FREE CONCERT: Ilan Bar-Lavi Trio Saturday (11/19)

The young, unusual Latin jazz trio of Ilan Bar-Lavi plays a free concert in Chapel Hill this Saturday (11/19) at 5 pm in the FedEx UNC Global Education Center's Nelson Mandela Auditorium. The concert will close out this year's NC Latin American Film Festival.

This video by Martin Cohen at Congahead.com opens with a Bar-Lavi guitar solo:



The Israeli-Mexican guitarist is a 20-something graduate of Berklee School of Music; his own brand of avant-garde jazz blends his Latin and Middle Eastern roots.

LINKS:

Berklee Podcast: Ilan Bar-Lavi '09
UNC Global Event Calendar page
Presenter Event page

Bon Voyage, Kairaba: Last Show of 2011 THIS FRIDAY (11/18)

Diali Cissokho & Kairaba's show at Tallula's tonight, 9:30 pm - midnight, is noteworthy for a couple of reasons:

A.
This hot West African dance band, based in Carrboro, has been in the studio recently recording its FIRST CD. Door proceeds tonight ($5) go directly toward production costs to release it in early 2012.

B.
In a few weeks, the entire band heads to Senegal and Mali, where they will spend the next couple of months touring, studying, and generally getting in touch with the Motherland. So, this will be their LAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOW of 2011.

C.
Talulla's, with it's warm wood interior, is a SWEET VENUE for grooving, acoustic music. Located at 456 W. Franklin, next to the Carolina Brewery.



LINKS:

Facebook event page: Kairaba at Talulla's Friday (11/18), 9:30 pm - midnight, $5

Africa Calling: Angelique Kidjo SUNDAY (10/16)

Afropop Amazon: Angelique Kidjo (photo: Andrzej Pilarczyk)

There's been such a wealth of great African music in town this month. Although I had to miss Bassekou Kouyate at Duke this Friday, I did this preview for dP's blog The Thread.

I did get a chance to see most of the Mau a Malawi: Stories of AIDS project at UNC that same evening. What a dedicated group of musicians, student actors, and volunteers. To mention only some is to slight all, but the vocalists in particular are so wonderful; I'm now a huge Lizzy Ross fan. To read more about the Mau a Malawi concept album, see my Indy story about it here. To visit the Stories of AIDS webpage, go here, where you can download the album for a donation to the arts-based charity Talents of the Malawian Child. It's for a good cause, yes; but just as importantly, it's great original music that deserves to be widely heard.

As a preview to that evening, Peter Mawanga, the Malawian co-producer of Mau of Malawi, gave a sweet, free show at The Station on Wednesday prior. Some of the guys from Kairaba backed him up, as well as others from the show. I got to get a good look and listen to Peter's "Jozi," his custom-made South African guitar. He and Mau a Malawi collaborator Andrew Finn Magill are still actively songwriting, and they played one song that they had written only 2 days before, dedicated to "those women who go through so much," in Peter's words, "before being forced to sell their bodies on the streets in a country that is ravaged by HIV and AIDS. This song is for those ladies." How rare and moving it was to hear a man speak about sex workers with such compassion; I felt like I was understanding the song, although the lyrics were in Chichewa. That IS the univeral power of music to communicate beyond language, a gift Peter has in great measure.

Kairaba played an opening set, intense as usual; one hears them growing in confidence, as they are about to head into the studio this week to record a first album. Kairaba's spiritual head, Diali Cissokho, always wins a crowd. His euphoric moment in the show this time came when he (somehow) balanced his kora upside down, and still managed to played it. I didn't have the stamina to take in Kairaba and Toubab Krewe out at Shakori Hills last weekend, but from what I hear, Diali did a surprise, walk-on vocal with one of Toubab Krewe's songs--the instrumental just happened to be a song he knew from Senegal. I wish I could have been there to see THAT. Lesson learned--always expect the unexpected from this charismatic griot of Carrboro.

The African music streak ain't over. Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo hits UNC's Memorial Hall this Sunday (10/16). Here's my Indy pick writeup about her. I saw Kidjo a few years back, touring with Santana at Walnut Creek. The global pop diva still commands respect as a strong voice from, and for, Africa. I was really stunned by this bare, unplugged duo performance that shows just how strong that voice is:



LINK:

Angelique Kidjo @ UNC Memorial Hall, Sunday (10/16) at 7: 30 pm; tickets $10 (student) to $39 price range.

