More About The Afro Yaqui Music Collective & Albertico Lescay

The Afro Yaqui Music Collective was founded in 2014 by Gizelxanath Rodríguez (of Yaqui descent) and Ben Barson, a protege of the late saxophonist Fred Ho, who did pioneering work fusing Asian music and Jazz (Their Friday, August 11 concert is a tribute to him). The AYMC, which is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, fuses various forms of indigenous music (not exclusively Yaqui) with Jazz and Hip Hop, and there is a Cuban connection now with Ben Barson recently performing with NuJazz artist Zule Guerra in Cuba and now collaborating with Albertico Lescay, leader of Formas in Cuba, during his visit to the US. You can see a lot more about this project, which also has a Facebook page, at Ben Barson's website here. It will be interesting to see how this project and Formas exchange ideas.

Albertico Lescay, of Santiago but now in Havana, is the leader of Formas, an important group in the NuJazz movement in Cuba. (Albertico sometimes prefers to use Afro NuJazz because Formas retains more Afrocuban elements than many other groups in this part of the spectrum.) NuJazz in Cuba is a fusion of Cuban music, Jazz and Hip Hop. The strong Cuban foundations and more intricate Jazz patterns in the music distinguish it from what we once called Acid Jazz in the US, but there are parallels in the mixture of genres. Formas has not yet released an album but has gained significant notice in Cuba. Albertico is currently visiting the US, sometimes playing with the AYMC, sometimes presenting the music of Formas using US musicians (including members of the AYMC). Again, the long-term results of this interchange should be interesting.

This weekend, you can see these musicians as follows:
Friday, August 11: Afro Yaqui Music Collective with special guest Albertico Lescay
Ginny's Supper Club, New York, NY
Saturday, August 12: Albertico Lescay presents the music of FORMAS with invited guests opening for Villalobos Brothers, part of a benefit performance for migrant justice
Barnard Vermont

TIMBA ALERT:
Since Charanga Habenera has been performing as both Charanga Habanera and Charanga Light (a slightly different formation and repertoire), we asked the folks at Festival Cubano which version would be performing in Chicago on Sunday, August 13. We were informed that it will be the regular Charanga Habanera.
Festival Cubano runs from Friday, August 11 through Sunday, August 13 with two stages, food, games etc. You can find everything you need to know on the Festival Cubano website here.
When you go, be sure to also check out some of Chicago's fine local Cuban-American talent such as Stacie Sandoval and Matanza y su Latin Express.

| Share

domingo, 06 agosto 2017, 04:11 pm

SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO TOUR CONTINUES
Saturday night, Septeto Santiaguero tore the roof off of Martyrs at their Chicago concert. I know that I may start some arguments and hurt some feelings, but this IS Cuba's best working traditional Septeto right now. Your can see a photo gallery here. Meanwhile, they are in Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota and Los Angeles next, as follows:
Tuesday, August 8: North Street Cabaret, Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, August 9: Dakota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Thursday, August 10: The Central Park Sessions, Central Park, Madison, Wisconsin
Friday, August 11: Grand Performances, Los Angeles, CA (with Vocal Vidas)
IF YOU CAN, GO SEE THIS GROUP!!!!!!!

VOCAL VIDAS US TOUR
The a capella tradition is Cuba is not just a man thing - there's Vocal Vidas, a female quartet from Santiago de Cuba. Well, OK, they cheat just a wee bit - they use a little hand percussion, but other than that, they are a capella, and that does not diminish them at all - their voices are wonderful. They are out in California right now and very much worth seeing as follows in metro LA:
Tuesday, August 8: Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill
Friday, August 11: Grand Performances (with Septeto Santiaguero)

ALBERTICO LESCAY IN THE EASTERN US

We mentioned recently that Albertico Lescay is visiting the US and performing both as an invited guest with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective and presenting some of the music of his own project, FORMAS, with US musicians. Here are this week's dates with more to follow in the future:
Friday, August 11: Afro Yaqui Music Collective with special guest Albertico Lescay
Ginny's Supper Club, New York, NY
Saturday, August 12: Albertico Lescay presents the music of FORMAS with invited guests opening for Villalobos Brothers, part of a benefit performance for migrant justice
Barnard Vermont
Albertico also did a workshop in Pittsburgh at the Pryse Academy in Pittsburgh, an institution that works with refugee youth, presenting his music and discussing the importance of music in cultural identity.
Albertico Lescay is an artist to watch. You'll be hearing a lot more about him within a year.

| Share

jueves, 03 agosto 2017, 06:07 am

Septeto Santiaguero comes to Chicago...
Septeto Santiaguero wlll be at Martyrs on Saturday, August 5 courtesy of HotHouse, which has been back in action recently. This group, which has won more than one Premio Cubadisco and the 2015 Latin GRAMMY® award, is one of the best of its type. I have heard them in both Santiago and Habana, and they put on a very rousing show. They have collaborated with a galaxy of stars, but I actually prefer them in concert by themselves as they will be here. Martyrs is a dance hall, so this will be fun. For more information and tickets, see the Hothouse event page.
They are touring in support of their newest album Raiz.
You can read a review in English here or en español aquí

