME: 1:30 p.m. TICKETS: $20 – $45
With The JPT 8-Piece Sextet WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:McCurdy Pavilion
Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, WA TIME: 1:30 p.m. TICKETS: $18 – $35
PETE ESCOVEDO WHEN: Friday 7/29/11 WHERE:Kirst Hall
125 S. Hutchins St.
Lodi, CA TIME: 8:00 p.m. TICKETS: $17
WHEN: Saturday 7/30/11 WHERE:Central Avenue Jazz Festival
Central Avenue between 42nd & 43rd Streets
Los Angeles, CA TIME: 5:55 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Sunday 7/31/11 WHERE:Todd Grove Park
600 Live Oak
Ukiah, CA TIME: 6:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
The first half of 2011 has resonated with two distinct themes: outstanding music and an unacceptable lack of respect for the artists that create it. On one side of the equation, some of the Latin Jazz world’s greatest musicians have released unforgettable albums. On the other side, the National Academy Of Arts And Sciences eliminated the Latin Jazz Grammy, along with 30 other diverse musical categories, making an unacceptable statement about the place of these musics in our culture. In order to describe the status of the Grammys in 2011, we could turn Frank Sinatra’s famous quote upside down and say, “Remember ladies and gentlemen, it’s about popularity, not excellence.” With that in mind, we’re going to spend several days looking back at Latin Jazz releases from the first half of 2011 that represent musical excellence . . . and since the state of Grammys in 2011 had nothing to do with excellence, these albums will not be winning Grammy Awards.
Why You Should Hear It:
Long time Los Angeles radio personality and bandleader José Rizo has gathered some of the best musicians in the area, paying tribute Mongo Santamaria on Mongorama. An ominous riff forms the basis of “Bacoso,” providing a strong jumping off point for solos from flautist Hubert Laws, violinist Dayren Santamaria, and conguero Joey DeLeon. A powerful vocal from Adonis Puentes struts Santamaria’s pizzicato violin on “Las Guajiras,” leading into a mix of jazz and tipico on solos from flautist Danilo Lozano and DeLeon. A driving cha cha cha balances a soulful melody and an elegant bridge on “Bluechanga,” opening into fiery solos from saxophonist Justo Almario, pianist Oscar Hernandez, and DeLeon. Rizo contributes the upbeat original composition “Asi Es La Vida,” capturing Santamaria’s essence with an exciting solo from conguero Poncho Sanchez. The group relishes in the relaxed groove on “Guajira At The Blackhawk,” bouncing between a catchy coro and playful solos from Lozano, Alamario, and Sanchez. The music on Mongorama is both reflective and modern, celebrating Santamaria’s legacy in a contemporary context filled with joy and exuberance.
Musicians On The Album:
Saxophonist Justo Almario
Flautist Danilo Lozano
Pianist Oscar Hernandez
Timbalero Ramon Banda
Bassist Rene Camacho
Conguero Joey DeLeon
Vocalist Adonis Puente
Violinist Dayren Santamaria
Percussionist Alfredo Ortiz
Pianist Alberto Salas
What The Grammys Are Missing:
Santamaria is one of the icons of the Latin Jazz world, but the general public generally associates him with his funkier music of the sixties and seventies. The conguero explored an interesting blend of jazz and Cuban charanga in the fifties though, and this is the repertoire that Rizo spotlights with Mongorama. As a result, the album opens the door upon a lesser-known period in Santamaria’s career, encouraging a new generation to discover this beautiful music.
Mongorama is by all means a super group that brings together the best of the Los Angeles Latin music scene. All of these musicians have made waves in world-renowned groups, but Mongorama gives them a chance to playfully jump into music that they love. The results are simultaneously fun, inspiring, and artistically vibrant.
Since the musicians in Mongorama have been around the block in the music business, they have some famous friends that join the party here. Latin Jazz superstar conguero Poncho Sanchez makes an appearance, as does well-known jazz flautist Hubert Laws. These guests jump right into the spirit of the music and relish in Santamaria’s legacy, making the celebration all the more exciting.
More from José Rizo:
Rizo has been a pivotal figure on the Los Angeles Latin Jazz scene for many years, not only spreading the word about the music through his radio show, but also leading all-star groups. His recordings with The Jazz On The Latin Side All-Stars deliver a musical knockout punch that you don’t want to miss. José Rizo’s Jazz On The Latin Side All-Stars: The Last Bullfighter
José Rizo’s Jazz On The Latin Side All-Stars: Tambolero
———-
Don’t let this attack on Latin Jazz go unnoticed – send your e-mail in support of the Latin Jazz Grammy today. You can start with a message to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow, his e-mail address is: neil@grammy.com Make sure that you sign the petition to get the Latin Jazz Grammy reinstated – you can find it HERE. Get additional information and updates on LJC’s Support Page For The Latin Jazz Grammy.