MORE INFORMATION ON AFRICAN MUSIC:

Listen to Bonjour Africa, Sundays 4-6 PM on WNCU 90.7 FM with host Bouna Ndiaye

Catching Up With The Beast (10/1)

The Beast and Chit Nasty played a birthday party at Kings last Saturday (10/1). Chit Nasty is loud and funky as hell, with a Rick James meets Little Richard vibe.



That must've set the tone, because The Beast was a little raunchier than usual. Here's one of their newer songs, "Just Do It":






Beast fans with The Bieb @ Kings


FLASHBACK

Remember the earthquake? That night (8/23), The Beast did this live improv with special guests, a biweekly affair that happens second and fourth Tuesdays at Jack Sprat in Chapel Hill. The next "aLive Tuesday" happens 10/10, with special guest TBA.

SAMPLE OF THE WEEK: Astor Piazzola meets an earthquake theme.


Sitting in: The Brand New Life's Seth Barden (bass) and Walter Fancourt (saxophone).

Stephen Coffman on drums, Pierce Freelon on the mic, Eric Hirsh on piano/ keyboard/ samples.

CONJUNTO BREVE debut in Chapel Hill TONIGHT (8/17)

Brevan Hampden leads a new Latin ensemble tonight at Cinco de Mayo, a Chapel Hill restaurant at 1502 E. Franklin Street, near Estes Dr., located across from the Sienna Hotel. Cover is $7.


Percussionist Brevan Hampden

Sources have been tight-lipped about the new dance organ, dubbed Conjunto Breve. Rumor has it that Hampden will be joined by members of Orquesta GarDel, Eric Hirsh, Atiba Rorie, Alberto Carrasquillo, Pete Kimosh and Jaime Roman, to perform charts unknown.

Salsa Xtreme is a fairly new Latin party, bringing salsa, merengue, bachata, et al., back to Wednesday nights. Empresario Cesar Merlos, dancer, DJ and former club manager, goes back far enough to remember this longtime Chapel Hill tradition.

Dance lesson at 9:30 pm; invite says "dress to impress." Party rolls at 10.

Kairaba @ Talullas; World Beat Fest TONIGHT (5/27)

Diali Cissokho & Kairaba @ Shakori Hills in April

The sensation I am recommending to everyone these days is Kairaba, a newly formed African band from the 'boros--Pittsboro, Carrboro, and Mbouror, Senegal. Diali Keba Cissokho is the griot to watch on the local music scene, having assembled a soulful trailblazer in Kairaba.

Kora, vocal, electric guitar, bass, drumset, djembe, dun dun and talking drum form the basis of this experimental sextet, whose members include Diali's nephew Sidya Cissokho, Midtown Dickens' Jonathan Henderson, jazz guitarist John Westmoreland, and longtime students of African rhythm Austin McCall and Will Ridenour.

The band name means "peace and love," a powerful, one-word concept in Manding. Will dissected it grammatically for me Thursday night:

Kaira = peace
-ba = a suffix meaning "big, great," therefore,
Kairaba = the big peace, or "peace to every living thing on earth."

Whoa.

The no-cover show was Kairaba's second at Talulla's, an event slated to repeat itself, for the time being, every other Thursday at 10 pm.

Andrew Magill, a fiddle player and former member of Charanga Carolina, joined the band last night for a few numbers. Here's audio capture of Andrew sitting on the last tune of the evening:



Catch KAIRABA again TONIGHT, Friday (5/27) at The Cat's Cradle's World Beat Fest, opening at 9:15 pm for DIFFERENT DRUM and DUB ADDIS.

Tony Allen Afrobeat Orchestra @ UNC TUESDAY (4/19)

Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, a pioneer of the Afrobeat genre, brings his Afrobeat Orchestra to UNC tonight (Tuesday, 4/19).

Fela Kuti's musical director and drummer in the 1970s, Allen is still going strong and updating Afrofunk/Afrobeat with contemporary sounds.

It's an early show starting at 7:30 in Memorial Hall, tickets range from $20-$40; UNC students pay $10.

CONCERT LINK: Tony Allen's Afrobeat Orchestra at UNC, 4/19

Salsa & Charanga @ UNC THIS WEEKEND

POST UPDATED 3/26: check out this excellent short documentary about Charanga Carolina by Samantha Lapinsky. The documentary starts at minute 1:16:




_________________


Charanga Carolina, harpist Pavelid Castañeda and Orquesta GarDel are all making appearances at UNC this weekend, at two different concerts happening Friday (3/25) and Saturday (3/26). Both events take place at 7 pm in the Kenan Music Building Rehearsal Hall.



