What do jazz giants Clark Terry, John Coltrane and Tito Puente all have in common?
They were all Navy men and their time in the service played a role in their development.
(And after his service, Tito Puente was able to study at Juilliard thanks to the GI Bill.)
Today we talk with Carl Gerhard, Lieutenant Commander, US Navy (Retired), who has experienced the Navy’s music program at all levels – as a student, as a teacher and as a director.
Interestingly enough, “musician” is one of the oldest occupational specialties in the Navy.
An important, but little known chapter of American music history…
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
Music credit: The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
Filmed June 1, 2013 at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco
The jam (“descarga”) is based on Cachao’s “Las Boinas.”
The Cuba-based band Havana D´Primera is led by Cienfuegos-born trumpet player Alexander Abreu.
Back home, this very popular band is known for its “Timba” music, a combination of salsa, American funk/R&B, and the strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music.
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
You’ve got to hand it to Harvard. They’ve got money and in this case they knew how to spend it.
This short video is an excellent musical and visual survey of some of the best that the western part of Cuba has to offer music lovers.
Cuban saxophonist, percussionist and composer Yosvany Terry directs the jazz bands at Harvard where he is also a Visiting Senior Lecturer on Music.
He arranged to bring the school’s jazz band and other students to Cuba for a nine day tour.
They hit all the hot spots: Güines, the home of the birthplace of percussion genius Tata Güines; Mantanzas, where they heard the danzon group Orquesta Típica Miguel Failde and the rumba super group Los Muñequitos de Matanzas; and Havana where they met and played with Cuba jazz patriarch Bobby Carcassés, chekeré master Don Pancho Terry, trumpeter Julito Padrón, and bass player Gastón Joya.
They also visited three conservatories in Havana, Guillermo Tomás, Amadeo Roldán, and the National Schools for the Arts (La Ena), something casual tourists can’t do.
Great news!
You can now watch this video – and all Spanish language videos – with English subtitles. It’s free!
Based on our first hand experience with the Red Cross and other “all purpose” fundraisers in New York (9/11) and New Orleans (Katrina), we recommend people do deep research before they send money to organizations to help.
After a great deal of study and thought, we have been recommending the PRIMA Fund which makes direct grants to musicians in Puerto Rico as a way to help musicians, their families, and their communities.
As Bobby Sanabria says: “Musicians are people too you know.”
I can tell you this from first hand experience – musicians were an essential key in helping put New Orleans back on its feet after the catastrophic levee failures there in 2005.
They brought life back to shattered streets, they raised morale, and they reinvigorated the travel and entertainment industry which was in a state of shock.
Musicians are doing the same thing in Puerto Rico today and our faith in PRIMA as a vehicle for helping them has been validated over and over again.
Just as Afro-American music has strong roots in religious worship, Afro-Cuban music is firmly rooted in spiritual practice. The most popular and well known is Santería, also known as Regla de Ochá, La Regla de Ifá, or Lucumí
Pedro “Pedrito” Martinez, Roman Diaz and Little Johnny Rivero in a secular setting
The composition is “Tuesday Glory” and if you didn’t notice, it’s entirely percussion.
Left to right the instruments are conga (Little Johnny Rivero), timbale (Pedro “Pedrito” Martinez), and cajon and bata (Roman Diaz)
Recorded February 24, 2010 at Congahead.com studios.
Manteca!
From religious service to secular drum session to Latin jazz, that’s how the music flows – back and forth – and why it remains so vital to this day.
Onel Mulet ‘s arrangement of the Afro-Cuban classic “Manteca.”
Personnel:
Onel Mulet, soprano sax
Jason Marshall, baritone sax
Xavier Perez, tenor sax
Al Acosta, alto
Pedro “Pedrito” Martinez, bata (omele)
Roman Diaz, bata (iya)
Rafael Monteagudo, bata (oconcolo)
Little Johnny Rivero, conga
