New School University's Jazz
Program presented three concerts this spring 2003 featuring its
Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria.
New School University's Afro-Cuban
Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria was joined by special
guest artists renowned flautist Dave Valentin and conga legend
Cándido Camero on Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 7:00 p.m.,
at Tishman Auditorium, New School University, 66 West 12th Street,
NYC.
Bobby Sanabria has performed and recorded with a
veritable who's who in the world of Jazz and Latin music, as
well as with his own critically acclaimed ensemble Ascension.
His diverse recording and performance experience includes work
with such legendary figures as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente,
Paquito D'Rivera, Charles McPherson, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto,
Larry Harlow, Marco Rizo, Luis "Perico" Ortiz, Chico
O'Farrill, Henry Threadgill, and the pioneering godfather of
Afro-Cuban Jazz, Mario Bauzá.
Sanabria was born and raised
in the "Fort Apache" section of New York City's South
Bronx to Puerto Rican parents. Inspired and encouraged by Maestro
Tito Puente, another fellow New York-born Puerto Rican, Sanabria
"got serious" and attended Boston's Berklee College
of Music from 1975 to 1979, where he obtained his Bachelor of
Music degree. Since graduating from Berklee, he has become a
leader in the Afro-Cuban and Jazz fields as both a drummer and
a percussionist, as well as being recognized as one of the most
articulate scholars of "la tradición."
He has been featured on numerous
Grammy-nominated albums including "The Mambo Kings"
movie soundtrack and numerous television/radio jingles and other
movie soundtracks. He first received worldwide critical acclaim
when he was with the legendary Mario Bauzá and his Afro-Cuban
Jazz Orchestra, with whom he recorded three Grammy-nominated
CDs. They are considered to be the definitive works of the Afro-Cuban
Big Band Jazz-tradition. Sanabria was also featured with the
Bauzá Orchestra on two PBS documentaries about Mario Bauzá,
and on "The Bill Cosby Show."
In 2000, he recorded Afro-Cuban
Dream... Live & in Clave on the Arabesque label which was
recorded live at Birdland in New York City. Down Beat Magazine
said of Afro-Cuban Dream..."it expands on the big band tradition
by giving it a unique 21st century stamp and shows an artist
ready to take his place in the continuum..." It was honored
with a Grammy nomination for best Latin Jazz recording of the
year in 2001.
His latest recording released
in October of 2002, Bobby Sanabria & Quarteto Aché
on the Khaeon label has recently garnered worldwide critical
acclaim from the jazz press. Modern Drummer magazine recently
gave it its highest rating and called the work a classic.
Sanabria continues his activities
as an educator conducting clinics worldwide. He is on the faculties
of New School University's Jazz Program and The Manhattan School
of Music in their Jazz division
About New School University's Afro-Cuban
Jazz Orchestra
Ten years ago, Sanabria became
a member of the faculty of New School University teaching a small
ensemble dedicated to the intricacies of the Afro-Cuban jazz
canon. The interest was so great that in less than a month Sanabria
decided to form a big band in order to fully explore the genre
and its rich heritage. "Since I was fortunate enough to
have worked with the originator of the Afro-Cuban Jazz tradition,
Mario Bauzá as his drummer, I felt it was imperative that
I pass what I have learned and experienced on to the next generation
of musicians. The Afro-Cuban Jazz tradition was born right here
in NYC in 1940 with the Orchestra of Machito & his Afro-Cubans
under Mario's baton. It is only natural for this ensemble to
exist."
The orchestra has produced
a stellar group of players that have gone on to make their mark
in the Jazz and Latino jazz worlds. Bassist Avishai Cohen (Chick
Corea), drummer Jaz Sawyer (Abbey Lincoln, Los Hombres Calientes),
saxophonists Karolina Strassmayer (Diva), Ivan Renta (Eddie Palmieri)
are only just a few of the students that have come through the
ensemble.
Since its formation, a stellar
group of guest soloists have always been featured at concerts
by the Orchestra. From Slide Hampton, John Patitucci, Ronnie
Cuber, Bobby Watson, Steve Turre, Conrad Herwig, Randy Brecker,
Hilton Ruiz, Arturo O'Farill, to name just a few, have graced
the stage with these young musicians under maestro Sanabria's
leadership. The very first guest soloist was Cándido Camero,
and it is with great pleasure and honor that we invite him back
for this special event.
