The late don Mario Bauzá, who knew something about Cuban music and jazz, used to bemoan the use of the term Latin jazz. “I don´t know what they´re talking about when people talk about Latin jazz. Nobody is playing Latin jazz, “ he used to say, dramatically, in his trademark growl. “What they are playing …
Latin Jazz Becomes Pan-Latin Jazz (downbeat Column) Read More »
Madrid. In the short history of the flamenco-jazz fusion, jazz musicians have seemed more interested in flamenco than their counterparts in jazz. A flurry of new releases suggests this might be changing. “In principle jazz and flamenco have nothing to do with each other,” says Jose Manuel Gamboa, a critic, and author of Guia Libre …
In a Latin music industry stuck somewhere between nostalgia, crossover dreams, and Spanish language versions of Anglo pop formulas, Latin electronica, in its many guises, has come to many as a welcome (and often oh-so-smooth) shock. Yet those who caught the loungey neo-bossa of Bebel Gilberto and the late Suba, the startling fusions of the …
The Latin music industry in the United States being what it is, some of the best Latin music on record in this country in the late 1970s was released by a small label run by a non-Latino, non-musician who started it as little more than a promotional operation, out of his house, for his brand …
Small Latin (Label) Masterpieces (downbeat column) Read More »
Reissues are a chance to catch up with the past and, occasionally, reassess not only history but also the present. That’s the case with several recent releases – including a couple of reissues and two compilations. Poet, diplomat, bohemian extraordinaire Vinicius de Moraes was perhaps the greatest lyricist in bossa nova. His collaboration with Antonio …
Reissues and compilations. Latin music back to the future (downbeat column) Read More »
Singer Betsayda Machado, second from the left, and the drums-and-voices ensemble La Parranda El Clavo Photo by Xavier Lujan. Presenting music from a foreign tradition poses particular challenges. Yes, music transcends much, but much is lost in the translation. How to make an audience experience the culture, live the stories, and meet the people who …
Betsayda Machado and Parranda El Clavo: Food for Body and Soul (Artburst Miami) Read More »
In a Latin music industry stuck somewhere between nostalgia, crossover dreams, and Spanish language versions of Anglo pop formulas, Latin electronica, in its many guises, has come to many as a welcome (and often oh-so-smooth) shock. Yet those who caught the loungey neo-bossa of Bebel Gilberto and the late Suba, the startling fusions of the …
Omar Sosa. Photo by Andrea Rotili William Cepeda. Photo by Tomas Peña Globalization has long subverted notions of what is local in popular culture. More to the point, communications and the increasing reach …
What Globalization? All Music is Local (The Washington Post) Read More »
Carmen Paris Photo by Jose Aguilar© While introducing a song, halfway through her concert at Miami Dade County Auditorium, Friday, Spanish singer and songwriter Carmen París grumbled about globalization and what she saw as the resulting loss of traditional cultures. It was a curious observation for an artist who has built her career on blurring …
Carmen París Brings the Songs From Home to the World — and Vice-Versa Read More »
Wesley Prince, bass; Oscar Moore, guitar and Nat King Cole, Club Zanzibar in New York, N.Y., ca. July 1946. Photo by William Gottlieb Nat King Cole was not the first, nor would he be the last, jazz artist whose success as pop singer nearly eclipsed his brilliance as an instrumentalist. Consider Louis Armstrong and, …
Nat King Cole: Pop Goes the (Jazz) Pianist (JAZZIZ) Read More »