It's become an annual tradition here at LJC to spend Thanksgiving Day looking back at several Latin Jazz artists that have had a profound effect on me during the past year. I generally spend the day with family and friends, cherishing the the close relationships that make my life full. My life wouldn't be complete without Latin Jazz though, the sights and sounds of the music have influenced me more than I could ever describe. More than anything, it's the musicians behind the sound that have impacted me; they've consistently been inspirational role models that keep me moving from day to day. I enjoy the opportunity to look back upon a few especially important Latin Jazz musicians and acknowledge the rare gifts that they've brought into the world.
It may seem old fashioned, but I value this moment to give thanks to the musicians that have played a role in my life. Especially in today's digital age, it's far too easy to take music for granted, not really recognizing the blood, sweat, and intelligence that musicians put into their art. I value this contribution to the world, and I'm sure that LJC readers would agree that life wouldn't be the same without these Latin Jazz musicians. My thanks goes out to all the musicians that keep Latin Jazz alive, with a special recognition to four musicians that brightened my life in 2010—enjoy!
Danilo Peréz
Every Latin Jazz artist earns my respect for contributing to the overall scene—the work that every artist does leads towards the genre's rich diversity. It takes an amazing individual to go above and beyond that contribution though, something that pianist Danilo Peréz has spent a good deal of time doing in spades. Simply talking about his artistic merit would easily put him in this category, he's an unstoppable visionary with the work aesthetic to make his ideas reality. He has impacted the traditional Latin Jazz scene through work with Dizzy Gillespie and Paquito D'Rivera and pushed the boundaries of modern jazz with the cutting edge sound of Wayne Shorter's quartet. His output as a bandleader shows the high level thinking that makes him a musical leader; just check out his latest release Providencia for ample evidence. Peréz takes his responsibility as a musician much further than performance though, with a social conscious that drives him to greater heights. The establishment of the Panama Jazz Festival has allowed for the exposure of world class jazz artists in the region. With the context of the festival, Peréz has created a foundation providing money for jazz education aimed at Panamanian youth. In his spare time, Peréz has created the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, a rigorous program that balances high quality performances standards with social responsibility. Peréz is not only providing opportunity for both the young and the old, he is ensuring the survival and expansion of jazz into the next generation—a fact reaching across many years that we can all be thankful for.
Get the full scoop on this amazing musician in the LJC five-part interview with Danilo Peréz. Here's , Part Four, and Part Five.
Hermeto Pascoal
Legends often proceed the people behind them, and I've found that until I dig deep into a musician's history, I don't really know them. Hermeto Pascoal's name floats around the Brazilian Jazz scene with great frequency, confirming the importance of his work on a regular basis. Despite this fact, I hadn't really gotten to know Pascoal too well before this year. I had listened to a couple of albums, and even though the rich quality of the music struck me, something always pulled my attention away. While doing research for my recent interview with pianist Jovino Santos Neto, I spent some serious time with Pascoal's music, since Neto spent fifteen years in Pascoal's band. After a good deal of focused listening, I was left with just one question—why hadn't I been doing more Pascoal listening before? His compositions are simply breathtaking, pulling together the deep rooted cultural traditions of Brazil, the inherent freedom of improvisation in jazz, and the large scale compositional structures of classical music. His performances as a saxophonist, flautist, and more show him as an awe-inspiring multi-instrumentalist and a profoundly unique artistic personality that demands attention. As Neto pointed out during our five-part interview (Check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five), his legacy is vast and in a way, largely unexplored. Fortunately, Neto and some other dedicated musicians in Brazil are doing their part to keep Pascoal's music alive. Realizing the enormity of Pascoal's contribution to the Latin Jazz world, I'm making some plans to bring his music to light over the next year here at LJC. In the meantime, Pascoal's work has become my latest musical obsession, leaving me extremely thankful for everything he has done.