Friday's concert features two sets of dance music by the Charanga, and a solo set by Colombian harpist Pavelid. This benefit for the Scholars' Latino Initiative program has a $7 door.

Saturday's show is a double-bill salsa dance party with Charanga and Orquesta GarDel. Co-sponsor Mambo Dinamico celebrates its 9th anniversary with live dance performances. Door price is $10.

MORE INFO On Facebook, "Charanga Carolina"

As a warmup, here's video of Charanga Carolina's last concert in February. The group combined with the UNC jazz band here, and features special guest Conrad Herwig on trombone:

Sacred Steel Conference Starts THURSDAY (3/17)

The Southern Sacred Steel Conference kicks off this Thursday (3/17) with a free front porch concert at UNC's Center for the Study of the American South. The Allen Boys perform between 5-7 pm. The free, public concert includes an audience conversation moderated by folklorist Robert Stone.

Facebook event page: The Allen Boys, Music on the Porch Series

Ticketed events get going on Friday (3/18) the Artscenter, which is hosting the conference exploring steel-guitar-based Black gospel music, with strongholds in Florida and Western NC. Folklorist Stone, who has documented the genre in photographs currently on exhibition at the Artscenter, will give several lectures. On Saturday, headlining artists will give steel guitar master classes. The conference ends Sunday morning with a worship service.


The Lee Boys

Evening concert headliners include The Lee Boys and Aubrey Ghent; see The Artscenter website for details and ticket info!

Artscenter: Link to all Sacred Steel Conference events

Conference Weekend Pass Pricing Here

Indy article by Spencer Griffith: "Southern Sacred Steel Conference Debuts"

aLive Tuesdays: The Beast + Greg Humphreys 3.8.11

Chemistry, timing, and musical diversity have always contributed to the magic of The Beast, Durham's live hip hop/jazz dynamo. Now those qualities get showcased every other week at Jack Sprat, at a free live show from 9-11 pm called aLive Tuesdays with The Beast.



What makes these evenings so much more than a live rehearsal is the way the sets are structured: the two hours are subdivided into four, gem-like sets, covering three or more genres, and featuring one invited guest.

This week began with instrumental jazz by The Beast Trio (minus Pierce). Then singer/songwriter Greg Humphreys did a solo set of his originals. Greg really kills it on the mic in a warm, intimate setting like this, expertly modulating his tone from jazz to soul to country. The full Beast convened next, doing 2 or 3 new songs. (Pierce said they are getting ready to record again this month.)





This headliner set always leads off with The Beast's "Sample of the Week," a live-composed jam based on a sample chosen by a different member of the band. This time, pianist Eric Hirsh went with a classical riff from "Venus," from Gustav Holst's orchestral suite "The Planets." Here's the beautiful, spontaneous result:



Finally, Greg joined The Beast for a closing set. Greg did this classy, witty ballad, "Must Be The Moon," already recorded with The Beast Trio, to be released on Greg's next album in 2011. Here's part of it, with a nice little piano solo by Eric:


"Must be the Moon" (Greg Humphreys/Nancy Armstrong), (c) Phrex Music BMI.

The set (and show) ended with this slamming collaborative version of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up," which Greg often performs with his band Hobex. It featured an added rap by Pierce and a guitar solo by Greg:



So many pretty, cross-pollinated performances in one night...can't think of the last time I got so many kicks in two hours, for the price of a beer.



The next aLive Tuesdays with The Beast will be March 22, featuring "ChamberSoul" cellist/vocalist Shana Tucker.


Photo Credit: Tiona Fuller

Shana's debut CD Shine was just released a few weeks ago, give a listen on her website.

Hobex Redux + Fat Tuesday Alert

Video of Hobex from Saturday night (3/5), at the Pittsboro Mardi Gras Festival at Chatham Mill:



Peter Holsapple (organ), Cyril Lance (guitar), Andy Ware (bass), Rob Ladd (drums), Tim Smith (sax), and frontman Greg Humphreys (vocals, guitar). Greg had his table steel standing by, but did not deploy. Still it was a grand and festive evening. Some of my favorite Hobex originals, a tune from Greg's recent solo release, and some zydeco and soul covers kept the costumed pirates and merrymakers of Chatham County dancing.



