Afro-Cuban culture, Blog, Cuba, Cuban Jazz, Latin Jazz, Puerto Rico, The Cuba-US connection, Video and audio
This montage of the October 23 Benefit for Puerto Rico at Poisson Rouge (the old Village Gate) was created and contributed by the very talented Garbriel Moreno of Tableaux Multimedia.
Select video of the actual concert will be coming soon. Watch for it here.
Meanwhile…
Jazz and Latin music have been brothers for as long as jazz has been an art form
Jelly Roll Morton laid it out:
“If you can’t manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz.”
In 1930, Don Azpiazu knocked down the doors of American popular music with The Peanut Vendor.
Machito and his musical hermano (and real life brother-in-law) Mario Bauzá kicked it into high gear with one of the greatest big bands ever to rock a jazz stage.
Then in 1947, thanks to an introduction by Bauzá, bepop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie teamed up with Chano Pozo to create a model for collaborations between Latin and Jazz musicians that has been going strong ever since.
Started by the Mario Bauzá’s rhythm section and jazzman Sonny Fortune, Monday night at the Gate was THE place to go with crowds lining up around the block to get in.
On Monday October 23, 2017, in support of the people of Puerto Rico, many of the giants who were part of this legendary time came back for a once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-repeated reunion with Bobby Sanabria‘s big band Multiverse.
Over time, we will be releasing video of this historic event.
Meanwhile, this is what it’s all about…
No sightseers please. We need givers right now. Please read how you can help.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
Blog, Cuba, The Cuba-US connection, Video and audio
Musicians love Cuba.
Gershwin took a two-week holiday in Havana in February 1932 and came back with this.
The work, under the original title “Rumba”, later named “Cuban Overture”, received its première at New York’s now-demolished Lewisohn Stadium 16 August 16,1932, as part of an all-Gershwin program held by New York Philharmonic.
The concert was a huge success. As Gershwin wrote:
It was, I really believe, the most exciting night I have ever had…17,845 people paid to get in and just about 5,000 were at the closed gates trying to fight their way in—unsuccessfully
George Gershwin’s Cuban Overture. Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, September 8, 2012
Leonard Bernstein was a fan of Cuba too and, like Gershwin, took a two week-holiday there to recuperate after the commercial failure of his Broadway show Candide in 1955.
He came back from the trip rejuvenated. Some of this energy helped him persist in his ultimate success bringing “West Side Story” to the stage.
Leonard Bernstein’s “Mambo” from West Side Story by the Berliner Philharmoniker. Ingo Metzmacher, conductor. Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, September 8, 2012.
Igor Stravinsky visited Cuba too at the height of his career in 1946 to perform – and as a student of rhythm.
Israel Lopez (aka “Cachao”) recalls time he spent with Stravinsky in Havana.
“How about Stravinsky?” The composer’s name is mentioned in Cachao’s curriculum vitae. And it has been said that Stravinsky’s use of rhythm sometimes resembles the Afro-Cuban.
“Stravinsky was my friend. I played the ‘Firebird’ and ‘Petrouchka’ with Stravinsky conducting in Cuba. He was a simple man, ugly like me…”
“No no,” the interpreter interrupted.
“…but very nice. Noble. He was interested in Cuban rhythms. I took him to the clubs to hear Cuban bands and he tried to notate the rhythms on paper. They are complex, very difficult to transcribe.” Cachao tapped a fast two-handed mambo beat on the table. Coffee cups bounced.
Then there’s Aaron Copland
A friend heard his “El Salón México” and asked him why he called it “Mexican” when it was clearly based on a Cuban Danzón.
Copland said that he first heard the style at a dance hall in Mexico City and didn’t realize it had is origins in Cuba and was a Cuban form.
To make up for his gaff he wrote “Danzón Cubano” which he plays here as a piano duet with his friend and colleague Leo Smit.
Aaron Copland’s “Danzón Cubano” performed by Copland and Leo Smit.
Here’s Copland performing “El Salón México.”
Still watching and reading?
Good!
Now here’s a secret about Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture” which very few people know.
This comes from the excellent movie: “Cachao: como su ritmo no hay dos” directed by Andy Garcia
The story of Gershwin and Pinero is interesting told to me by Ignacio Pinero himself.
He told me one night he was walking around. It was 1936 or 1937 and along the street as it often happened in Havana, all the doors and windows were open and he heard this music.
“Ah, that sounds familiar.”
He went to the house and asked the lady there: “What is that?”
She replied “That’s the “Cuban Overture” by the great George Gershwin.”
So in the Cuban Overture by great George Gershwin there were various chunks of “Echale Salsita.” (Pinero’s composition!)
They asked Piniero if he wanted to sue Gershwin.
He replied: “Oh, no, no. I’m satisfied that the great George Gershwin considers me a part of Cuban Folklore.”
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
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.