Zaccai Curtis
A lot has been said about the questionable future of jazz due to the declining interest of young people, a discouraging fact indeed. I've pondered this fact many times over the years, but I was given a glimpse of hope this past year from pianist Zaccai Curtis. Along with his brother Luques, Curtis delivers some of the most exciting and energetic Latin Jazz today with the Curtis Brothers Quartet. Their 2009 album Blood Spirit Land Water Freedom showed a musical maturity far beyond the scope of most twenty-something musicians, ranking among some of the year's best Latin Jazz. The group has been invigorating the New York scene for several years now, and we got a chance to here their powerful artistry in the Bay Area this year. The quartet tore apart the club here in Sonoma where I heard them, making a major statement with their smart combination of authenticity and spontaneity. The group captured their Bay Area visit in a fantastic live recording that they promptly made available for free download HERE. Zaccai and the group continue to prove themselves musically, but they also show a keen insight into the voice of their generation. Regular updates on Facebook, a constantly growing collection of videos on YouTube, the distribution of a free live album, a consistently updated website, and an informative mailing list are just some of the strategies that make the Curtis Brothers Quartet a viable piece of the twenty-first century Latin Jazz scene. In the three-part interview with Zaccai, we discussed the entry points for young people into jazz today, and he had honest, intelligent answers that not only shed light on the issues, but forced us to think about it clearly. Through outstanding musicianship, hard work, and intelligent commentary, Zaccai has proven to me that Latin Jazz has a future among the next generation, a fact that I'm very thankful for.
Learn more about this important young pianist in the LJC interview—check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.
Pete Escovedo
I've been fortunate to spend most of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I'm always thankful for the musicians that make this an exciting Latin Jazz scene. I was lucky enough to spend a while taking with Pete Escovedo this year, really digging into his legacy in celebration of his 75th birthday. If you haven't checked out the LJC interview, take a minute to read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three—this is the story of a man that has shaped the course of Bay Area Latin Jazz for decades. I've always appreciated Escovedo's work as a musician here in the Bay Area; he has kept the flame alive for Latin Jazz through my whole life. I've been privileged to see him perform many times in several different contexts, always delivering a fun and exciting show. His bands have included young musicians that have gone on to become major players in the Latin Jazz world—artists like Wayne Wallace, John Santos, Rebeca Mauleon, Murray Low, Paul Van Wageningen, Marc Van Wageningen, and many more have all spent time in Escovedo's group. In many ways, the high quality nature and abundance of excitement around the Bay Area's Latin Jazz scene owes its health to Escovedo, something we should always remember. This was a fact brought clearly to my attention through my interview with Escovedo, making me always thankful for his important work.
It may seem old fashioned, but I value this moment to give thanks to the musicians that have played a role in my life. Especially in today's digital age, it's far too easy to take music for granted, not really recognizing the blood, sweat, and intelligence that musicians put into their art. I value this contribution to the world, and I'm sure that LJC readers would agree that life wouldn't be the same without these Latin Jazz musicians. My thanks goes out to all the musicians that keep Latin Jazz alive, with a special recognition to four musicians that brightened my life in 2010—enjoy!
Danilo Peréz
Every Latin Jazz artist earns my respect for contributing to the overall scene—the work that every artist does leads towards the genre's rich diversity. It takes an amazing individual to go above and beyond that contribution though, something that pianist Danilo Peréz has spent a good deal of time doing in spades. Simply talking about his artistic merit would easily put him in this category, he's an unstoppable visionary with the work aesthetic to make his ideas reality. He has impacted the traditional Latin Jazz scene through work with Dizzy Gillespie and Paquito D'Rivera and pushed the boundaries of modern jazz with the cutting edge sound of Wayne Shorter's quartet. His output as a bandleader shows the high level thinking that makes him a musical leader; just check out his latest release Providencia for ample evidence. Peréz takes his responsibility as a musician much further than performance though, with a social conscious that drives him to greater heights. The establishment of the Panama Jazz Festival has allowed for the exposure of world class jazz artists in the region. With the context of the festival, Peréz has created a foundation providing money for jazz education aimed at Panamanian youth. In his spare time, Peréz has created the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, a rigorous program that balances high quality performances standards with social responsibility. Peréz is not only providing opportunity for both the young and the old, he is ensuring the survival and expansion of jazz into the next generation—a fact reaching across many years that we can all be thankful for.
