New Orleans and Havana have a long history together.
For a while (1762 to 1802) when Louisiana (“Luisiana” in Spanish) was a Spanish holding, New Orleans was administered by Havana and the Spanish left behind many beautiful buildings.
Much of the French Quarter was actually built by the Cubans after a catastrophic fire destroyed most of the old city in 1788.
U.S. troops about to enter the Spanish-American War, which included the liberation of Cuba from Spanish control, shipped out of New Orleans and returned there (which is why New Orleans was full of used brass instruments around the turn of the century.)
Also, several members of important community brass bands were part of the force that invaded and then occupied Havana after the war. You can be sure they brought back some Cuban feel from the experience.
Dave Bartholomew, the New Orleanian who put his formative stamp on rock ‘n roll in the late 1940s, says he got the riff from his iconic “Country Boy” (used later on thousands of rock tunes including Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”) from a Cuba Son record.
And on and on it goes.
The history continued in January of 2017 with a visit by high school jazz students from Havana to New Orleans, the first such visit in at least 60 years (possibly the first such visit ever.)
The kids worked with musicians at Preservation Hall and gave a performance which was received enthusiastically by the city’s discriminating jazz fans.
In the captions below, we note the names of the Cuban educators who train and manage the band, two of the great unsung heroes in the Horns to Havana organization: Enrique Toledo and Camilo Moreira.
Orchestra Director Enrique Toledo
Camilo Moreira conducts
Standing ovation in New Orleans for the kids from Cuba
Enrique Toledo conducts the Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán Jazz Orchestra in Havana, January 2016.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
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There’s a reason jazz musicians call New York City “The Big Apple” and I’d venture to say no one has taken a bigger bite than Jim Eigo.
You may know Jim as the mastermind behind JazzPromoServices.com, but that’s not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg of his remarkable life in jazz.
There was a time when if you bought a jazz record anywhere in the northeastern United States, Jim may well have been part of the chain of events that resulted in getting it into your hands.
His stories from the old days of the jazz record trade in New York City will bring a smile to the face of people who lived through those golden years – and amazement to those who missed it.
Yes, Cecil Taylor used to come to the store and buy disco records and the stories just get wilder from there.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
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Scott Yanow has written eleven books on jazz, over 800 liner notes and approximately 20,000 record reviews.
And now thanks to the generosity of our supporters, he even occasionally writes for Jazz on the Tube!
Check for his byline.
In this interview, we talk about his life in jazz and his prolific output.
Here are some of the books he’s written:
– The Great Jazz Guitarists: The Ultimate Guide
– The Jazz Singers
– Jazz On Film
– Jazz On Record – The First Sixty Years
– Jazz: A Regional Exploration
– Trumpet Kings
– Afro-Cuban Jazz
– Classic Jazz
– Bebop
– Swing
– All Music Guide To Jazz
– Duke Ellington
– Jazz Lives – Till We Shall Meet And Never Part
Scott’s latest project is a trivia game for hard core jazz fans.
It’s called CHOPS and he describes it below:
CHOPS, the ultimate jazz trivia quiz (1,000 questions about all periods in jazz history in 50 20-question quizzes) is available as a PDF file for $25. It makes a great gift for your jazz-loving friends and especially for yourself.
Send payment via Pay Pal to scottyanowjazz@yahoo.com or a check to Scott Yanow, P.O. Box 1220, Lake Hughes, CA 93532.
– 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
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Steve Coleman in Matanzas (2017) with members of Rumba Timba. The group is made up of some of the younger members of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. Luis Cancino Morales on the bells.
2016 marked Steve Coleman’s 20th year of exploring and playing in Cuba.
It all started with Coleman’s interest in the philosophical underpinnings of music and how complex cultural ideas are transmitted through music.
Anyone interested in this subject has to look to Africa and anyone in North America interested in African culture would do well to take a prolonged trip to Cuba.
Why Cuba?