The first half of 2011 has resonated with two distinct themes: outstanding music and an unacceptable lack of respect for the artists that create it. On one side of the equation, some of the Latin Jazz world’s greatest musicians have released unforgettable albums. On the other side, the National Academy Of Arts And Sciences eliminated the Latin Jazz Grammy, along with 30 other diverse musical categories, making an unacceptable statement about the place of these musics in our culture. In order to describe the status of the Grammys in 2011, we could turn Frank Sinatra’s famous quote upside down and say, “Remember ladies and gentlemen, it’s about popularity, not excellence.” With that in mind, we’re going to spend several days looking back at Latin Jazz releases from the first half of 2011 that represent musical excellence . . . and since the state of Grammys in 2011 had nothing to do with excellence, these albums will not be winning Grammy Awards.
Why You Should Hear It: Filosofía Caribeña, Vol. 1 shows Santos to be an experienced master in the Latin Jazz world and it provides a clear shot of his current sextet as a mature working unit. Flautist John Calloway’s “He Was One Of Us,” a dedication to deceased Bay Area music icons Ron Stallings and Allen Smith, bubbles over with tension, letting the full group solo over the line between jazz and Latin music. Santos’ prodigious knowledge of Cuban folkloric music comes into play on “La Rumba Me Lleva (Rumba Carries Me Away),” pushing fiery solos from pianist Marco Diaz and the leader to new heights. Guest vocalists Claudia Gomez and Pavel Urkiza weave through a gorgeous Peruvian texture on “No Soy Combatiente (I Am Not A Fighter),” framed by solos from Calloway and saxophonist Melecio Magdaluyo. The group cuts loose on the energetic descarga “Ponme A Gozar,” engaging in a powerful round of improvisation and interplay. “Carnaval SF” opens as a plodding funeral dirge, building into a charging Cuban comparsa underneath raging solos from the horn players. Filosofía Caribeña, Vol. 1 provides an exhilarating ride through the connection points between North America, the Caribbean, and South America, grounded by Santos’ mastery of the idiom and the passionate performances of his group.
Musicians On The Album:
Percussionist John Santos
Flautist John Calloway
Saxophonist Melecio Magdaluyo
Pianist Marco Diaz
Bassist Saul Sierra
Drummer David Flores
What The Grammys Are Missing:
Santos has compiled more than a collection of inspired Latin Jazz performances on Filosofía Caribeña, Vol. 1, he’s made a statement about the culture around the music. This album speaks volumes about the diversity of American culture and it’s relationship to Latin Jazz – a lesson that NARAS obviously needs to learn.
Santos not only has one of the best working ensembles in Latin Jazz today, he has recruited an impressive list of guest artists that make appearances throughout the album. Trombonist Steve Turre, conguero Joey DeLeon, and vocalist Claudia Gomez are just a few of the musicians that deliver memorable performances, inspired by the passion of Santos’ sextet.
One of the ongoing issues in the jazz world is the generational divide in the music, but Santos brings together the best of both worlds in his group. The leader’s vast knowledge and experience in the music is backed up by the years of top-notch work from Calloway and Magdaluyo. There’s an energetic youth and vibrancy from Diaz, Sierra, and Flores that add an edgy element to the music. The blend of these perspectives is magical, bringing the music to a whole new level.
More from John Santos:
Santos has spent decades committed to the art of Latin Jazz and his recording represents some of the finest examples of West Coast Latin Jazz. Whether performing with his current sextet, The Machete Ensemble, or in collaboration with his West Coast colleagues, all of his recordings are more than worth the listen. The John Santos Quintet: Perspectiva Fragmentada
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Don’t let this attack on Latin Jazz go unnoticed – send your e-mail in support of the Latin Jazz Grammy today. You can start with a message to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow, his e-mail address is: neil@grammy.com Make sure that you sign the petition to get the Latin Jazz Grammy reinstated – you can find it HERE. Get additional information and updates on LJC’s Support Page For The Latin Jazz Grammy.
On Wednesday April 6th, The National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences announced a “restructuring” of The Grammy Awards, a move that included the elimination of the Latin Jazz Grammy. This unfortunate decision undermines the integrity of Latin Jazz and disregards its importance as a major piece of the cultural landscape in the United States. I would encourage all LJC readers to protest this decision and demand that NARAS reinstate the Latin Jazz Grammy immediately – you can do this by sending an e-mail to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow here – neil@grammy.com Get additional information and updates on LJC’s Support Page For The Latin Jazz Grammy.
Mark Levine has spent decades in the music business, dedicating himself to a high level of performance in the jazz and Latin music worlds. As a sideman, he’s worked with some of the finest names in the history of the music, including Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Francisco Aguabella, Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, Moacir Santos, Blue Mitchell, and many more. As a leader, he has led a bebop trio, collaborated with saxophonist Ron Stallings in the group Que Calor, and fronted the outstanding Latin Tinge, a group that brings together some of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best musicians. He’s traveled around the world as an educator, sharing his vast knowledge of jazz, improvisation, and Latin Jazz, helping insure that the next generation of musicians will keep the tradition alive. Levine has authored several books on jazz piano, improvisation, and theory, several of which have become leading texts on the style. Levine is a man that knows the music business intimately, he is an artist that has given himself fully to the music, and he is a caring individual concerned with the well-being and artistic evolution of jazz.