Get the full scoop on this amazing musician in the LJC five-part interview with Danilo Peréz. Here's , Part Four, and Part Five.
Hermeto Pascoal
Legends often proceed the people behind them, and I've found that until I dig deep into a musician's history, I don't really know them. Hermeto Pascoal's name floats around the Brazilian Jazz scene with great frequency, confirming the importance of his work on a regular basis. Despite this fact, I hadn't really gotten to know Pascoal too well before this year. I had listened to a couple of albums, and even though the rich quality of the music struck me, something always pulled my attention away. While doing research for my recent interview with pianist Jovino Santos Neto, I spent some serious time with Pascoal's music, since Neto spent fifteen years in Pascoal's band. After a good deal of focused listening, I was left with just one question—why hadn't I been doing more Pascoal listening before? His compositions are simply breathtaking, pulling together the deep rooted cultural traditions of Brazil, the inherent freedom of improvisation in jazz, and the large scale compositional structures of classical music. His performances as a saxophonist, flautist, and more show him as an awe-inspiring multi-instrumentalist and a profoundly unique artistic personality that demands attention. As Neto pointed out during our five-part interview (Check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five), his legacy is vast and in a way, largely unexplored. Fortunately, Neto and some other dedicated musicians in Brazil are doing their part to keep Pascoal's music alive. Realizing the enormity of Pascoal's contribution to the Latin Jazz world, I'm making some plans to bring his music to light over the next year here at LJC. In the meantime, Pascoal's work has become my latest musical obsession, leaving me extremely thankful for everything he has done.
Zaccai Curtis
A lot has been said about the questionable future of jazz due to the declining interest of young people, a discouraging fact indeed. I've pondered this fact many times over the years, but I was given a glimpse of hope this past year from pianist Zaccai Curtis. Along with his brother Luques, Curtis delivers some of the most exciting and energetic Latin Jazz today with the Curtis Brothers Quartet. Their 2009 album Blood Spirit Land Water Freedom showed a musical maturity far beyond the scope of most twenty-something musicians, ranking among some of the year's best Latin Jazz. The group has been invigorating the New York scene for several years now, and we got a chance to here their powerful artistry in the Bay Area this year. The quartet tore apart the club here in Sonoma where I heard them, making a major statement with their smart combination of authenticity and spontaneity. The group captured their Bay Area visit in a fantastic live recording that they promptly made available for free download HERE. Zaccai and the group continue to prove themselves musically, but they also show a keen insight into the voice of their generation. Regular updates on Facebook, a constantly growing collection of videos on YouTube, the distribution of a free live album, a consistently updated website, and an informative mailing list are just some of the strategies that make the Curtis Brothers Quartet a viable piece of the twenty-first century Latin Jazz scene. In the three-part interview with Zaccai, we discussed the entry points for young people into jazz today, and he had honest, intelligent answers that not only shed light on the issues, but forced us to think about it clearly. Through outstanding musicianship, hard work, and intelligent commentary, Zaccai has proven to me that Latin Jazz has a future among the next generation, a fact that I'm very thankful for.
Learn more about this important young pianist in the LJC interview—check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.
Pete Escovedo
I've been fortunate to spend most of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I'm always thankful for the musicians that make this an exciting Latin Jazz scene. I was lucky enough to spend a while taking with Pete Escovedo this year, really digging into his legacy in celebration of his 75th birthday. If you haven't checked out the LJC interview, take a minute to read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three—this is the story of a man that has shaped the course of Bay Area Latin Jazz for decades. I've always appreciated Escovedo's work as a musician here in the Bay Area; he has kept the flame alive for Latin Jazz through my whole life. I've been privileged to see him perform many times in several different contexts, always delivering a fun and exciting show. His bands have included young musicians that have gone on to become major players in the Latin Jazz world—artists like Wayne Wallace, John Santos, Rebeca Mauleon, Murray Low, Paul Van Wageningen, Marc Van Wageningen, and many more have all spent time in Escovedo's group. In many ways, the high quality nature and abundance of excitement around the Bay Area's Latin Jazz scene owes its health to Escovedo, something we should always remember. This was a fact brought clearly to my attention through my interview with Escovedo, making me always thankful for his important work.
