Chico & Rita, an animated film from director Fernando Trueba & artist Javier Mariscal that tells the story of two aspiring in 1940s Cuba, is now availble to watch on Netflix.
The Spanish-language feature is a celebration of Cuban music that features pianist Bebo Valdés (father of Chucho Valdés) and other jazz greats in an epic story of romance, ambition and glamour.
Check out the trailer below…
Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love.
First Fridays! returns to The Bronx Museum of the Arts, with the musical stylings of Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Band. Check out the info on the event below…
FRIDAY OCTOBER 7, 6:00 – 10:00pm
Trombonist Chris Washburne and his Latin jazz group SYOTOS dish out sassy harmonies, smart arrangements, and tunes that make you want to dance. It won’t take you long to figure out why The New York Times calls him “one of the best trombonists in New York.” He’s performed with all-stars across a huge range of styles, from Tito Puente to Justin Timberlake and Marc Anthony. Washburne has worked with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute for over 12 years, fostering a long-term commitment to reaching new audiences, and developing a performance experience that reflects the community’s love for Latin music and its history.
Jazz has had ties to Cuba and its musicians dating back to times of Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaria and many others. That relationship continues to bear fruit with a new project featuring some of the best names in modern Jazz.
Critically acclaimed jazz musicians vibist Stefon Harris, saxophonist David Sánchez and trumpeter Christian Scott have collaborated to create a distinctly unique collection of songs, Ninety Miles. Recorded over the span of a week in Havana, Cuba, the US based trio recruited local Cuban musicians including pianists Rember Duharte and Harold López-Nussa to create the 9 song collection. The result is a true Cuban American musical collaboration that defies political borders. Ninety Miles will be released on Concord Picante on June 21st, 2011.
Tonight and tomorrow evening check out two events that explore the harmonic links between NYC and Havana. Details are below….
Joining forces with the generous support of George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival New York, we are thrilled to present the third installment of Habana | Harlem™ at Harlem Stage. Two nights of stellar performances produced by Neyda Martinez and Onel Mulet honor the legacy of the rich cross-cultural collaborations between Havana and New York, begun in the early 20th century and continuing unabated to this day.
Friday, June 25
Cultural Fusion: Past, Present and Future
In the tradition of Harlem Stage’s Harlem Stride program, this evening will feature a musical dialog between two world-renowned pianists – the New Orleans legend Henry Butler and Cuban sensation Osmany Paredes. The program will begin with curated selections from the late 20th century employing pieces from the “early jazz” period alongside ragtime, danzones, and habaneras to reveal and celebrate historical parallels.
Saturday, June 26 (standing room with limited seating)
UPTOWN NIGHTS with The Pedro Martinez Project featuring guest vocalists de’Adre aziza, Ihsan, Maria Isa, Nina Rodriguez, and DJ Cato.
The second component of “Cultural Fusion: Past, Present and Future” will introduce audiences to the singular vision and dynamic energy of Pedro Pablo Martinez’s newly formed Pedro Martinez Project. In his new role as bandleader, “Pedrito” (formerly of Yerba Buena) infuses the project with his unique brand Afro-Cuban funk with hip-hop inflections. Fans will groove, move and dance to his exciting new music.
First Fridays! @ The Bronx Museum presents:
And the beat goes on! A Jazz Night with Dr Valerie Capers.
The Capers Family: A Bronx Jazz Story.
Interactive Presentation and Lecture by Maxine Gordon,
Senior Interviewer and Jazz Researcher for the
Bronx African American History Project.
Introduction by Dr Mark Naison,
Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University;
Principal Investigator, Bronx African American History Project.
Live performance by Dr. Valerie Capers
& Her jazz ensemble consisting of:
Alan Givens, saxophone & flute
Mark Marino, guitar
John Robinson, bass
Earl Williams, drums and special guest artist,
Pito Castillo, Latin percussion.
They will be playing music inspired by the Civil Rights Movement (1960-1968).
The Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse,
Bronx, New York 10456.
718.681-6000
A reworking of Langston’s Hughes is returning to NYC next month for performance set to benefit Haiti earthquake relief. The performance will feature The Roots and a host of others and will take place at Lincoln Center. Check out the video below for more info…
From Africa to the Americas, the South to the North, cities to suburbs, opera to jazz, gospel to be-bop, and “shadows to fire”—these are the
pathways of Langston Hughes’s epic and visionary poem cycle ASK YOUR MAMA: 12 MOODS
FOR JAZZ…a remarkable collaboration between Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman and world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman.
The panoramic score weaves a compelling tapestry of orchestral music integrated with recorded
selections drawn from a dozen traditions. Using Hughes’s own voice at the core of the work, this
musical journey includes quotations from Louis Armstrong, Big Maybelle, Pigmeat Markham
and Bill Bojangles, all seamlessly integrated with projected images by Rico Gatson and archival video
as well as Hughes’s vibrant poetry. Annie Dorsen directs performances by Miss Norman, The Roots,
vocalist De’Adre Aziza, mezzo-soprano Tracie Luck, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted
by the esteemed George Manahan.
For more info, and to purchase tickets, visit AskYourMama.com.
Just wanted to give folks the heads up that the legendary Gil Scott-Heron will be bring his live show to New York’s fabled Blue Note Jazz Club next week.
Gil will play a two-night engagement as celebration of the release of his new album I’m New Here , which Dom detailed a couple of weeks back.
El Súper is the quintessential Cuban film. A dramatic comedy, it focuses on the domestic experiences of a Cuban family that left Cuba after the outbreak of the revolution. It tells the story of Roberto Amador González, his wife, Aurelia, and their daughter, Aurelita, in New York City. Roberto, a middle-aged man of humble origins and underprivileged background, works as a building superintendent in Manhattan. The film concentrates on his family’s experiences as marginal people in a country with a language and traditions different from their own. The fact that they live in the basement of the building where Roberto works underscores the sense of imprisonment and marginalization that the characters suffer. Cold weather and snow enhance the sense of desolation in the film….
As usual, there’s no cover for the event. Following the screening is a Q&A with original play writer Iván Acosta and a performance by Cuban Jazz and Salsa outfit UNity. For more info hit up the BX Museums’s site.
Thanks much to Asho for passing this info on. Check out the details on tonight’s events below…
Free! No Cover!
First Fridays! Latin Soundscapes
Friday, November 6, 2009 from 6-10pm
South Building-Lower Gallery
Join The Bronx Museum for an exciting First Fridays! program featuring Ibrahim Gonzalez and his Latin Jazz Quintet.
Also check the new dope exhibition: Urban Archives.
With work from Artists:
CHARLIE AHEARN
JOHN AHEARN
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA
HENRY CHALFANT
JOE CONZO
MARTHA COOPER
TATS CRU
CATHERINE HAZARD
LISA KAHANE
LADY PINK & JENNY HOLZER
ROKAFELLA & KWIKSTEP