Along the way, Levine has garnered Grammy nominations, a fact that he has considered deeply since NARAS decided to eliminate the Latin Jazz Grammy Award, along with 30 additional categories. Like so many musicians before him, Levine benefited from the weight of the Grammy nod, helping him exist as a musician over the long haul. The current actions by NARAS limits Levine’s future potential to earn a Grammy and continue producing high-level music – a fact not lost on the intelligent musician. Making a serious statement about his feelings on the category reduction, Levine has decided to wash his hands of NARAS and return his Grammy nominations to the organization. In a succinct, elegant, and poignant statement, Levine states his intention to return the nominations and his reasoning behind the action.
———- July 20, 2011
Neil Portnow, President
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences
3030 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica CA 90404
Dear President Portnow,
I am returning my 2003 Grammy Nomination medal
and plaque to NARAS, and my 2010 Latin Grammy
Nomination parchment to LARAS. I’m also refusing
your offer of a Life Membership. I no longer want
to be associated with your organization.
Your actions in delisting the categories that have most
contributed to American music have been racist, and go
against everything my parents taught me about America.
To quote Frank Sinatra at the original Grammies awards ceremony in 1959:
“Remember ladies and gentlemen, it’s about excellence, not popularity.”
Peace,
Mark Levine
———-
Don’t let this attack on Latin Jazz go unnoticed – send your e-mail in support of the Latin Jazz Grammy today. You can start with a message to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow, his e-mail address is: neil@grammy.com Make sure that you sign the petition to get the Latin Jazz Grammy reinstated – you can find it HERE. Get additional information and updates on LJC’s Support Page For The Latin Jazz Grammy.
———- Click here to have these posts delivered via email. Or, click here to subscribe to the full text RSS feed and never miss another post!
Latin Jazz This Week will bring you a weekly look into news from the Latin Jazz world. You’ll find new releases, recommended performances, web finds, and more. You can check out some current sounds in the Listening Center tab at the top of the page. Performance dates will be kept in the Live Latin Jazz tab at the top of the page.
NEWS
The protest against the elimination of the Latin Jazz Grammy and 30 other categories continues, with NARAS maintaining their deaf ear stance. For the latest info, go over to Grammy Watch and get the full scoop.
If you’re in SOUTH AMERICA this week . . . EDDIE PALMIERI WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Largo De São Sebastião
Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil TIME: 7:30 p.m.
HELIO ALVES WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 WHERE:Largo De São Sebastião
Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil TIME: 7:30 p.m.
If you’re in EUROPE this week . . . ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE:Festival Castell De Peralada
Peralada, Gerona TIME: 10:00 P.M. TICKETS: 95 euros – 165 euros
DAVID MURRAY CUBAN ENSEMBLE WHEN: Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE:Parc Floral de Paris
Paris, France TIME: 4:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
HAROLD LOPEZ NUSSA WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Parc Floral de Paris
Paris, France TIME: 3:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Parc Floral de Paris
Paris, France TIME: 4:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
RENAUD GARCIA-FONS WHEN: Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE:Parc Floral de Paris
Paris, France TIME: 3:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
If you’re in CANADA this week . . . JANE BUNNETT
Duo With Hilario Duran WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE:Hugh’s Room
2261 Dundas St. W.
Toronto, ON
Canada TIME: 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: $22.50 in advance; $25 at the door
If you’re on the EAST COAST this week . . . ANNETTE A. AGUILAR WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE:Tosca’s
4038 East Tremont Avenue
Bronx, NY TIME: 6:00 P.M.
WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Abe Lebewohl Park
10th Street & 2nd Avenue
New York, NY TIME: 12:30 P.M. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Apt. 78
4447 Broadway
New York, NY TIME: 7:30 p.m.
WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 WHERE:Garden Cafe
4961 Broadway
New York, NY TIME: 7:30 P.M.
CHILCANO 2.0 WHEN: Saturday 7/23/1 WHERE:Tutuma Social Club
164 East 56th Street
New York, NY TIME: 11:55 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
CIDINHO TEIXIERA WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street
New York, NY TIME: 8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m., & 11:30 p.m. TICKETS: $10 with 2 Drink Minimum
DAFNIS PRIETO
Trio WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Newark Museum
49 Washington Street
Newark, NJ TIME: 12:15 p.m. TICKETS: $3
EDY MARTINEZ QUARTET WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Terraza Cafe
40-19 Gleane Street
Elmhurst, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street
New York, NY TIME: 9:30 p.m., 11:00 p.m., & 1:00 a.m. TICKETS: $10 with 2 Drink Minimum
ELIO VILLAFRANCA WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks
789 E. First Street
Bethlehem, PA TIME: 7:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
FRANK VILLAFAÑE WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 – Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE: Cubacan
800 Ocean Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ TIME: 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
GABRIEL ALEGRIA AFRO-PERUVIAN SEXTET WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 – Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE:Tutuma Social Club
164 East 56th Street
New York, NY TIME: 8:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
GREG DIAMOND WHEN: Tuesday 7/19/11 WHERE:NuBlu
62 Avenue C
New York, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m.