For one thing it’s closer, but more importantly for historical reasons the concentration and variety of African cultural systems in Cuba is unprecedented anywhere on earth – even in Africa itself.
Coleman’s first visit to Cuba was in January 1996 where he wisely went straight to Mantazas one of the wellsprings of Afro-Cuban Culture.
This was followed up by a twelve day long collaboration in Havana with AfroCuba de Matanzas in February of the same year.
This initial collaboration culminated in a performance at the Havana Jazz Festival and a recording session at Egrem which produced the album “The Sign and The Seal by Steve Coleman and The Mystic Rhythm Society.
Here’s a documentary shot during the years right before Coleman went to Cuba (1993 to 1995).
In addition to being a composer, band leader, and instrumentalist, Coleman is also an educator.
– 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
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It’s billed as “the largest celebration of Cuban culture in the U.S. since the 1950’s” – and it may well be true.
This year’s New Orleans Jazz Fest will include over 150 Cuban musicians, artists and craftsman, a large number of whom will be visiting the United States for the very first time.
Events will be at the Cultural Exchange Pavilion.
Performances on the Cuban Stage every day from 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM
Friday, April 28
The Pedrito Martinez Group
Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro of Cuba
Grupo Caury of Cuba
Saturday, April 29
Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro of Cuba
Grupo Caury of Cuba
Telmary y Habana Sana of Cuba
The Pedrito Martinez Group
Conga Los Hoyos of Cuba
Abdullah Ibrahim (Not Cuban but don’t miss him!)
Sunday, April 30
Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro of Cuba
Telmary y Habana Sana of Cuba
Conga Los Hoyos of Cuba
Grupo Caury of Cuba
Lakou Mizik (Haiti)
Gente de Zona
Thursday, May 4
The Pedrito Martinez Rumba Project featuring Roman Diaz
Changüí Guantánamo of Cuba
Conga Los Hoyos of Cuba
Friday, May 5
The Pedrito Martinez Rumba Project featuring Roman Diaz
Adonis y Osain del Monte of Cuba
Changüí Guantánamo of Cuba
Saturday, May 6
Los Van Van
The Pedrito Martinez Rumba Project featuring Roman Diaz
Adonis y Osain del Monte of Cuba
Changüí Guantánamo of Cuba
Septeto Santiaguero of Cuba
Conga Los Hoyos of Cuba
Sunday, May 7
Chucho Valdes Quintet,
Adonis y Osain del Monte of Cuba
Daymé Arocena of Cuba
Septeto Santiaguero of Cuba
Changüí Guantánamo of Cuba
– 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
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Jazz on the Tube’s Ken McCarthy talks with Martin Torgoff about this new book “Bop Apocalypse”
Every jazz fan knows that the jazz scene and thedrug scene have intersected at times.
Sometimes benignly in the case of Louis Armstrong’s daily cannabis use. Sometimes catastrophically in the case of the tragic heroin epidemic unleashed by Charlie Parker in the 1940s and 50s.
It’s not always a pleasant topic, but it is part of the history and as George Seldes used to say “Even the gods can’t change history.”
In the second half of the interview Martin and Ken go into depth about one of the great heroic stories of jazz and human rights: Billie Holiday’s championing of the song “Strange Fruit.” You may think you know the whole story. I guarantee you don’t. Your appreciation of Lady Day will grow further.
About Martin Torgoff
Martin Torgoff has been at the forefront of major media trends and cultural currents for more than thirty years, documenting and telling the story of America through the evolution of its popular culture as an award-winning journalist, award-winning and bestselling author, documentary filmmaker, and Emmy-nominated television writer, director, and producer.
His book American Fool: The Roots and Improbable Rise of John “Cougar” Mellencamp was the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor Award. He is also the author of Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000.
Today Torgoff applies his understanding of American pop culture to projects that include articles, books, film, television, lectures, multimedia events, and advertising/promotion.
– 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
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