FAT TUESDAY ALERT:

See Greg Humphreys tonight (3/8) at 9-11 pm @ Jack Sprat as a special guest at The Beast's "aLive Tuesdays." Raaaawwwwr!

4 short sets:
1) jazz set with The Beast Trio (Eric Hirsh, Peter Kimosh, Stephen Coffman)
2) solo acoustic set with Greg Humphreys
3) hip hop set with full cast of The Beast
4) The Beast + Greg Humphreys as special guest.

Charanga & Jazz SATURDAY (2/19) @ UNC Memorial

If you missed out on Eddie Palmieri yesterday--from his student masterclass, to the Memorial Hall concert, to a jam session on Franklin Street--you can still look forward to a great evening of Latin jazz tonight at UNC: a joint concert of Charanga Carolina and the UNC Jazz Band, with guests Joe Chambers (drums) and Conrad Herwig (trombone). Rumor has it there will be some special guests on vibes as well.



Palmieri was so stoked upon hearing the Charanga Carolina yesterday, that he placed cell phone calls during the rehearsal to share the live sound with two very important people: his wife ("she's a charanguera!" says Eddie), and trumpeter/music historian Rene Lopez.

"This is a rocking band! You better give them a good write-up," Palmieri told me afterwards.

He gave some playing tips to the group's pianists, current and former, who huddled around the keyboard on the Hill Hall stage, where yesterday's masterclass took place.

Palmieri's trombonist, Conrad Herwig has been in residency all week, playing lip-busting concerts with UNC faculty, the NC Jazz Rep Orchestra, as well as his boss. He told me Wednesday that he is looking forward to playing with the Charanga tonight.



Tonight's concert will be in UNC Memorial Hall at a cost of $15 general admission. An after hours jam session is planned at 10:30 pm at West End Wine Bar (cover: $4)

This intense burst of concerts continues next weekend, as part of UNC's 34th Carolina Jazz Festival. Trumpeter Marcus Printup of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra returns to campus for a residency Thursday (2/24)-Saturday (2/26).



I never did a full review of Charanga Carolina's show at Talulla's a few weeks ago, but it was a barnburner. Although the intimate setting puts dance space at a premium, the warm acoustics and family-run atmosphere at Talulla's are a perfect home for Charanga.

Here's a video from last time to get you in the mood for tonight:

Eddie Palmieri at UNC-Memorial Friday (2/18)

Read my Indy story, P'Adelante: Eddie Palmieri Continues to Reinvent his Pioneering Latin Jazz, here. The concert is Friday at UNC-Memorial at 8 pm.

A TRANSCRIPT containing more of this interview will be available here LATER TODAY. Check back later on Thursday.

I just had a chat last night with Conrad Herwig, Eddie Palmieri's trombonist, in the green room after he played a lip-blistering concert with Jim Ketch in Hill Hall. This was a free concert, lots of other events (some paid/ticketed, some not) taking place over the next two weeks at UNC, part of the Carolina Jazz Festival. Conrad is doing a residency and will also perform in Memorial with the UNC Jazz Band and Charanga Carolina on Saturday. I will post more info later!

Lincoln Center Jam @ Talulla's

Following their concert last night at UNC-Memorial Hall, members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra turned up to jam last night at Talulla's, a regular Friday night jazz jam featuring Al Strong & Trio-tet.



I am rushing to get this up, since the show goes on tonight (JLCO again at Memorial Hall, and Orquesta GarDel at Motorco), but this was a descarga to remember. Among the JLCO visitors: Marcus Printup (trumpet), Vincent Gardner and Chris Crenshaw (trombones), and Ali Jackson (drums). Local musicians lined up to go shoulder to shoulder with their heroes. It was a very warm gathering and one rapt jazz fans and players beheld with a sense of wonder.





