Bajo! - The Great Tradition of the Latin Bass

01/10/2006 05:11AM

New York (New York), USA - Celebrating a Grammy nomination for their debut album, Una Noche Inolvidable (An Unforgettable Night) in the Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album category, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Arturo O'Farrill will explore different styles of Latin bass and perform selections by the genre's legendary Latin bassists in Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall on January 27 & 28, 2006 at 8pm. Tickets are $30, $50, $75, $100, $130 and available at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall box office on Broadway at 60th Street, by calling CenterCharge at 212-721.6500 or via www.jalc.org.

The concerts, entitled Bajo! - The Great Latin Tradition of the Latin Bass, will represent the unique crossover of yesterday's Latin rhythm and today's Latin beat, featuring special guest artists Israel "Cachao" López, Andy González, Rubén Rodríguez and Charnett Moffet. Exclusively for these concerts, New York muralist and chalk artist, De La Vega, will be creating new artwork live in The Atrium on January 28 beginning at 7:00pm. The Atrium will be open to the public and free for this pre-concert event.

On these two special nights, the critically-acclaimed Latin jazz orchestra and Latin bass virtuosos will expose audience to the rich traditions and evolution of Latin jazz bass by performing the different styles of Latin repertoire, from the root of the Latin rhythm, charanga, mambo, salsa to contemporary Latin jazz.

In the late 19th century, musical traditions from the Caribbean and the United States migrated and mixed, resulting in the emergence of complex new sounds. By the late 1940s and early 1950s, musicians such as Mario Bauza, Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Machito began to fuse jazz with Afro-Cuban music.

The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra exemplifies the best that Latin jazz culture offers: rich tradition through music and timeless appeal around the world.

The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra is composed of 18 soloists who play classics of the Afro-Latin tradition. The members are: Arturo O'Farrill, Music Director and Piano; Michael Philip Mossman, Trumpet; John Walsh, Trumpet; Jim Seeley, Trumpet; Mike Rodriguez, Trumpet; Luis Bonilla, Trombone; Gary Valente, Trombone; Reynaldo Jorge, Trombone; Earl McIntyre, Bass Trombone; Erica vonKleist, Alto Saxophone; Bobby Porcelli, Alto Saxophone; Mario Rivera, Tenor Saxophone; Ivan Renta, Tenor Saxophone; Pablo Calogero, Baritone Saxophone; Ruben Rodriguez, Bass; Vince Cherico, Drums; Jimmy Delgado, Percussion; and Tony Rosa, Percussion.

O'Farrillalso directs the band that preserves much of his father's music, the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Fort Apache Band, Carla Bley, Lester Bowie, Harry Belafonte, Freddy Cole and Wynton Marsalis. The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra became a resident orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2002 and has toured internationally, bringing the rhythms and heat of Latin jazz to places as far away as China. Performing the very best of traditional compositions in the canon of the Afro-Latin genre, the large ensemble commissions new work and leads education events when on the road and at Frederick P. Rose Hall. Ultimately, it seeks to provide an opportunity for a new generation of composers, arrangers and instrumentalists to further explore and define the music.

Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, a jazz appreciation curriculum for children, advanced training through the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, music publishing, children's concerts, lectures, adult education courses and student and educator workshops.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Chairman of the Board Lisa Schiff, President & CEO Derek E. Gordon, Executive Director Katherine E. Brown and Jazz at Lincoln Center board and staff, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce hundreds of events during its 2005-06 season. In October 2004, Jazz at Lincoln Center opened Frederick P. Rose Hall - the first-ever performance, education and broadcast facility devoted to jazz. For more information, visit www.jalc.org.

[Buy Una Noche Inolvidable].

World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20060101101156216