In addition, the Orchestra's
end of month Sunday concerts at The Nuyorican Poets Café
in NYC have provided musical outreach to the community and an
opportunity for these young musicians to be heard. But most of
all, the concerts have educated a whole new generation of mamboniks.
Cándido Camero is living
testimony to the history of Cuban music and modern jazz. Born
in 1921 in La Habana's El Cerro barrio, he started his career
playing bass, guitar and the Cuban tres. Of note was his work
as a tres player with Conjunto Azul, a group that was led by
the legendary percussionist/composer Luciano "Chano"
Pozo. On bongo in this group was a boyhood friend who would later
become noteworthy in his own right, Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria.
Camero switched to the bongo and congas, becoming noted for his
progressive style on both instruments. This led to a six year
stint with the CMQ Radio Orchestra in Havana and another stint
as a bassist and featured percussionist at the world renowned
Cabaret Tropicana.
In 1946, Camero first came
to the U.S. with the fiery rumba dance team of Carmen and Rolando.
It was with this revue where Camero demonstrated an unheard of
technique in his conga drumming was playing a steady rhythm with
one hand while improvising with the other - thus becoming the
father of coordinated independence in Cuban drumming. This was
also the first time anyone had ever played two congas simultaneously
in any context. Soon thereafter, Camero was performing and recording
as featured soloist with the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie,
Billy Taylor, Machito and his Afro-Cubans.
By 1952, Camero was hailed
by New York Jazz critics as the greatest Cuban drummer to come
to the U.S., since the spectacular Chano Pozo took New York by
storm before being killed in 1948. In 1954 he was the featured
soloist with Stan Kenton's Big Band and became known nationwide
on their coast-to-coast tour. He also appeared on Duke Ellington's
album, The Drum is a Woman, and performed on the Steve Allen
Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. Camero performs on hundreds of
other recordings with such famed artists as Coleman Hawkins,
Woody Herman, George Shearing, Errol Garner, Lionel Hampton,
Tito Puente, and Tony Bennett. He has been featured in recent
years in a PBS documentary on the life of Machito and in a television
special on the life of Dizzy Gillespie. He is featured on the
recently Grammy nominated recordings such as "The Conga Kings"
and "Afro-Cuban Dream - Live & In Clave with Bobby Sanabria."
About flutist Dave Valentin
Flutist, composer, arranger
and band leader, Dave Valentin, is one of the most in-demand
soloists in Latin Jazz music today. Born in the South Bronx in
1952 to Puerto Rican parents from the city of Mayaguez, Valentin
studied percussion at New York City's High School of Music and
Art before taking up the flute at the age of 16. He studied privately
with master jazz and classical flutist Hubert Laws. In 1979,
at the age of 26, he recorded his first album as a leader, initiating
a long-running association with GRP, a contemporary jazz label
noted for its all-star roster and pioneering role in digital
recording technology. The partnership produced 16 albums and
solidified Valentin's position as one of the best selling Latino
Jazz instrumental artists of the era, as documented by a Grammy
nomination and selection by the readers of JAZZIZ magazine for
six consecutive years as the top flutist in jazz.
As of late Mr. Valentin has
been a member of Dave Samuel's Caribbean Jazz Project and their
latest release received a Grammy as best Latin jazz recording
of 2003.
New School University's
Jazz and Contemporary Music
Program offers a B.F.A. degree program in Jazz Performance, and
in Composing and Arranging. The faculty includes such renowned
artists as Reggie Workman, Chico Hamilton, Buster Williams, Jimmy
Owens, Benny Powell, Joanne Brackeen, and Jane Ira Bloom. Alumni
of the program include many of today's most prominent jazz artists
- Larry Goldings, Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Miri Ben-Ari, Peter
Bernstein, Ali M. Jackson, and Virginia Mayhew, among others.
Martin Mueller is the Executive Director of the Jazz Program.
For more information on the Jazz Program, call (212) 229-5896.
To find out about upcoming events and performances, visit www.newschool.edu/jazz.
New School University, with
7,000 matriculated students and 25,000 continuing education students,
is a New York City university committed to critical scholarship,
artistic integrity, and ethical responsibility in the social
sciences, humanities, the arts and design. It is comprised of
a liberal arts foundation of three schools: The New School, Eugene
Lang College and the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social
Science, and five professional schools: Parsons School of Design,
Mannes College of Music, Actors Studio Drama School, Milano Graduate
School of Management and Urban Policy, and the Jazz & Contemporary
Music Program. New School Online University offers one of the
largest selections of online courses in the nation.
