Desde La Bahia - breves notas musicales - TT: From the Bay Area - TA: brief music notes

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 2000 by Jesse "Chuy" Varela

MJF. The 43rd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival took place this year Sept. 13-15 at its county fairgrounds home and featured a stellar cast of jazz and world music performers. Tim Jackson and his staff showcased a diversity of jazz from young and veteran performers like blues maven Shemika Copeland, African bassist Richard Bona, guitarist Bill Frizzel and the straight ahead jazz sounds of Nicholas Payton, Diane Reeves, Les McCann, Lou Rawls, Wayne Shorter and many others.

On the Friday opening night, the nightclub stage had an intriguing lineup that included Rubén Blades, Brazilian singer Claudia Villela with guitarist Ricardo Peixoto and Chilean jazz singer Claudia Acuña. It was my honor to conduct the on-stage interview with the amazing Rubén Blades. About to start a new TV series, Rubén reflected on his career and then traversed politics, spirituality, salsa music, his band Editus and his future (of which he didn't rule out another run for the Panamanian presidency).

"I left Panamá when my father had problems with the military in 1973. I graduated from law school in 1974 and was very traumatized by the fact my family had left. We had to leave the house where my brothers were born. They arrived in Miami and had to scratch a living, the economic situation was very tough. My port of entry though, was New York City, and at that time Fania Records was the Motown of Latin music. Everybody was there and acquaintances like Bobby Cruz, Richie Ray and Roberto Roena had seen me perform in Panamá (before the dean of the law school made me quit), and put in a good word for me, but they [Fania] weren't interested in recording my music. So I said 'what else you got?' and they said they needed help in the mailroom, so that's where I began."

From that point on, the interview was a journey of memories and well-thought opinions. We spoke for a good hour with questions from the audience. The conversation drew out important insights and an incredible intellectual capacity filled with a quiet wry humor. Afterwards, the 300 or so people present gave him a standing ovation and many came up to the stage for autographs. It was a beautiful beginning to an extraordinary evening.

Brazilian singer Claudia Villela and 7-string guitarist Ricardo Peixoto came on next with an electro-acoustic fusion band that drew from the progressive influences of giants like Hermeto Pascoal. Based in Santa Cruz, Villela is from Rio de Janeiro and recognized as one of the top vocal talents in Northern California. Guitarist Peixoto in the 1980s was part of the group Terra Sul. Rolling out an emotionally packed songbook of originals and interpretative covers, they began with the Ary Barroso classic Brasil. Evoking the sounds of birds, Claudia gave a textural rendering that showcased an amazing chemistry and enthralled those present with new millennium MPB (musica popular brasileira). The group included accordionist Rich Koons, guitarist Carlos Olviera and percussionists John Santos and Michael Spiro. Ricardo is a talented guitarist who understands the harmony of jazz with a technique rooted in classical music that bears stylistic comparison to important artists like Baden Powell, Laurindo Almeida and Bola Sete. Intricate counterpoints embroidered the voice of Villela, and she soared with a dynamic range and a nuance that place her in the same league as Elis Regina, Leny Andrade and Flora Purim.

Both Villela and Peixoto grooved with a confidence that had to be seen to be believed. Their sense of dynamics and drama was a pleasure, but their level of musicality and virtuosity received a great reaction. Chilean jazz singer Claudia Acuña came on next with a quartet that included pianist Jason Lindner. This has been a great year for her with a critically acclaimed recording --Wind From The South-- (Verve Records). She opened with Pure Imagination, but it was rocky as obviously she wasn't happy with the monitor mix. Letting the band vamp she chatted with the techies. It spoiled the feeling of anticipation and as she went into the piece, there was a loss of vibe and it took a while before she and the band connected and emotionally, throughout the rest of the show, flowed. She was fine and capped a superb opening night at the legendary MJF.

CUBA SIN FRONTERAS. The record release party for the Six Degrees compilation Cuba Without Borders was well-attended. It was a reunion of a who's who of Bay Area Latin music talent; an acknowledgement to a generation of musicians who make up the collection produced by Greg Landau and Robert Leaver; a cast who came out of the 1970s Latin rock movement and graduated to jazz, rock and world music. It has spawned educators and scholars like John Santos, Rebeca Mauleón-Santana, Greg Landau and Wayne Wallace, who have brought us closer to the source and continue to nourish us musically. Latin Beat photographer Peter Maiden was there and shares some great photos of the event.

SAFARI. Safari is a resident Latin jazz ensemble from the Bay area that includes the dynamite horns of Doug Miner, Rubén Salcido and Jeff Eaton. The group was honored recently with an invitation to the Latin Jazz Festival II in Ft. Myers, Florida, to perform at a party celebrating the birthday of Celia Cruz. Others slated to perform included Ed Calle, Dave Valentín, Arturo Sandoval and Tito Puente Jr. Safari just recorded a dynamite rendition of the bolero ¿Cómo Fue? with Angela Bofill, a longtime Northern California resident. A superstar of R&B in the eighties with many gold albums to her credit, Bofill is a singer of Puerto Rican heritage who grew up New York. With a cool mambo-school arrangement by trombonist John Gove and Eaton, the track includes piano great Mark Levine (who also has an upcoming release with his band Latin Tinge), as special guest, and trumpet ace John Worley Jr.