NYS Music 202​1

Tag: Cuban Music

  • Michele Rosewoman Brings “A Function at the Junction: Ancestral Bridge, Musical Strings” to Flamboyan Theater on November 11

    On Thursday, November 11, pianist, composer and ensemble leader Michele Rosewoman will present “A Function at the Junction: Ancestral Bridge, Musical Streams” / “Una Función en el Cruce: Puente Ancestral, Corrientes Musicales,” a collaborative, multimedia event that will bring together Rosewoman’s New Yor-Uba ensemble, Francisco Mora Catlett’s Afro Horn and Román Díaz’s Rumba Ensemble in live performance with video documentation, a subsequent HotHouseGlobal broadcast and Habana/Harlem panels.  

    Michele Rosewoman

    The program will take place at the Clemente Soto Velez Center, Flamboyan Theater in New York City at 107 Suffolk St, as part of Arts for Art’s three-day festival, Jazz Libre. Tickets are available here, with a cost of $15/set, $25/night in-erson, and $5 for a livestream. View the full schedule here.

    On December 18, the event will be broadcast on Cuban national television (and beyond) as part of a 2-night event  (Dec 18/19) through the HotHouseGlobal streaming platforms on Twitch, YouTube, HotHouse’s website, and Facebook Live. A recipient of the prestigious Southarts Jazz Road Creative Residency grant, Rosewoman has created a night that gives broader space and voice to the inspirations and traditions that have shaped and nurtured her. 

    With New Yor-Uba, we pay homage to the journey of centuries-old Yoruba traditions from Nigeria through Cuba to present-day New York, reflecting its contemporary manifestations. 

    Michele Rosewoman

    The ensemble’s distinctive repertoire features Ms. Rosewoman’s original compositions and visionary arrangements that incorporate a large spectrum of Cuban spiritually-based musical traditions including, Yoruba (Nigeria), Arará (Dahomey), Abakuá (Calabar) and rumba/guaguanco, a uniquely Cuban musical form.    

    Rosewoman’s vision is that of a unique community of musicians in NYC with deep ties to both spiritually-based Cuban folkloric traditions and contemporary jazz, Rosewoman, Román Díaz and Francisco Mora Catlett share conceptual, artistic and spiritual intersections. Rosewoman sees this residency as an opportunity to “incorporate and stage the work of treasured co-creators who also highlight these traditions in unique contemporary contexts, while building bridges between artists and cultural voices based in NY and also those artificially separated by Cuba/U.S. policies.”   

    Master folklorist Román Díaz, a member of all three ensembles (leader of one), as well as a former member of Yoruba Andabo  (Cuba) has been a featured and foundational member of her New Yor-Uba ensemble since 2008. Fulfilling a desire to further share her music (deeply informed by traditions born of Cuba) with Cuban audiences through her partnership with HotHouseGlobal, especially gratifying for Ms.Rosewoman is the fact that Mr. Diaz is featured in all 3 ensembles.   

    Michele Rosewoman | Credit: Chris Drukker     

    Michele Roswoman’s New Yor-Uba lineup includes: Michele Rosewoman– piano/vocals. Alex Norris–trumpet. Mike Thomas- alto & soprano saxophone,  Isaiah Collier-tenor saxophone. Chris Washburne–trombone/bass trombone/tuba. Gregg August–bass. Robby Ameen–drums. Román Díaz – percussion/vocals. Rafael Monteagudo–percussion. Mauricio Herrera-percussion/vocals,  Abraham Rodriguez-  lead vocals.

    This project enables us to share Mr. Díaz with the Cuban communities he is born of but separated from, as they experience his impact on the jazz community here in the U.S,” says Rosewoman. “And by ‘taking’ this music to Cuba, we all return to the source and pay homage to the roots of our inspiration, nurturing this junction.

    Francisco Mora Catlett’s Afro Horn, an avant-garde ensemble that highlights the African presence in the Americas through an assemblage of prime musicians and a repertoire of written and improvised jazz expressions and Cuban folkloric influences, will also perform. Mora is especially known for his work with Motown, Sun Ra and Max Roach and as co-founder of the Oyu Oro Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance Company (2000) with his wife Danys Perez Prades, performing dance and music from the African Diaspora. Lineup: Francisco Mora Catlett–drums. Sam Newsome–soprano saxophone. Román Díaz –percussion.  James Weidman–piano.  Rashaan Carter–bass. Alex Harding–baritone saxophone.  

