By Antonio Lozoya
The International Jazz and Blues Festival will hold another extraordinary concert this Saturday, September 10, in the courtyard of the Cultural Center “El Nigromante,” Bellas Artes, where we invite you to enjoy a Latin Jazz Evening.
Latin jazz is a branch of jazz nourished by the fusion of rhythms and forms originating in Latin music, especially Caribbean music, with elements of jazz.
Latin jazz began as a fusion of Son Cubano and jazz, but over time it also encompassed music from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. In fact, the rhythms of habanera, calinda, contradanza, or fandango were common in the music of New Orleans.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, music of Latin origin had a great impact in the United States, resulting in the adaptation to jazz of an important number of Latin songs: tangos («El Choclo,» recorded by Stan Kenton), pregones-son («El Manisero,» recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1930), or rumbas («Rumba Negro,» recorded by Bennie Moten in 1929; «Doin’ the Rhumba,» performed by Cab Calloway in 1931. At that time, prominent Latin musicians were already working in New York, integrated into swing big bands, such as Nilo Menéndez, Alberto Socarrás, the Puerto Rican Juan Tizol, or Mario Bauzá.
It would be precisely the application of bop concepts that would definitively bridge the gap between jazz and Latin music. Biographers establish the birth date of the Cubop as September 29, 1947, with the historic concert of the Gillespie and Pozo orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York. That same year some of Pozo’s most important compositions within the genre were recorded: “Manteca,” “Cubana Be-cubana Bop,” “Algo Bueno,” among others.
The participating musicians in the upcoming Latin Jazz Evening are Samuel Martínez Herrera: piano, Mario Torres: percussion and voice, Antonio Lozoya: bass, and Dagoberto Quintana: drums. This musical lineup has extensive professional experience, participating in different national and international festivals.
Original songs by Latin composers will be performed, as well as some classic jazz composers such as Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, and Clare Fisher, among others.
Tickets are available via PayPal (https://www.sanmigueljazz.com.mx/index.php/tickets-latin-jazz-evening/) and by the ticket office of the Centro Cultural “El Nigromante,” Bellas Artes, from Tuesday, September 6, to Friday, September 9, from 11am till 5pm, and on Saturday, September 10, from 1pm to 6pm. Block your calendar for this major Festival event from September 16 to 20!
Fundación Jazz Fest SMA A.C. is a non-profit organization, and you can contribute directly to the Festival in order to support the legacy and tradition of jazz and blues music in San Miguel de Allende. Your participation is very important by attending the concerts and, additionally, by donating to apply for U.S. tax benefits through the San Miguel Community Foundation.
As you know, after the pandemic years, all the artists need your support more than ever to keep going.Please check out the concerts for the next month; you´ll enjoy them!
www.sanmigueljazz.com.mx
Music
International Jazz & Blues Festival
“Latin Jazz Evening”
Sat, Sep 10, 6pm
Bellas Artes
Hernandez Macias 75, Centro
550 pesos or 605 pesos by PayPal