HECTOR MARTIGNON WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe
236 East 3rd Street
New York, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: $7
HENDRIK MEURKENS WHEN: Tuesday 7/19/11 WHERE:Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia Street
New York, NY TIME: 6:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10 plus $10 minimum
WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Dock’s
633 Third Avenue
New York, NY TIME: 11:30 a.m.
JOHN BENITEZ
Latin Jazz Jam Session WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Terraza Cafe
40-19 Gleane Street
Elmhurst, NY TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
LA RUMBA IS A LOVESOME THING: REIMAGINING STRAYHORN WHEN: Tuesday 7/19/11 WHERE: Miles Cafe
212 E. 52nd Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY TIME: 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: $17
MAMBO LEGENDS ORCHESTRA WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 WHERE:S.O.B.’s
200 Varick Street
New York, NY TIME: 8:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10
PEDRO GIRAUDO
Jazz Orchestra WHEN: Tuesday 7/19/11 WHERE: 92Y Tribeca
200 Hudson Street
New York, NY TIME: 8:00 p.m. TICKETS: $12 in advance; $15 on the day of the show
Sextet WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE: Ryles
212 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10
SOFIA REI KOUTSOVITIS WHEN: Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE: Queens Botanical Gardens
43-50 Main Street
Flushing, NY TIME: 6:00 p.m. TICKETS: Free With Garden Admission ($4)
SUSAN PEREIRA & SABOR BRASIL WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE:The Plaza
101 Park Avenue
New York NY TIME: 12:30 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
VENISSA SANTI WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 WHERE:Philadelphia Museum Of Art
26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA TIME: 5:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE with museum admission
If you’re in the MID-EAST this week . . . DARWIN NOGUERA WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:ParK 52
5201 S. Harper Avenue
Chicago, IL TIME: 8:00 p.m.
PAULINHO GARCIA WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE:Piccolo Mundo
1642 E. 56th Street
Chicago, IL TIME: 6:00 p.m.
If you’re in the MID-WEST this week . . . ARTURO SANDOVAL WHEN: Sunday 7/24/11 WHERE:Winter Park Resort
85 Parsenn Road
Winter Park, CO TIME: All day festival TICKETS: $35 in advance; $40 on the day of the show
If you’re on the WEST COAST this week . . . BILL CABALLERO WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Voz Alta
1754 National Avenue
Barrio Logan, CA TIME: 7:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE:Mall Of The Americas
4211 Camino de la Plaza
San Diego, CA TIME: 1:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
FRANK CANO WHEN: Saturday 7/23/11 WHERE: Steamer’s
138 W. Commonwealth Avenue
Fullerton, CA TIME: 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: $8
GILBERT CASTELLANOS WHEN: Wednesday 7/20/11 WHERE:El Camino
2400 India Street
San Diego, CA TIME: 9:00 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
GRUPO FALSO BAIANO WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 WHERE:Zinc Bar
425 Market Street Plaza
San Francisco, CA TIME: 12:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
WHEN: Friday 7/22/11 WHERE:Sam’s Chowder House
4210 North Cabrillo Highway
Half Moon Bay, CA TIME: 6:00 p.m. TICKETS: NO COVER
KAT PARRA WHEN: Tuesday 7/19/11 WHERE: Advanced Medicine Center
875 Blake Wilbur Drive
Stanford, CA TIME: 12:00 p.m. TICKETS: FREE
PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA WHEN: Monday 7/18/11 WHERE:Cafe Cocomo
650 Indiana Street
San Francisco, CA TIME: 9:30 p.m. TICKETS: $10
PETE ESCOVEDO WHEN: Monday 7/18/11 WHERE:Kuumbwa Jazz Center
320-2 Cedar Street
Santa Cruz, CA TIME: 7:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: $22 in advance; $25 at the door
SCOTT MARTIN WHEN: Tuesday 7/19/11 WHERE: Saville Theater
1313 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA TIME: 8:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10
SONANDO WHEN: Thursday 7/21/11 WHERE:Tula’s
2214 Second Avenue
Seattle, WA TIME: 8:00 p.m. TICKETS: $10
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Crossover is an interesting word that provokes a number of different reactions in people. On the one hand, it signifies the ultimate goal of any musician – to seamlessly cross between styles and connect with a multitude of artists. Individuals with the unique insight to see the connection points between musical boundaries find themselves with more opportunities and a world of creativity. Other people view crossing over as a commercial act that sacrifices the integrity of musical styles for financial gain. This is a distinctly different act that involves making artistic concessions to reach a wider audience. The true power of the word lies in connections though – the movement between cultural aesthetics and genre definitions.
