one more goodbye

Gotta say farewell and good luck to Alfredo Morua Averhoff, who joined our music scene for a short time this summer. Alfredo, a master pastry chef, moved back to New York suddenly for professional reasons, and his presence is already missed. He was an easygoing, adaptable musician who sang rumba and played percussion with Tambor Vivo among others.

Unforgettably, Alfredo sang me a birthday rumba at their last concert at the Carrboro Century Center, with some very beautiful personalized lyrics. That was the icing on the cake.

We will miss Alfredo's smile, his Cuban style, and his bald profile! (Of which he is proud.) He knows he's got friends in Carolina.

Links:
Search Alfredo Morua on Onda Carolina
Indy Best of the Triangle 2009: Alfredo at work at The Mad Hatter

Under One Sun

One of 160 bands performing for free at Carrboro Music Festival this Sunday (9/20), One Sun is a jazz fusion project of Saludos Compay pianist Erich Lieth. He is joined here by Drew Pilant (percussion), Padmini Hands (Brazilian and South Asian vocals), Jay Miller (saxophone) and Victor Murillo (guitar), at Weaver Street Market last weekend:



Victor, who moved back to Ecuador this week, takes a final guitar solo at minute 3:15.

Moonlit Mellow Montuno

Saludos Compay at Caffe Driade

Driade's wine garden (they sell beer and coffees too) is a hot date spot and hang out when Saludos Compay plays once a month. The combo turns on guitars, voices and hand percussion--no timbales or horns--so it's a campfire atmosphere, a place to sip and converse while enjoying the primal groove of Cuban rhythm. There is something of the fairy tale to this color-lit, woodland setting, so if you are inclined to dance, this enclave is romantic.

It's with a mix of sad and happy that I bid public farewell to Victor Murillo, who played classical guitar with Saludos on Friday. Sad to be losing his talents as a multi-instrumentalist (and an excellent salsa dancer), and happy for a wonderful guy who is excited to be moving back to his home and family in Ecuador. Victor leaves Monday, but promises to be back to visit in November for a previously scheduled gig; in the meantime, abrazos y deseos para todo lo mejor!


Victor (far left) keeping an eagle eye on rhythm section leader Erich Lieth at June's Fiesta Latina. Also pictured: Lisa Lindsay and Arturo Velasquez.

Last Hurrah: Victor Murillo will perform with Erich Lieth's One Sun on the Carrboro Lawn in front of Weaver Street Market this Sunday (9/13) from 11 am - 1 pm.

Timba at Saxapahaw!

Orquesta GarDel is getting ready to unveil more original tunes this Saturday (5/30) from 6-8 pm at the free Rivermill Outdoor Music Series in Saxapahaw.

This timba tune by trombone leader Andy Kleindienst debuted in April:



Now, keyboardist Eric Hirsh is about to bring his own baby on board. He says he was inspired to write complex, yet catchy horn lines last year after listening to a lot of Bamboleo and Charanga Habanera.

"I wanted to make sure that the rhythm feels distinctly Cuban. It's gotta have that aggressive FUNK," writes Eric.

This spring, GarDel's members collaborated during songwriting rehearsals to tie up loose ends.

"Nelson [Delgado] is really coming into his own as a lyricist," adds Eric. "His thematic concept for the song is very spiritual and philosophical, but in a way that still exhorts everyone to dance and have a good time."

I think we can oblige.

UPDATE 5/31:

I made it in time for the debut, but my camera battery gave out. So, no video! Coincidentally, Eric said one of his keyboards was not performing properly, so he was forced to turn it off. (Love the multiple keyboard effects he uses for GarDel and The Beast; that's timbalicious right there.) We agreed that we would re-premiere this work (does it have a title, E?) and publicly document it in the nearest possible future.

That said, my impressions: The Cuban funk is definitely there (hallelujah), and the texture is dark and complicated (what Eric called "a harmonic palette somewhere between an R&B song and modal jazz"). I was dancing during this song but I could feel most people stopping to listen and assess. This was quite different from GarDel's usual Puerto Rican weather, i.e. sun-drenched with occasional thunderstorms. This was a rumbling deep underground.

P.S. Almost forgot: there's been a personnel change. Saxophonist Bluford Thompson, a degree candidate in jazz performance and composition at North Carolina Central, is taking over the chair of Wayne Leechford, who has left GarDel to pursue other opportunities. Wayne is a music veteran in the Triangle who has given lots of love to Latin music fans over the years. We wish him well, and issue a warm welcome to Blu; it should be an interesting bench this year as he joins reedsman Tim Smith.

Man With A Horn

And now, it's time to pay tribute to one of our local musicians on the eve (literally) of his departure for greener pastures. Jay Kaufman has been a professor of epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health, but many of you know him better as trumpeter in many local jazz and Latin bands during the past decade. Jay is moving to Montreal to take up an endowed chair in Population Health at McGill University.



Jay says he's looking forward to having greater flexibility in his academic research, and to splitting his time between Montreal and Santiago, Chile, where he also holds a teaching post at La Universidad de Chile. (Nice work if you can get it!)

"Eventually, I'll try to time it so I am down in the southern hemisphere for the Canadian winter, which would mean perpetual summer. But I don't quite have that worked out yet!" says Jay.

"Of course I'll continue playing music," he adds. Helping Jay to forge some Montreal connections is Ramon Ortiz, his bandmate in Orquesta GarDel. Ramon moved here 2 years ago from Montreal, where he was very active in the salsa and merengue scenes. Thanks to Ramon, Jay will arrive there with a long list of contacts in hand.


Some background on Jay: He moved to the Triangle in 1999 from Charlotte, and before that has lived in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Nigeria, Baltimore and Puerto Rico.

On the jazz side, his resumé includes John Brown, the Raleigh Jazz Orchestra, Kevin Van Sant, Ben Palmer and Russell Lacy.

On the Latin side, you know him from Charanga Carolina, Samecumba, Orquesta GarDel, West End Mambo, and Sajaso.

"I'll really miss all these great musicians in this area, and especially their really positive attitude and sense of camaraderie," Jay says.

Jay Kaufman, many blessings in your transition, we wish you all the best! Thanks for all the music.