It almost goes without saying that Puerto Ricans do things with flare and color while to the outsider's eyes doing it on the brink of disorder. Thus, the vibrancy and rhythms that have made up The Heineken Jazz Festival in Puerto Rico - 1996.
After bitter Winter weather in the Northeast, it was seductively appealing when the All Jazz Station in Newark New Jersey, WBGO, announced one late March afternoon that Heineken was sponsoring a Jazz Festival in P.R. Why not? I'm retired now and have lots of time available. What could be better than a vacation based around a jazz festival? I'd never done it before, and being that it's on my favorite Island in the Caribbean, what could be better? So after negotiating for the best airfare and coordinating with my wife’s family in Puerto Rico, I locked it all up and waited for the day to arrive.
As we made final approach into San Juan International Airport the Island looks like a jewel from above. However, the construction of new tall buildings in metropolitan San Juan is growing at an alarming rate. Needless to say, this has made a bad situation worse in regard to the traffic problems already existing in Puerto Rico today. At some point in time, some ranking official is going to have to take a firm stand and realize that it's time to say: "enough!" That aside, the pleasant warm weather and the gentle trade breezes was the Island saying: "Bienvenido amigo " to the weary jet traveler deplaning out into the tropical world.
If ever there's been a place in the world that has a better hospitality with the friendliest and warmest people than Puerto Rico, I've yet to find it. I'm doubly blessed with having the gracious family of my wife treating me as thought I were royalty.
Being a veteran, of sorts, of prior concerts and jazz fests, I was far from prepared at what I'd find in Puerto Rico; Puerto Ricans have color and flair in their daily lives. One thing you begin to learn fast: Forget convention and order, they exist elsewhere. In Puerto Rico there's a feeling that a thing is never going to happen because of a lack of preparation (in terms that non-Puerto Ricans have been trained to understand) but it somehow does. And it does so elegantly in its own tempo and to the tempos of its own drummer. If you're to survive the Puerto Rican patterns of life, the first thing to do is throw away your schedules and habits of order. Don't believe in the logic of the clock; just put your wristwatch away and sway to the salsa rhythms. Trust in the Puerto Rican logic while you're there and you wont be sorry or lead astray.
The concerts, as usual, were being presented in one place in Hato Ray, the upscale looking urban suburb of San Juan. The complex on the grounds of Luis MUNOZ MARIN Park 1 a prior Governor responsible for most of the economic advances for the Island. The atmosphere is charges and has a big party feeling. Samples of Puerto Rican rum are handed out as you enter the gates. This followed by free cardboard fans, buttons, magazines and what ever else is available to advance the public relations donated by the many sponsors of the festival.
It's a Thursday evening and the concert was to start with an exciting Latin jazz fusion group lead by harpist Roberto Perera. Just about all the compositions played are originals of the group. Occasionally, they'll break out into the satisfying rhythms of the salsa beat to the delight of the audience. Speaking of the audience, the Puerto Rican audience is unlike any other I've ever been a part of. Again, forget convention, Puerto Ricans by nature are sprightly, picturesque and talkative. They must be explaining the music and rhythm complexities to whomever will listen. Debates over, who is the best conga drummer or choro singer, can get intense. Unlike what I've come to expect at any concert, no one sits in a chair for four hours only to rise at intermission to stretch or get a refreshment. Forget it, the Puerto Ricans are like the Miles Davis of audiences in that they must restlessly move around, grab a beer to beat the heat, munch on some fries or burgers or just generally mill about talking about what's to come and who is the best cowbell player on the scene.
Roberto Perera's set is followed by a last minute change. In New York it was originally announced that Master Bassist, Milt Hinton was to lead a trio. Fitting, since this year's honoree of the festival was dedicated to veteran bassist Israel Lopez (Cachao), who was most instrumental in inventing the mambo back in the Fifties. Although disappointing that Hinton was not on the bill as originally stated, the change is no less appealing. Organist Jimmy Smith and guitarist Kenny Burrell are presented along with drummer Jimmy Jackson to form a musically tasty sounding trio. Smith's organ solos are still biting, cracking and filled with that blue collared sound and sputtering note attack that mostly originated way back from the "Chicken Shack" days. Kenny Burrell, playing out of his usual environment, is right at home and ever tasteful in his backings and solos. Jimmy Jackson's drums are made to order to fill in the funk and drive to propel this suburb trio that captures the fancy of the Puerto Rican audience.
The first night is a good start to the festival and I'm prepared with bated expectations to experience the next three days as they slowly unfold.
Until now, I'd never heard of José Nelson Ramirez and the Paradise Band. That's what a good jazz festival should be all about - the unveiling of new or not widely known talent. Today, there's an abundance of fantastic musical talent that we're not privy to. Thus, the good jazz festivals lend the opportunity to debut this local talent for wider recognition to the jazz community
Following on the heels of Jimmy Smith's Hammond organ, José Nelson Ramirez introduces us to his style of organ "con rice and beans." The band is tight and swings to its own original compositions. I was particularly impressed with saxophonist Luis Orta. Like many young and talented musicians you hear the sound and influences of all the past greats flowing through his solos. It's like Miles Davis once said: "They hear all of the sounds and styles flowing through them and keep only what they will use."