Blog, Cuba, Latin Jazz, Puerto Rico
The need is extreme – Please help
As bad as the situation was in New Orleans after Katrina – and it was dire – conditions in Puerto Rico are exponentially worse. Approximately 60,000 New Orleanians were stranded in the city for nearly a week.
Over a month after the Hurricanes Irma and Maria, over 3 MILLION Puerto Ricans were still without electric power and medical and other basic services and many still have no access to potable water or reliable food supplies. Improvements are slow and difficult and resources of all kinds are needed.
We ask every Jazz on the Tube subscriber to do whatever they are able – share these pages, spread the word, contact your Congress people, donate money.
Where to send help
We have vetted this short list thoroughly and these are our current recommendations (as of December 18, 2018)
PRIMA (Puerto Rican Independent Musicians and Artists)
In cooperation with Pregones/PRTT
PRIMA is a collective of musicians and artists on the island of Puerto Rico. Their mission is to help sustain the independent music community in Puerto Rico which has suffered catastrophic losses as the result of Hurricane Maria.
PRIMA is partnered with the NYC based non-profit Pregones Puerto Rican Traveling Theater which has been dedicated to supporting Puerto Rican artists in all disciplines for decades.
Contributions to this fund are distributed by PRIMA to artists in need on the island and are tax-deductible.
Any amount, large or small, is welcome and will be put to good use by people who are on the ground, know the needs, and are dedicated to helping the musicians of Puerto Rico.
http://pregonesprtt.org
The Hispanic Federation
This organization founded in 1990 has a clearly defined program for bringing and distributing emergency aid throughout Puerto Rico and has already delivered over 1.5 million pounds of emergency provisions to distribution centers throughout the island.
They are well organized, committed, focused on Puerto Rico, and in it for the long haul.
Charity Navigator which rates charities on fiscal responsibility and transparency has rated this group 95.47 out of a possible 100 which is the equivalent of AAA+ in the non-profit accountability world.
http://hispanicfederation.org
The Jazz Foundation of America
This group provides medical, financial, legal, and vocational services to jazz, blues and roots musicians in the United States. Their exact plans and programs for helping Puerto Rico are at this time not known because they have not disclosed them.
If you want to contribute to this group specifically for Puerto Rico relief, we recommend you do so by CHECK ONLY and include a cover letter stating your intention and with a memo to the effect written on your check.
Note: On its website, the Foundation says it reserves the right to use donations it receives for any purpose at its sole discretion.
Jazz Foundation of America
322 West 48th Street, 6th Floor ·
New York, NY 10036
(212)245-3999 · info@jazzfoundation.org
Some facts
1. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and have been since 1917.
2. The U.S. government has the material, personnel, transportation, infrastructure and expertise to address this situation on a massive and rapid scale. That it has not done so is a decision based on the assumption by those in control of these public resources that there will be no political consequences for failing to do so.
If you disagree with this deliberate government policy of minimal emergency aid, please contact your political representatives and tell them you want to see meaningful help for the people of Puerto Rico.
Where to send help
We have vetted this short list thoroughly and these are our current recommendations (as of December 18, 2018)
PRIMA (Puerto Rican Independent Musicians and Artists)
In cooperation with Pregones/PRTT
PRIMA is a collective of musicians and artists on the island of Puerto Rico. Their mission is to help sustain the independent music community in Puerto Rico which has suffered catastrophic losses as the result of Hurricane Maria.
PRIMA is partnered with the NYC based non-profit Pregones Puerto Rican Traveling Theater which has been dedicated to supporting Puerto Rican artists in all disciplines for decades.
Contributions to this fund are distributed by PRIMA to artists in need on the island and are tax-deductible.
Any amount, large or small, is welcome and will be put to good use by people who are on the ground, know the needs, and are dedicated to helping the musicians of Puerto Rico.
http://pregonesprtt.org
The Hispanic Federation
This organization founded in 1990 has a clearly defined program for bringing and distributing emergency aid throughout Puerto Rico and has already delivered over 1.5 million pounds of emergency provisions to distribution centers throughout the island.
They are well organized, committed, focused on Puerto Rico, and in it for the long haul.
Charity Navigator which rates charities on fiscal responsibility and transparency has rated this group 95.47 out of a possible 100 which is the equivalent of AAA+ in the non-profit accountability world.
http://hispanicfederation.org
The Jazz Foundation of America
This group provides medical, financial, legal, and vocational services to jazz, blues and roots musicians in the United States. Their exact plans and programs for helping Puerto Rico are at this time not known because they have not disclosed them.
If you want to contribute to this group specifically for Puerto Rico relief, we recommend you do so by CHECK ONLY and include a cover letter stating your intention and with a memo to the effect written on your check.
Note: On its website, the Foundation says it reserves the right to use donations it receives for any purpose at its sole discretion.
Jazz Foundation of America
322 West 48th Street, 6th Floor ·
New York, NY 10036
(212)245-3999 · info@jazzfoundation.org
– Ken McCarthy Jazz on the Tube
