Una mordida de la manzana: New York - Tt: A Bite From The Apple: New York

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2001 by Vicki Solá

Flutes and violins have been kicking up a storm here in the Apple, and lately the ladies have been responsible for more and more New York swing.

Two female-led groups, flutist Connie Grossman and violinist Betsy Hill's mostly-female charanga, Pasión, plus flutist Jessica Valiente's Los Mas Valientes, have new productions.

Pasion's CD, Pasion: Las Mujeres de Charanga was recently released on the Mambo City label, and Grossman and Hill visited my radio program to give New York a taste of their production.

Hill describes the ability and skill level of Pasion's players as being "phenomenal," adding that she and Grossman sought each individual out because of their unique talent.

Pianist Wendy Ryan, well versed in the areas of jazz and classical music, has been with the band from the beginning. Original member/vocalist Deborah Resto composes and penned the English/Spanish ballad Can I Be the One, which received acclaim from my listening audience. Yasuyo Kimura, Pasion's conga player, originally came to the U.S. as an E.S.L. student from Japan as a classical pianist. The only male musician who plays full time with the group is Willie Martínez, who Grossman describes as being "a wonderful timbalero, trap drummer and all-around percussionist who's been on the scene forever." The next member to join the band was cellist Jennifer Vincent, who has an extensive Latin, jazz, and classical background and has performed with artists such as Betty Carter, Jon Hendrix and Bobby Sanabria. Lead vocalist/corista Cecilia Englehardt López, who has a strong jazz, Latin and classical background also sings opera and composed two numbers for the production. Pasion's most recent addition to their roster of vocalists is Miriam Felix, who has folkloric roots, singing bomba, plena, and gospel.

"The thing that is unique about our singers," says Grossman, "is that all three of them are wonderful singers in their own rights, come from different musical backgrounds and bring a unique flavor and style to the group...it's exciting and interesting."

One other player, Danny González, plays with Pasión occasionally, playing güiro and helping out on vocals. González, who Hill met when she played with Orchestra Broadway, is on the CD, and has composed for the band.

Grossman, who earned a fulltime scholarship to Juilliard to study oboe and decided to concentrate on flute instead, is very well-known and respected around town. She studied jazz and classical music, which she still performs. Grossman fell in love with charanga after being introduced to it by Brazilian-music guitarist Sandy McKelvy and his sister Wendy. Wendy, a dancer, brought Grossman her first Latin recordings --Richard Egües and Orquesta Aragón, and Eddie Zervigón with Orchestra Broadway.

Jerry González, Andrea Brachfeld, and Eddie Zervigón welcomed Grossman to the Latin scene. Flutist Dave Valentín was instrumental in Grossman's learning process with recordings he made for her by Egües, Zervigón, José Fajardo and Johnny Pacheco.

"I fell in love with the music," Grossman told me. "It had such passion, it came from a classical tradition, incorporating aspects of jazz, African rhythms, the Afro-Cuban thing. It was everything I ever wanted to play."

Grossman has since played with many charangas, including Charansón and Steve Colón's Siglo 20, and with Yomo Toro, from whom she learned the Puerto Rican jibaro traditions. Grossman recalls playing a Puerto Rican/Polish wedding where she heard Toro playing a salsa-polka.

"It was the most amazing thing," she laughed. "He could play anything!" These days, in addition to co-leading Pasión, Grossman plays with trombonist Demetrios Kastaris's Latin-Jazz Coalition (she's on their recent release Trombón Con Sazón) and with Jesse Herrero's SonSublime (profiled in May 2001).

Betsy Hill comes from a family of entertainers. Her mother, who has always loved movement, danced with Martha Graham. "For me," says Hill, "body connection has always been a tremendous part of my life. That actually was what first got me into Latin music. I lived in Guatemala for about three years and fell in love with Latin music, the dance and the communication that happens between dancers. I think that same type of communication has to happen on stage if magic is going to take place. That's what really drew me, feeling it in my body and wanting to be able to play that amazing rhythm; it's been a journey for me, a wonderful one." Like Grossman, she also still performs the classical music that she studied for so many years. Hill also belongs to the Jonathan Best Band, a group that fuses original rock music with blues and Latin.

Hill, who began playing Latin music in 1980, expresses great gratitude to all the musicians who helped her learn about the music throughout the years such as violinists Eddie Drennon and John Blake.

"It hasn't only been violinists who have really shown me things," Hill says, adding, "other musicians have shared with me through the years; a lot of that had to do with listening. That has been the thing I've learned the most --how to listen to other people, to listen on stage, and to myself. As Connie said, becoming a leader is a whole different bag than being a side-person and that's been a journey too...People say that a large part of music has nothing to do with music itself. It's how people get along and how you promote yourself. I feel like an amateur in those areas, but the experience has helped me grow as a person."