Composer Roberto Sierra has spent a lifetime crossing between musical worlds and bringing together the ideas of different cultures. Born in Puerto Rico, Sierra grew up studying classical piano and listening to salsa swirling around him. He dove deeper into classical piano at the island’s conservatory before deciding that his future should be focused upon composition. Sierra left Puerto Rico to study composition, first in London and later in Hamburg, Germany. He connected with influential composer György Ligeti, soaking up the experienced artist’s knowledge while sharing his background in Caribbean music. After a move to the United States, Sierra built his reputation with highly regarded pieces like “Missa Latina” and “Júbilo.” An opportunity to see saxophonist James Carter perform inspired Sierra to write a jazz inspired piece, so he approached Carter for a collaboration. The saxophonist agreed, so Sierra began writing what would become “Concerto For Saxophones And Orchestra.” Carter and Sierra worked together to find an approach to the piece that held the integrity of Latin and classical music while naturally integrating jazz improvisation. The insight of the two musicians proved poignant and the 2002 premiere of “Concerto For Saxophones And Orchestra” awed the audience. Sierra and Carter decided to record the piece in Poland with conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. Another Sierra composition rounded out the album – “Caribbean Rhapsody,” a tribute to his memories of popular music in Puerto Rico. Carter was joined on the piece by his musical cousin, violinist Regina Carter, and a string ensemble; the full group delivered a powerful performance that captured the essence of son montuno and more. The collection of these pieces, along with some solo saxophone improvisations from Carter produced a stunned album that touches upon many musical realms.
Sierra crosses over in the best sense of the word on Caribbean Rhapsody, touching upon the several musical worlds that have touched his life. His use of classical forms, Caribbean rhythmic traditions, and jazz improvisation honor each style deeply while creating something absolutely unique. His insightful use of these genres appeals to audiences, but it also allows him to collaborate on a high level with Carter, delivering an unforgettable performance. In the first part of our interview with Sierra, we looked at his exposure to salsa and classical music in Puerto Rico, his move towards composition, and his studies with Ligeti. We dug deeply into “Concerto For Saxophones And Woodwinds” in Part Two of our interview, discussing his relationship with Carter and the extent of their collaboration. We conclude our conversation today, talking about “Caribbean Rhapsody,” Regina Carter’s involvement in the album, and crossing over.
———- LATIN JAZZ CORNER: James talks about Giancarlo Guerrero as an artistic appendage – why did you bring him into the project and what do you think that his work as a conductor brought into the recording?
ROBERTO SIERRA: He is a fantastic conductor and an amazingly gifted man. I think that he’s a great conductor. Not only that, but he also understands rhythm.
LJC: Do you mean the references to Latin rhythms or polyrhythms in general?
RS: You can narrow it to whatever you want, but he understands any rhythm. He understands rhythm from a physical sense. There are people that barely understand rhythm intellectually. In jazz or Caribbean music, anybody can count “one, two, three, one, two, three” or “one, two, one two.” That’s the intellectual part. That’s one thing, but the other thing is to feel it.
The good jazz player is the one that can play that note just a little bit before or after the beat. The one that can get off the main rhythmic pattern in an amazing way and be very complex. It’s like what you hear in some salsa, when you hear the sonero Ismael Miranda or La Lupe – when they would go off the main beat it was absolutely stunning. They flowed and then they went back. And they weren’t even thinking about it!
LJC: I would think that one of the challenges as a conductor would be expressing that rhythmic feeling and sharing it with the orchestra.
RS: Absolutely. With somebody like James, if the conductor does not have the amazing sensibility that Giancarlo has, it doesn’t really work. Then James would feel constrained. He may not say something to the conductor, but you would immediately start to see a discomfort. It wouldn’t be any different from him playing in his jazz ensemble. If there is someone who is not with it, it wouldn’t work.
LJC: I read that the piece “Caribbean Rhapsody” was inspired by the sounds that you heard growing up in Puerto Rico.
RS: It was jukebox music. These are the memories of jukebox songs. The slow parts come from boleros and the fast parts come from different types of salsa strains.
LJC: Did you have James in mind for this piece as well when you were writing it?
RS: Yea, I wrote it especially for James and Regina Carter.
LJC: What was different that you were trying to capture in “Caribbean Rhapsody” as opposed to “Concerto For Saxophones And Orchestra”?
RS: Although there are Latin elements in “Concerto For Saxophones And Orchestra,” I wanted to do more of a purely Latin piece with this one. And it is, as you can hear. I was curious to see what James would do, and James became a salsero! There’s also improvisation on this piece, and he improvised like a salsa musician! I don’t really know if he’s every really played that style or not, but I have no doubt that it would take him two seconds to fit in.
LJC: You hear the bolero in the beginning of the piece, and I thought that I heard some danzon in it . . .
RS: Probably. I was born in 1953, so I’m older. I haven’t gotten to Reggaeton yet. My Caribbean roots are from an earlier period! Now I go to Puerto Rico and it’s a different thing, it’s Reggaeton all the time.