Talulla's is so dark that my videos are hard to make out, but here's one the sums up the energy of the night. Chris Crenshaw, a master with the plunger who at one point played just his slide and a water glass, a la Jack Teagarden, opens the solos; local legend Brian Miller takes over on saxophone, followed by Richmond's elite James "Saxsmo" Gates. I believe that the core players at this point in the evening are Brevan Hampden, drumset, Paul Creel, bass, and Ernest Turner, piano:



Also present in the jam were trumpeters Angel Rodgers and Kadir Muhammad, saxophonists Andy Paolantonio and Aaron Hill, and trombonist Reggie Greenlee. That's a non-inclusive list. Many others were there just to bear witness. This video features Aaron as second soloist, and Marcus Printup who returns to Chapel Hill and Asheville for engagements in February:







Later, Brevan moved to congas, making way for some fine drumming by Aaron Tucker, and to top off the night, JLCO's Ali Jackson. Brevan played a great, long conga solo (uncaptured on video), but I did grab a dark snippet of Brevan and Ali exchanging some percussion dialogue. Use your imagination for the visuals:

Trova's Redhead & The Latin Project: SATURDAY (12/4)

Olguita Morales Serrano, "La Pelirroja de la Trova"

A special musical guest from Puerto Rico livens up the NC Assoc. de PR Unidos' Christmas Party this Saturday (12/4): Olguita Ramos, a direct descendent of one Puerto Rico's most esteemed musical families. Known artistically as "the redheaded troubadour" ("La Pelirroja de la Trova"), Olga is the niece of Ramito, and daughter of Luisito Morales Ramos, two of the island's most legendary singers of traditional highland poetry known as trova or música jibara.

In addition, salsa band The Latin Project, with members from The Triangle, Charlotte, and Columbia, SC, will keep the dancefloor jumping. Led by local trumpet virtuoso Alberto Carrasquillo, Latin Project is a band that we don't get to hear often enough, since their gigs tend to center in the Charlotte area.



In the holiday spirit, the PR Unidos Association is collecting donations of unwrapped toys at this event to benefit local children. Tickets are $20, available in advance online, and at the Havana Grill restaurant in Cary, and El Coqui restaurant in Holly Springs.


Olga Morales has performed extensively at festivals, private events, and on Puerto Rican radio and TV. She grew up singing with her father, Luisito, one of three musical brothers. Of the trio, Flor Morales Ramos, known simply as "Ramito," is without a doubt the island's most famous and beloved troubadour. A third brother, Juan, was known as "Moralito, and the three enjoyed solo careers as well as creating joint projects, well into their later years. Olga's father Luisito was the last survivor, until he passed away in June 2009.

Trovadores specialize in a declamatory singing style of improvised verses with strict formal rules, called décima. Its roots go back to Puerto Rico's agrarian origins, and the Andalucian farmers who settled there.

Here's Olga's father, Luisito, singing a tribute to his brother, Ramito, at a 2002 festival in his honor. The band is Joaquin Mouliert y sus Ecos de la Montaña:



Here is the same band again, playing live in Christmas parade. Trova music is especially associated with the holidays in Puerto Rico, and a distinct carolling tradition known as parranda. In this 1987 video, Luisito sings first (in the hat with heavy red-sequinned border), followed by his brother Ramito (wearing glasses). Check out these great views of Puerto Rico, as the band drives slowly down city streets accompanied by horsemen (caballistas):




It should be fascinating to witness the next generation of this revered lineage of Puerto Rican singers right here in Chapel Hill on Saturday.

LINKS:

Associacion de Puertorriqueños Unidos de NC - Events Calendar
History of Puerto Rican Trova (Spanish)
Olguita Morales artist webpage (Spanish)

I Got a Filin: Omara Portundo interview & concert FRIDAY

+011 53 7...it was my first time dialing Havana.

Omara Portuondo didn't answer right away. Finally, after about 40 minutes of dialing, a voice picked up:

"Oigo? Omara Portuondo is my name."

Omara's concert at UNC's Memorial Hall THIS FRIDAY (11/5) will be the first by a Cuban artist in the Triangle since Barbarito Torres played the Cat's Cradle in December, 2003.

Here is my extended, edited version of the interview I conducted on October 22, some of which appears in an article in this week's Independent Weekly.

Sylvia Pfeiffenberger: Omara, tell me about your beginnings in music. What were your first music schools, either formal or informal?

Omara Portuondo: I attended normal schools from elementary through high school. Starting in primary school, I belonged to the chorus and took classes in music.

Sylvia: How and when did you arrive in the Filin scene?

Omara: That was in the decade of the 40s, I encountered a group of young people that called themselves “Filin” [>Eng. “feeling”]. Filin means “sentimiento,” and so everything they did in music, they said it had to have “filin.” We began doing boleros and lots of things. The most well-known song they did was called “Contigo en la Distancia,” by composer Cesar Portillo de la Luz. The pianist of the group was Frank Emilio Flynn. Many of these people have already died, because they were older than I was. I was still an adolescent, I was still in high school at that time. But I went to places where you could hear trova, and came to know their music in the houses of friends, etc.

