“Caravan”, the jazz standard composed by the Puerto Rican composer Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, was first performed by the Ellington Orchestra in 1936.
This one-of-a-kind version starts off with Matthew Gonzalez on the pandereta, the frame drum from Puerto Rico used in plena.
Then National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera delivers a hilarious – and virtuosic – “lecture” on the true origins of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Be prepared to be enlightened!
D’Rivera, born in Cuba in 1948, is the winner of fourteen Grammys and as you can see a true friend of Puerto Rico.
Thanks to Darren Hoffman, director of “Tradition is a Temple,” and his company Guava Records for collaborating with us on documenting this event and for contributing thousands of dollars worth of his services to bring this and other clips from this show to you. Additional footage provided by Alfie Alvarado. Also, thanks to all Jazz on the Tube supporters. Your support this year gave us the resources to underwrite this important project.
Please share this and other videos from the series widely and help the cause!
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
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People and their cultures perish in isolation, but they are born or reborn in contact with other men and women, with men and women of another culture, another creed, another race. If we do not recognize our humanity in others, we shall not recognize it in ourselves. – Carlos Fuentes
The most up-to-date list of video excerpts from one of the greatest summits of salsa and jazz legends ever assembled on one stage at one time.
Part One – The Opening
Mosaico Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Mosaic)
Part Two – Caravan
Composed by Puerto Rican composer Juan Tizol featuring long time Jazz and Latin collaborator David Amram.
Part Three – Poet Felipe Luciano
Member of the Original Last Poets, a co-founder of the Young Lords, and award winning broadcaster and journalist.
Part Four – Paquito D’Rivera
The maestro provides compelling evidence that Mozart was in fact a Puerto Rican.
Part Five – Antoinette Montague and Valerie Capers
Two members of Blues royalty bring some Bronx, Newark, and Down South into the mix and let the good times roll.
Part Six – Randy Brecker
“El Cumbanchero” by the great Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín
Part Seven – La Cartera
The classic Arsenio Rodriguez composition performed by Gerardo Contino (vocals), Larry Harlow (piano), Eddie Montalvo (congas)
Part Eight – Candido!
The one and only works out on Manteca.
Part Nine – Finale
Rachael Kara Pérez sings “Preciosa” composed by Rafael Hernández Marín
Note: The first three clips are rough one camera shots with no editing.
The host orchestra – Meet the members of Bobby Sanabria’s MULTIVERSE Big Band
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
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Born in East Harlem in 1947, Felipe Luciano was a member of the Original Last Poets and a co-founder of the Young Lords.
As reporter for NBC, he became the first Puerto Rican news anchor of a major media network station in the United States where he also won an Emmy for his reporting on Riker’s Island.
On WRVR-FM, he hosted Latin Roots which mixed political advocacy with a salsa soundtrack giving regular New York air play to artists like Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri and Celia Cruz.
You can follow Felipe here: https://www.facebook.com/FelipeLucianoProductions/
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
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…And the featured artist on this clip David Amram, the “ever hopeful” composer and jazzman celebrating his 87th birthday this year.
Here’s David’s contribution to the “Salsa Meet Jazz” benefit for Puerto Rico.
They’re playing “Caravan” written by Puerto Rican composer and jazzman Juan Tizol.
David played with Mingus and Dizzy Gillespie and socialized, talked music and played behind the scenes with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Bud Powell, just to name a few.
If you want to a good read, David’s books on his life in music are fantastic and truly one-of-a-kind. They are:
• Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat
• Vibrations: A memoir
• Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac
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.
These two cultural powerhouses of New York’s Puerto Rican community – Pregones Theater (founded in 1979) and Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (founded in 1967) – joined forces recently and have established a direct cash grant program for performing artists in Puerto Rico who have suffered losses from the hurricanes.
100% of all funds received for this purposes go directly to artists in need. As of November 30, they have provided direct aid to more than 100 artists and their families.
This special drive will continue through December 31, 2017. Any amount, large or small, is welcome and will be put to good use in Puerto Rico.
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.