LJC: After the slow section, the piece goes into son montuno – the easy choice would have been to add congas and timbales . . .
RS: I purposely did not want to do it – it was even suggested. We were doing this for the recording and somebody had a fear that just having strings might not do the trick since it was such a small group. I was asked if I wanted to add percussion, and I said, “No, I don’t want to add it.” It was too obvious. It was exactly for that reason.
LJC: Regina Carter sounds great on “Caribbean Rhapsody” – how did she get involved in the project?
RS: On the logistic side of her involvement, it was her management. I had never met her before and I had never worked with her, so it was a new thing for both of us. The first time that I met her was the rehearsal before the recording. So we didn’t really have much of a chance to talk beforehand. But this is what happens when you’re dealing with great musicians – they immediately get going. Two hours into working with her – even after not having met before – it was like we had been working all our lives together. The back and forth between her and James was fantastic, fun, and vibrant.
LJC: You stand out as a Caribbean composer in the classical world that is widely known; are there other composers that are doing similar work?
RS: I think that there have been people – not so much from Puerto Rico, but from Cuba. There’s Paquito D’Rivera; he does classical, jazz, Afro-Cuban, and he writes music as well. I don’t know of a classical composer – I don’t say this trying to say anything extraordinary about myself, it’s just factual – I don’t’ know of a classical composer who has written a popular music piece like “Caribbean Rhapsody.” If I would detach myself from the picture and act purely as an observer, I would say that popular musicians would not do a popular piece like “Caribbean Rhapsody” either. It mixes the elements equally. A popular musician might do a piece like “Caribbean Rhapsody,” but it wouldn’t be written, it would be based on lead sheets, and they would have put percussion, electric bass, or something like that in it. The classical composer wouldn’t have dealt with the popular element in some of the pure formats that I dealt with it – like the son montuno, the vamps, and all of that. In that way, it’s a very experimental piece.
LJC: There’s that whole idea of crossover out there – do you have that intention of trying to reach different people or is this just another extension of your work?
RS: I try to reach something within my heart. In that way, I’ll reach other people, but I’m trying to look into myself. Crossover is a perfect word because this crosses over and messes things up in a way that I think it should be. The problem with what we think of as crossover is that people consider it wimpy. It’s not good in the popular idiom and it’s not good in the classical idiom. When you have a rock musician or some jazz musician writing for symphony orchestra, they don’t know how to handle the orchestra – and vice versa; when you have a classical musician dealing with popular elements, it sort of mutes it. That’s why people say it’s wimpy.
LJC: Looking into the future, would you consider bringing together jazz, Latin, and classical again?
RS: Absolutely. You never go back, you go forward. The music that I knew growing up, it’s glorious music. Jazz has some of the best things out there ever. Absolutely.
———-
Make sure that you read Part One of our interview with composer Roberto Sierra where we dig into his early exposure to classical music and salsa in Puerto Rico, his move towards composition, and his studies with György Ligeti. You can check it out HERE.
Take a look at Part Two of our interview with composer Roberto Sierra where we look in detail at “Concerto For Saxophones And Orchestra,” discussing his relationship with saxophonist James Carter and the extent of their collaboration. You can find it HERE.
Some people are simply meant to be involved in their passion – they are pulled with a magnetic force towards their final goal. These type of people don’t see challenges as roadblocks to their dreams; they simply look past them and find an alternate route towards their destination. Life may consistently attempt to turn them in a different direction, but their inner navigation works magic, redirecting them towards their interests. These are the types of people that constantly inspire us, reminding the world that there’s always a way to connect with the things that drive you. Destiny moves them forward with a ferocious velocity, keeping them attached to the things that feed their soul.
JOSÉ RIZO: In my early stages of forming Radio Chicano, when I started doing radio, there was not really one person that inspired me. I kind of just tried to figure it out on my own. Eventually in my mid-twenties, I read this article in a Latin magazine about Chico Sesma. I thought, “This guy did radio too and he’s Latino, so I’ll read about him.” I did more research on him and found out that he was the one that started English language radio programming on Latin music. He was the first one out here on the West Coast to play Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, and all those early bands. But he did it in English. Later he worked on a jazz station doing the same thing, way back in the late forties and early fifties. He was a legend. He was the one that set up all the Hollywood Latin holidays. He was the first to bring Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Beny More to the West Coast. He would do these amazing concerts at the Hollywood Palladium once a month. When I learned about that, I had never really heard him and I wanted to know more about him. Eventually in my trips to L.A., I finally tracked him down and I met him. Since then, he became my mentor; he would sit me down and talk to me about music and life. I learned a whole lot from him. I’m still in touch with him. Whenever I bumped into Tito Puente or Celia Cruz, we’d have conversations and they were always telling me to say hi to Chico. He meant a lot to them. 
