This week, we’ll be paying special attention to Eddie Palmieri who is entering his 80th year this year.
An ardent student of Afro-Cuban music, his career in music extends over 60 years.
Here’s the story of one of his many masterpieces – Harlem River Drive.
Harlem River Drive Revisited – Live in New York (2016)
– 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
Thanks.
Bomplé and an orchestra of Bard students led by Andres Rivas will be performing at a benefit for Puerto Rico at Bard College’s Olin Hall, Sunday, February 25 at 4 PM.
Andres is a graduate of Venezuela’s legendary El Sistema orchestra-for-youth program which he joined at the age of 3 playing the violin. He’ll be debuting a new orchestra, Viva Puerto Rico, made up of players from the Bard Conservatory, the Bard College Orchestra and from Orchestra Now.
Bomplé founder Alberto Pagan-Ramirez hails from Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he studied classical and band music with a concentration in percussion. He moved to Trenton, N.J. in 1997 and relocated to Philadelphia two years later to become involved in Philadelphia’s vibrant Latino communities. He became involved in Fairhill’s Puerto Rican community by volunteering at Taller Puertorriqueno, and was later named to the board of directors.
In the early 2000s, Ramirez began teaching plena and bomba in various churches and after-school programs. In 2003 he formed the drum ensemble Tambueno, and in 2008 he created Bomple, a traveling bomba and plena group. (Source: Jessica Herring and R. Chase Grier, Philadelphianeighborhoods.com.)
Update: Bard College’s Viva Puerto Rico Orchestra performs “Preciosa” by the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín
Rachel Kara Pérez sings “Preciosa” with Bobby Sanabria’s Muliverse Big Band.
Composed in 1932 in Mexico by the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín, the same year he wrote “Lamento Borincano.”
Excerpt:
Precious, you are called by the Bards
who sing your history.
It doesn’t matter that the tyrant treats you
with dark evil.
Precious you’d be without a flag,
without laurels, without glory.
Precious you are called
by the children of Liberty.
This is the last of nine excepts from the “Salsa Meets Jazz” Benefit for Puerto Rico held on October 23, 2017 under the musical direction of Bobby Sanabria.
Dozens of musicians contributed their time and talent to this event and these videos including Paquito D’Rivera, Candido, Larry Harlow, Gerardo Contino, Eddie Montalvo, Randy Brecker, David Amram, Antoinette Montague, Valerie Capers, Rachel Kara Pérez, the poets Poet Felipe Luciano and Mariposa, and many others
Videographers Darren Hoffman and Alfie Alvarado contributed their services. Post production was underwritten by Jazz on the Tube with contributions from Guava Records and Entertainment Cruise Productions. Web publishing and promotion services were contributed by Jazz on the Tube.
All told, over $100,000 worth of music and other services were contributed to make this music and these clips available to you for free.
Now it’s your turn. Be generous. The need is great. Thank you.
Cándido de Guerra Camero was born April 21, 1921 in Havana, Cuba, which makes him 96 and half years old (and one day) on the day of this recording.
Cándido is the most recorded conga player in the history of jazz having appeared on well over 1,000 albums.
Perhaps even more remarkable – and this is something many people have trouble wrapping their minds around – he is the first person to perform with multiple congas at the same time.
It may seem like an “obvious” idea, but as for all obvious ideas, someone had to go first and that somebody was Cándido de Guerra Camero.
Here’s the story straight from the Maestro’s mouth…
When Cándido first visited the US in 1946, in addition to being a percussionist, he also was a master on the bass, guitar and tres.
The rabbit hole goes even deeper…
Everyone is aware that Afro-Caribbean music was created from elements of African music. What fewer people are aware of is that the creative contributions have flowed both ways.
The practice of a single drummer performing with three or more drums first appeared in Senegal in the 1970s.
According to the liner notes of “Bougarabou: Solo Drumming of Casamance” (Village Pulse Records) the Jola of Senegal played just one drum, adding two later, then finally graduating to three or four in the late ’70s.
What stimulated this sudden innovation in an already well developed musical tradition?
Believe it or not, the evidence points to the influx and popularity of salsa records in the region.
Yes, salsa.
So we come full circle…From Africa to the Caribbean to New York City and back to Africa.
And who was on those records that changed the way the Jola of Senegal approached the drums? Almost certainly Puertorriquenos
Hanging around at home, Bacary Olé Diedhiou, Senegalese master of Bougarabou, gives an informal demo.
OK, we’ve informed you and hopefully entertained you.
Over forty musicians donated their time and talents to create the material we’ve shared with you in this series.
Over $10,000 in donated video production and post-production and web services were donated to bring you these highlights.
If you haven’t given yet, now’s the time. Thanks.
– 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
Thanks.
Saturday, December 21st, 2019 at 6pm, you can join the Bronx Music Heritage Center and the local community in the annual Melrose Parranda. This year the parranda will start at Bronx Commons at 443 E 162nd Street, the future home of the Bronx Music Hall at 6PM and meander around with stops at local community gardens along the way.
It will wind its way through the neighborhood before ending at Rincon Criollo aka Casa de Chema community garden on St Ann’s and E 157th Street.
A good time guaranteed to be had by all.
Some background…
New Orleans isn’t the only place that has “second lines.”
Parades with music and community participation are part of Puerto Rican culture too.
It’s called a “parranda” or in this case a “parranda navideña” and like “plena” to which it’s related it’s a tradition that’s alive and well.
In the video above a group sponsored by the Bronx Music Heritage Center parades on a very cold night in the Bronx bringing Christmas cheer to all.
Here’s another one from Puerto Rico filmed in 2013 at Casa de Jenny, Carolina, Puerto Rico featuring students from La Escuela Libre de Musica.
Featuring Gerardo Contino (vocals), Larry Harlow (piano), Eddie Montalvo (congas), and Gabrielle Garo (flute) with Bobby Sanabria’s Multiverse Big Band live at Le Poisson Rouge.
Video production and post production services contributed by Jazz on the Tube and Guava Records. Additional footage provided by Alfie Alvarado.
And for people who think conga drumming is just random banging on skins, here’s a lesson from Eddie Montalvo on just a little of what’s involved.
All these greats came out and donated their time and talents to help Puerto Rico. We invite you to do the same. The need is urgent. Thanks.