    Francisco Mora Catlett’s Afro Horn

    Also performing is Román Díaz, a scholar of religious and folkloric music, composer & performer of folklore and contemporary jazz. Considered both a pillar of the New York City jazz avant-garde and one of Afro Cuban music’s great innovators, his Rumba Ensemble displays his vision of the confluence of New York City’s tradition of music of the African diaspora.  He has performed and recorded with Merceditas Valdes, Raices Profundas, Paquito D’Rivera, Michele Rosewoman, Henry Threadgill, David Virelles, Jane Bunnett, Juan Carlos Formell, Orlando “Puntilla” Rios, Oriente Lopez, Afro Horn& Danilo Perez among many others. 

    Román Díaz ‘s Rumba Ensemble: Román Díaz -percussion/vocals.  TBA-percussion. Clemente Medina-percussion.  Rafael Monteagudo-percussion. Abraham Rodriguez-vocals, TBA- vocals. Onel Mulet-saxophone/flute.

  • Radio Free Brooklyn Celebrates Changüí and Music of Cuba with free event on November 17

    Gianluca Tramontana, music journalist and host of the Radio Free Brooklyn show Sitting with Gianluca, spent 2017–2019 in the mountains around Guantánamo City, Cuba, immersed in—and recording— joyous, all-inclusive and mostly improvised, riff-based acoustic roots music of the island.  The music was born in the sugar and coffee plantations in the mountains around the city, less than thirty miles from Guantanamo Bay, and serves as the soundtrack for joyous three-day parties called Changuisis.

    radio free brooklyn

    This incredible collection of recordings, which includes over 50 brand new remote recordings and 100 intimate photographs of the culture and its people, was released this past July 30 by Petaluma Records as a three-disc deluxe box set with a hardbound full-color book and extensive liner notes titled Changüí – The Sound of Guantánamo. This release, the most extensive exploration of the Changüí style to date, has garnered four- and five-star reviews (MOJO, Songlines, No Depression, and Afropop) and been featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition, BBC6, PRI’S The World, and the CBC. 

    radio free brooklyn

    On November 17, Radio Free Brooklyn is partnering with the Pine Box Rock Shop for a free event that will be part belated record release party, part panel discussion and slideshow dedicated to this vibrant brand of Cuban music. Hosted by Tramontana, the event will include a conversation with four-time Grammy-winning producer Steve Rosenthal (co-producer) and Ned Sublette, Cuban music expert and author of the definitive tome Cuba and its Music.  This will also serve as a “better late than never” album release party where a copy of the box (and some other special gifts) will be raffled off to a lucky audience member.

    radio free brooklyn

    The Pine Box Rock Shop is located at 12 Grattan Street, Brooklyn. The 90-minute event kickoff at 8 pm. RSVP here.

    Radio Free Brooklyn is a non-commercial freeform Internet radio station, streaming original content by the artists and residents of Brooklyn 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Listen live here.

  • Afro-Cuban Musician Bobi Céspedes Releases New Album “Mujer y Cantante”

    Cuban singer Bobi Céspedes releases her new studio album Mujer y Cantante in celebration of her 40-year career and experience. 

    Bobi Céspedes

    Bobi Céspedes represents and promotes Cuban music from the Bay Area in California. She specializes in Cuban son and is a composer, bandleader, and educator. She fronted the band Conjunto Céspedes creating unique music staying true to her roots. Her music fuses Cuban folklore and modern sounds. In the 90s her work with Conjunto Céspedes was notorious in the local music scene and internationally. She took a break from the band and toured with Mickey Hart of Grateful Dead and played the drums on his album Supralingua.

    Throughout the past few years, Céspedes performed at several events and been a part of powerful lineups. She performed for the launch of the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture at the “Freedom Sounds Celebration” along with international legends Angelique Kidjo and Meshell Ndegeocello. Her music has been used in some television series and was a part of soundtracks for a few movies as well. 

    Céspedes tribute to Celia Cruz in 2016 started a connection between her and SFJazz. She performed another tribute for Celia Cruz in 2019 and her band was a part of their series “Fridays at Five” and the performance was released on Oct. 2, 2020. Last year after the pandemic began, she appeared on the Kennedy Center’s “Couch Concert Series.”

    Mujer y Cantante, which translates to “Woman and Singer” is her latest release. It was initially released in June 2020 but has recently been officially introduced to the public. The album is personal, consisting of eight songs inspired by her family, upbringing, culture, spirituality and experience. Her sound returns to her Afro-Cuban roots and is led by Cuban son. The messages are drawn from the Yoruba-Lucimi traditions she practices and, prays to the Orishas to bring strength and guidance during these times. During the initial release, the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests were taking place and she wanted the album to be uplifting.

    The rest of Conjunto Céspedes worked with her on Mujer y Cantante as well. It was co-produced by the Latin Grammy Award-winning producer, Kenya Autie and mixed as well as mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Oscar Autie. Céspedes takes another step in her acclaimed 40-year career with her newest work.  

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