If there was one jock that I could pinpoint that really influenced me that I heard on the air, it was probably Chuck Niles. Chico was an influence because of his accomplishments, definitely. I listened to him a little bit, but it was later, after I was already doing my thing. While I was at UCSB, I would listen voraciously to KBCA and KGGO in L.A. whenever I could catch them. I would catch as much as I could – I would always listen to Jim Gosa and Chuck Niles. So the jazz jocks were my idols. 
I really knew Poncho from my UCSB years – during that time he would come do gigs, visit me on the air at KCSB, and more. I was living in East L.A. while I was going to school and he would always call me up and ask, “Aren’t you ever going to get back into radio?” I would say, “No, man, I’m focused. I’ll hang out and listen to music, but I’ve got to finish this.” Through the years that I was here in East L.A., he would come around. “Hey, Jose, I’m playing near, I’m going to pick you up.” So he would pick me up and we’d hang out. It would be the same thing with him and Ramon Banda – “Don’t you miss it? Don’t you want to get back into it?” I would say, “No, I just don’t feel it.” 
So I went there and did a demo on a cassette. I was bringing all my Arieto and Egrem albums – I was deep into Afro-Cuba, Arturo Sandoval, Chucho Valdes. People here had never even heard of these guys before. I was pulling all these gems into what I thought a Latin Jazz show should have. I left a demo and he called me the next night. He goes, “Where did you get all this incredible material – what is this?!?” I said, “It’s what I think a Latin Jazz show should be.” He said, “You’ve got jazz knowledge, these artists are amazing . . . When do you want to start?” 
JR: Oh yea. They brought me in thinking that I was going to connect directly with the Latino audience. But it didn’t work that way. I connected really strongly with the African-American community. They were my hugest supporters at the beginning. That surprised me. In the first membership drive, it was good, but there were no Latino names coming in on the pledges. That shocked me – this was all new to me. The jazz audience had open arms though; they were eating this up. They had never heard jazz from that point of view before. They had never heard Chucho Valdes, Emiliano Salvador, or Arturo playing with that versatility. All the stuff was totally alien to the listeners, but there were amazing musicians. They were just eating it up – they were listening to it and they were supporting it. 
LJC: Public radio has long been a lifeline for jazz, but things are different today due to the internet. Do you think that jazz radio is healthy or worse off?
The first half of 2011 has resonated with two distinct themes: outstanding music and an unacceptable lack of respect for the artists that create it. On one side of the equation, some of the Latin Jazz world’s greatest musicians have released unforgettable albums. On the other side, the National Academy Of Arts And Sciences eliminated the Latin Jazz Grammy, along with 30 other diverse musical categories, making an unacceptable statement about the place of these musics in our culture. In order to describe the status of the Grammys in 2011, we could turn Frank Sinatra’s famous quote upside down and say, “Remember ladies and gentlemen, it’s about popularity, not excellence.” With that in mind, we’re going to spend several days looking back at Latin Jazz releases from the first half of 2011 that represent musical excellence . . . and since the state of Grammys in 2011 had nothing to do with excellence, these albums will not be winning Grammy Awards./bobby sanabria manhattan school of music tito puente masterworks live.jpg)
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There’s nothing stronger in the human soul than a message that you need to share with the world. Most people aren’t born with this type of drive, and some people never capture it during their lifetime. Still, there are insightful individuals discover issues in their life that drive them to educate, inform, and speak on topics ranging from politics to race, art, and more. The simple discovery plants a seed in their head and continued exposure causes their desire to grow over time. As the need for change, bubble inside them, they find their way towards venues to spread their word. The connection between a message and the means to spread it inevitably lead towards forward motion and a number of potentially powerful opportunities.
JOSÉ RIZO: My parents brought me over to the States when I was forty days old. I would go back and visit family pretty frequently. I had a godfather, who I got real close with; he would always have these really early albums of Tito Puente and Beny More. He’d also have these old 8-tracks of Glenn Miller and all these big band things. Early on, I would listen to the stuff that I would hear with friends, like War and Tower Of Power, but on the side, I was also listening to my uncle’s Glenn Miller things, Tito Puente, and Beny More albums. That was my mix.
Early on, I wanted to play in bands other than school bands. I grew up in the barrio in Oxnard; it’s a little rough there. Especially in those days in the seventies. A couple of times I tried to join some bands and there were some pretty rough characters there. I remember there was one band that I really wanted to be a part of, because they were playing all of this James Brown and Tower Of Power stuff – they were called the Flaming Skulls. I joined band for a little bit on trumpet with my friends from our school band. But some of these guys were in the corner before rehearsal, and they were shooting up heroin. I looked at my friend and said, “You know, I don’t think this is a good thing for us to be part of!” So I finally said, “Forget this, I’ll just stick with the school band and then move on.” So I never really had any kind of music that I hooked with to really want to play badly after that experience. 
JR: He was the bridge. Especially on recordings with Luis Gasca. Luis told me personally that he introduced Carlos to jazz. He brought Carlos in as a young pup, playing with Joe Henderson and these other great jazz cats. That was Santana’s first connections with jazz. 