Charanga Habanera comes to Festival Cubano...
At this writing, it isn't completely clear whether this will be Charanga Habanera classic or Charanga Light, but some version of CH is coming to Festival Cubano at Riis Park on Sunday, August 13. Festival Cubano is a 3-day festival (August 11-13) that has now expanded to two stages, lots of food, games and other good things. They have always been quite good at showcasing Chicago's fine local talent but rather timid for some years about bringing groups based on the island. Whichever version of CH shows up, kudos to Festival Cubano for inviting a group like CH, especially in these newly-complicated times.
For more information, see the Festival Cubano website

Roberto Fonseca on TV...
For those of you with access to Chicago's public television station WTTW Prime, Roberto Fonseca's appearance on The Experience with Dedry Jones will be on the air every night August 3-6. This was recorded 3 blocks from my home, so naturally I was in the studio audience, and this is goooooood. The WTTW page is HERE

And over in Pittsburgh, Albertico Lescay visits the US, collaborates with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective....
What's that, you say? Well, for openers, Albertico Lescay is the leader of one of the most interesting NuJazz groups in Cuba that you haven't heard much about yet but will over the next year, Albertico Lescay y Formas. Here's a taste of Formas:

Now let's add the Afro Yaqui Music Collective to the mix. (I know you're going to ask, so yes, Gizelzanath Rodriguez, the band's co-leader and an operatic soprano, is of Yaqui descent.) This is a group that explores indigenous music and fuses it with Jazz, Funk and Soul. Here's a taste of what they do:

Put it all together, and what do you get? Well, if you are in Pittsburgh, you can find out on Saturday, August 5 at the James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy. Albertico (without Formas) is here to collaborate with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective. More informatiion about this event and tickets are available HERE. The other coleader of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, Ben Barson, recently performed with Zule Guerra in Cuba. Albertico is also giving workshops, there will be more performances, and there will be a lot more to come about all this in the near future.

Last but not least for now, a photo gallery of Bohemia's performance at the City Winery in Chicago is available HERE.

| Share

lunes, 24 julio 2017, 10:55 am

photo courtesy Tiempo Libre

Jorge Gómez, líder de Tiempo Libre, habla del nuevo proyecto en español aquí

Tiempo Libre has never been afraid to take risks, whether fusing Bach with Cuban Music, working with symphonies, mixing in other genres of popular music with Timba and projects with Joshua Bell and James Galway. They have paid a price of sorts for that path - rather than being the darlings of the less expensive dance halls, they have sometimes had to settle for the likes of the Tonight Show, Live From Lincoln Center, several prestige festivals and three GRAMMY nominations. They have still been a perfectly danceable música popular bailable band throughout, just maybe a little too uptown at tmes for some of the most hard core Timba purists (which has never stopped open-minded listeners like yours truly from getting into them or most of the dancers either).

photo courtesy Tiempo Libre

Now comes a new Tiempo Libre project, Bohemia, a quartet that interprets more traditional material from the Cuban songbook. This isn't the first time that timberos have gone to the traditional songbook- former vanvanero Mayito Rivera for example has delved deep into Rumba and Son. Tiempo Libre itself had its US road debut in Chicago, so it is fitting that Bohemia's road debuts are on Tuesday, August 1 in Minneapolis (Dakota) and Wednesday, August 2 in Chicago (City Winery). Those of you in those cities will be the first to hear this outside of Miami. Both of these are among the best venues in their cities for presenting this type of music (I can vouch from experience that the City WInery also has excellent food and drink).

Jorge Gómez tells us about the new project in English here

Basically, there will be two Tiempo Libre groups now -the Tiempo Libre that we've known for years, and the Bohemia project. You can get a taste of the Bohemia project on their Facebook page here.

For more information (and tickets) for the Dakota performance, click here....

For more information (and tickets) for the City Winery performance, click here....

Both Tiempo Libre's Bohemia project and the full Tiempo Libre ensemble will be on tour in the weeks to come. You can see their schedule here.......

Septeto Santiaguero is on the road in the US with engagements in multiple cities in support of their latest album Raiz (you can read a review here), which was nominated in the Raíces Soneras y Campesinas category in Cubadisco 2017. (Septeto Santiaguero already has some recent Cubadisco and Latin GRAMMY® awards under its belt.)
As a Chicagoan, I wish to let my fellow Chicagoans know that Septeto Santiaguero will be performing here on Saturday, August 5 at Martyrs, 3855 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, Illinois: This is being presented by HotHouse, and you can see more information here. I have seen them live in both Santiago and la Habana, and they pack a wallop - musically speaking, I actually prefer them live by themselves, as they will be here, to their many collaborations with more "famous" artists.
You can see an earlier version of the tour schedule here, but there have been some date changes, so be sure to verify before you go.