Sylvia: Who gave you the nickname, “La Novia del Filin,” [the Sweetheart of Feeling] and when was that?

Omara: It was the first show I ever did, a program called “El Microfono,” on the radio station Mil Diez. The announcer Manolo Ortega gave me the name “La Novia del Filin,” because I was the only woman in the group at that time.

Sylvia: Among Cuban composers, do you have favorites?

Omara: Almost all of them are my favorites. One of them who has works that are almost classical in nature, but with Cuban roots, is Sindo Garay. I like the writers of traditional trova, and the composers of filin, like Cesar Portillo de la Luz. On the Gracias album, there’s a filin song called “Adios Felicidad” [by Ela O’Farrill]. There are many more I could name.

Sylvia: Is it true what one reads, that North American jazz singers influenced the Filin movement, such as Maxine Sullivan, Lena Horne or others?

Omara: We heard all that music in Cuba, because the southern US is close to Cuba and the Caribbean. We made our own jazz, too, like Frank Emilio, who was an excellent jazzista, but also had a filin ensemble. We also made Brazilian music because we knew it. We made Italian music because we knew it. From Spain we had zarzuelas, all the Spanish music. We had the possibility to know almost all cultures, to have access to them, to know them and to enjoy them.

Sylvia: Was it an international movement then, in terms of its influences?

Omara: The Filin? Filin was a national movement. We sing the same songs now as when I was starting out, boleros, sentimental songs, that’s why it’s called feeling. We were music aficionados. We weren’t very professional in the beginning, but as time went on, we got more professional. We made music everywhere, on the radio stations, everywhere. The radio was a very important means for transmitting the music.

Sylvia: I want to talk a little about your time in the group Cuarteto D’Aida.

Omara: El Cuarteto D’Aida was founded in 1952. There were five musicians, the director, Aida Diestro, and the [vocal] quartet of girls, Elena Burke, Moraima Secada, my sister Haydee Portuondo and me. Aida Diestro was a magnificent musician, complete in every way, she knew how to make great arrangements and select the songs and everything.

Sylvia: Was this also a sort of school for you?

Omara: Yes, that was my university. I was active in the quartet for 15 years, from 1952 until 1967. Then I left to become a soloist.

Sylvia: Let’s talk about your album Magia Negra, at the end of the 50s, that was your first album as a soloist, correct?

Omara: Oh! You know it. While I was still with the quartet I made that record because the musicians suggested it. They wanted to make a record with me, and that’s what we did.

Sylvia: That record has a very interesting sound, a mix of jazz, musica tipica cubana…

Omara: Yes, we did a completely Spanish version of “Magia Negra” [“That Old Black Magic”]. Lena Horne sang a song at the time in a film, Stormy Weather. I sang it with Frank Emilio on the radio, in Spanish and English. “Summertime,” all these type of things, I sang these in English and Spanish. At the time several [U.S.] movies came out with all-black casts, another was Carmen [Jones], with Harry Belafonte.

Sylvia: Have you acted in movies?

Omara: Yes, I’ve acted in two films. One is a Cuban opera, it’s a zarzuela, called Cecilia Valdes. They turned it into a movie. There’s a character called Mercedes Ayala running a club where white men could dance with mulatas.

The other film is called Baragua, it’s a city in Cuba where they made peace in the war for Cuban independence. In that one I played the mother of one of the fighters for Cuban independence, Antonio Maceo.

Sylvia: This past November you visited the US to present at the Latin Grammys, and you also won that award [Best Tropical Album for Gracias (2008)].

Omara: That was a very lovely thing that happened to me, and to everyone who worked on the record. We work as a team. We have Brazilian musicians, some from Buena Vista, my son…it was a beautiful project for that reason, because we all worked together, composers, producers, and musicians.

For many years we couldn’t come here [to the U.S.] because Cuba was on a terrorist list. For that time [c. 2004-2009] they didn’t give us visas. But last year, they gave me one. I was able to meet a Mexican composer [at the Latin Grammys] whom I admire greatly.

Sylvia: When was your first visit here? How many times have you toured the U.S.?

Omara: The first visit, it was in 1951, with a show from the Tropicana. There were dancers, musicians, and an orchestra. I haven't counted them [U.S. tours], but that was the first one.

Sylvia: I want to talk some about the Buena Vista phenomenon.