On my trips to UCSB, I would listen to the show called La Hora Chicana on one of those local stations. I thought, “This guy is representing our people, and he’s coming off with all of these unprofessional ways of doing it.” That got me frustrated. So later on in my first freshman year at school there, I thought, “Let me try to do some of this stuff, I can do better than that.” I had no idea about radio, so I just started writing some letters to the local stations there around Santa Barbara to see if they would give me a shot at doing a public affairs show. 
I started doing this public affairs show for KIST called La Voz De La Raza. I would interview social service centers, car clubs – just different people from the Mexican-American community that had some contribution to the community at large. Little by little, I started adding a little bit of music in there. Back then, it was just what I knew – Santana, El Chicano, Daniel Valdés, the great Chicano guitarist. Then it just kind of grew. At the same time, I started listening to some jazz. I got into whatever type of early Latin Jazz that there was. There wasn’t really a whole lot available back then – you had to really dig to get it. I was still learning about this stuff – I was getting turned onto Gil Scott-Heron, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters – I was digging into all of that stuff. I was seeing them live in concert at UCSB too. They were coming around the campus and I was going out to check out The Headhunters, Gil Scott-Heron, The Midnight Band . . . I was eating all that stuff up. I was learning very quickly. 
I wrote a letter to Jerry and Alex Masucci at Fania Records. They responded really well, I even talked to them for a while. They sent me a huge box of Fania Records; I had them all in my apartment. I thought, all these albums are just taking up space, I should listen to them. I had a little turntable so I started opening up some of those records – I had a good 150 or 200 albums there. Then I started listening to Ray Barretto and Johnny Pacheco; I thought, “Woah, this is some good stuff.” That was totally different for me – in Oxnard, we listened to oldies, Santana, Malo, and that stuff. We didn’t listen to salsa, that was alien to me. But I discovered that world. It was really a beautiful and rich time where I was just soaking all of this stuff in. 
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On Wednesday April 6th, The National Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences announced a “restructuring” of The Grammy Awards, a move that included the elimination of the Latin Jazz Grammy. This unfortunate decision undermines the integrity of Latin Jazz and disregards its importance as a major piece of the cultural landscape in the United States. I would encourage all LJC readers to protest this decision and demand that NARAS reinstate the Latin Jazz Grammy immediately – you can do this by sending an e-mail to NARAS President and CEO Neil Portnow here – 
July 20, 2011/harold lopez nussa el pais de las maravillas.jpg)
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Crossover is an interesting word that provokes a number of different reactions in people. On the one hand, it signifies the ultimate goal of any musician – to seamlessly cross between styles and connect with a multitude of artists. Individuals with the unique insight to see the connection points between musical boundaries find themselves with more opportunities and a world of creativity. Other people view crossing over as a commercial act that sacrifices the integrity of musical styles for financial gain. This is a distinctly different act that involves making artistic concessions to reach a wider audience. The true power of the word lies in connections though – the movement between cultural aesthetics and genre definitions.
ROBERTO SIERRA: He is a fantastic conductor and an amazingly gifted man. I think that he’s a great conductor. Not only that, but he also understands rhythm. 
RS: Absolutely. With somebody like James, if the conductor does not have the amazing sensibility that Giancarlo has, it doesn’t really work. Then James would feel constrained. He may not say something to the conductor, but you would immediately start to see a discomfort. It wouldn’t be any different from him playing in his jazz ensemble. If there is someone who is not with it, it wouldn’t work.
RS: Although there are Latin elements in “Concerto For Saxophones And Orchestra,” I wanted to do more of a purely Latin piece with this one. And it is, as you can hear. I was curious to see what James would do, and James became a salsero! There’s also improvisation on this piece, and he improvised like a salsa musician! I don’t really know if he’s every really played that style or not, but I have no doubt that it would take him two seconds to fit in. 
RS: I purposely did not want to do it – it was even suggested. We were doing this for the recording and somebody had a fear that just having strings might not do the trick since it was such a small group. I was asked if I wanted to add percussion, and I said, “No, I don’t want to add it.” It was too obvious. It was exactly for that reason.
RS: I think that there have been people – not so much from Puerto Rico, but from Cuba. There’s Paquito D’Rivera; he does classical, jazz, Afro-Cuban, and he writes music as well. I don’t know of a classical composer – I don’t say this trying to say anything extraordinary about myself, it’s just factual – I don’t’ know of a classical composer who has written a popular music piece like “Caribbean Rhapsody.” If I would detach myself from the picture and act purely as an observer, I would say that popular musicians would not do a popular piece like “Caribbean Rhapsody” either. It mixes the elements equally. A popular musician might do a piece like “Caribbean Rhapsody,” but it wouldn’t be written, it would be based on lead sheets, and they would have put percussion, electric bass, or something like that in it. The classical composer wouldn’t have dealt with the popular element in some of the pure formats that I dealt with it – like the son montuno, the vamps, and all of that. In that way, it’s a very experimental piece.