Omara: That was a big hit, also.

Sylvia: Were you expecting it? What importance did it have, as one chapter in your long musical career?

Omara: Well, really, I’m very glad I was incorporated as a part of that very successful record. We toured all over, Europe, Germany, we visited all these places. I was making a filin record at the time, and they came to me and said they wanted me to sing on this record that still didn’t have a name. I sang a duet with Compay [Segundo], “Veinte Años,” which is a song I have been singing for many, many years. It’s a song my parents taught me, a very special one.

Sylvia: To be quite honest with you, that was my introduction to Omara Portuondo, but since that time I’ve been lucky enough to get to know most of your music.

Omara: You don’t say. I give thanks for that, I had no idea someone like you would be interested in getting to know all my music after so many years. In what part of the U.S. do you live?

Sylvia: In North Carolina.

Omara: Well you know we are going to visit you soon.

Sylvia: Yes, we are looking forward to it. I’ve been waiting a long time for the return of Cuban artists.

Omara: Yes, we’re here now. I'm very happy about it because culture has to have its space.

Sylvia: Do I have your correct birthdate, which is October 29, 1930? How do you plan to celebrate your 80th birthday?

Omara: Yes. That day I’ll be [performing] in Chico, California. That’s the best way I could spend it, singing, because I don’t like parties. I don’t drink alchohol. My parties for me are my work, because I get tremendous enjoyment out of it. It gives me energy, it gives me life. I feel very good on stage.

Sylvia: It’s interesting to me that you are a singer with a very refined style, you sing jazz, you have performed on TV and in nightclub shows, but also, you are really a people’s singer, because you sing songs that everyone knows and that everyone sings.

Omara: Yes, of course, that is very important for me too. Because what interests me, what I need as a human being, is to sing things that everyone feels. Love songs, all these sentimental things I’m interpreting, I’m also feeling them at the same time, when I am singing.

Sylvia: Omara, thanks for your time today.

Omara: Muy agradecida.

© by Sylvia Pfeiffenberger 2010. Written permission required to reprint or reproduce.

LINKS:

Nov. 5 Concert Info/ Box Office for Carolina Performing Arts

INDY story: "With Omara Portuondo, Cuba Comes Back to the Triangle"

Omara Portuondo artist website

Season Update: Charanga Carolina

Charanga Carolina is a UNC performing ensemble made up of students and guest artists from the community. Like a sports team, the roster varies year to year based on student enrollment and graduations. We're lucky to have a few key players back in Charanga this fall (Caity Bunch on flute, Alex Williams on piano, and Ryan Raven on trumpet, among others), as well as a whole new crop of student Charangueros.







With more trumpets than trombones this semester, however, director David Garcia has rotated timba charts out of Charanga's book, for the time being. "To play Los Van Van, you really need the 3 trombones," David says.

What emerges stronger this season are the strings, with 5 strong players in the violin section. What better way to showcase this than by playing danzón, the original mainstay of the charanga orchestra, and the genre from which later developments such as the mambo and the cha cha chá emerged.

With its slower tempo and more classical sound, danzón may seem like a staid alternative, but it's an important building block in the history of Cuban music, and still forms the basis of many Latin jazz compositions to this day. Playing danzón well is challenging, because there's not much cover for the musicians, and its rhythmic shadings have their own subtle idiosyncrasies. Danzón builds slow, but the groove payoff in the end is large. Hear a modern echo in the cha-rock slowcookers of the 60s and 70s, songs like "Cocinando" ane "Oye Como Va"--based on rhythms that originated, in the way-back time, with danzón.



Charanga Carolina did an impressive job last Sunday, therefore, with their first public performance of this classic danzón "Angoa" at Chapel Hill's Festifall.

"That was the first time I've ever heard live danzón, and it made my day," said dance aficionada Amanda Jackson.

Other new charts in the book this season: an Arsenio Rodriguez son, "Blanca Paloma," and a conjoined version of "Guantanamo" and "Me Voy Pa' Moron." As a dancer, I can tell you these two-for-one charts are heaven to dance to. Thanks, Charanga! Keep up the good work.



Next performance of CHARANGA CAROLINA:

Saturday, October 16 at 8:30 pm at Durham Academy's Fiesta Latina. Free and open to the public! Not only that, but your Fiesta Latina program will get you a discount at the door to see New York salsa band La Excelencia at Fred Astaire studio later that night, which is the official afterparty of DA Fiesta Latina.