As with most Latin Jazz combos the rhythm is crackling and charged and lifts the soloists into making their best musical statements. In all my years with the exposure I've had to Latin music it amazes me to see how the personification of the percussionist has grown in the combo. No longer merely the time keeper lost in the back of the group, the percussionist now has a dominant, if not prevalent position in the band. Today a majority of the percussionists devote a good deal of their playing time to the conga drums, especially where Latin Jazz is concerned. Most of the drummers today play separately tuned drums, giving off an almost melodic as well as rhythmic approach to the overall sound. In Puerto Rico, a swinging conga solo will send the audience into a frenzy of good feelings and rapture! So, following the New Orleans good time fun group, "The Dirty Dozen Brass Band," that has a chunk of the audience on stage dancing to the group's finale: "Feet don't fail me now," we're treated to two dynamic and percussive virtuosos in the persons of Giovanni Hidalgo on percussion and Michel Camilo on piano, Mano a Mano. This unusual combination of piano and percussion recalls an album made many years ago by the late West Coast drummer Shelley Manne and pianist Russ Freeman which was very highly acclaimed by most of the jazz critics of that time. On the album there is a communion of piano and drums interwoven with the sensibilities of each musician's understanding of one another. Giovanni has an uncanny ear that can transform some of Michel's melodic lines and transfer them to conga beats at blazing speed with the accuracy of every note in tack. Here too, it is evident that each of these giants understands the virtuosity of one another's playing. When a break, pause, tempo or rhythmic change occurs the audience can only hold its breath to await the arrival of some new laid out pattern that will captivate and send them reeling into another dimension of exciting and rhythmic music.
And so with the close of day two, we exit the outdoor stadium with a good feeling of having been musically nourished further by the exciting groups performing that evening. Half way through the events we await Saturday to see what new creative spark will ignite for us as this wonderful jazz festival continues on through this warm Puerto Rican night.
I should note at this point that as time progressed at the festival the fervor of anticipation grew as the concerts unfolded. It was as if all were culminating for a tremendous climax. With the master of ceremonies constantly reminding the audience that no one does it better than the Puerto Ricans, I had to fully agree with him. Although crowded and warm - factors that could lead to irritability and frustration in other gatherings - there is nonetheless a friendliness and good feeling among those gathered in anticipation of what surprise and creativity the next group of musicians will bring to them.
The festival continued on Saturday night with a group called "Luna Llena," leading things off. Although the group played mainly original pieces and the musicians and soloist were more than capable, they lacked a cohesion that could knit things together. It seemed, at times, that the music was coming out bland and missing the bite that's all too essential in jazz. The leader, Miguel Monserrat, had a tone on the soprano that was too uncomfortably like that of Kenny G's. Although I know little else about this group aside from the program notes (written in Spanish), perhaps they're new and haven't reached that point where a communion amongst the players occurs that makes it all come out as solidified jazz music. However, in all, this was to be the only minor disappointment of all the groups for the entire four day event.
They were followed by one of the few non Latin Jazz groups, Christian McBride and his Quartet. One of the young lions of jazz, McBride is a strong bassist reminiscent of the great Charles Mingus; although his music is not quite going in the same direction as Mingus, McBride's group was a good one whose musical offerings ranged from funk to straight ahead. No doubt, the future will be filled with the directions of this strong young bass player. He has, to date, appeared as a sideman and a leader in a variety of settings and may well be the most in demand bass player around these days.
The finale for this balmy Saturday evening highlighted a group that I've never paid a lot of attention to in the past. I would learn that this was regrettable on my part. For Jerry González and the Fort Apache Band proved to be one of the main highlights for the entire festival. This band is more than just a Latin Jazz group; they've got an original style that evolved from hard bop with great front line personnel in the persons of John Stubblefield on Tenor Saxophone, Joe Ford on alto and, of course, Jerry González on trumpet and flugelhorn. Jerry has a tone reminiscent to that of Miles Davis and his flugelhorn solos are light, airy and graceful without floating away. For those not familiar with the mode of this ensemble, it goes something like this: They usually kick off - mostly originals - in a straight ahead fashion ushering in excellent solo work backed with a driving rhythm section led by the great Larry Willis on piano, Tony Batista on bass and the equally great Steve Berrios on drums. Once Jerry makes his statement on either the trumpet or flugelhorn he switches hats and becomes the congero; and a potent one at that. He's not just playing congas to add color to the group's overall sound, he's surely a major percussionist with a unique style not attributed to most conga drummers playing today. On this night he played in some rather tricky time signatures and made it look and sound all too easy. The compositions played by the group were biting, exciting and not the least bit predictable. Rest assured, from now on I'll be keeping a closer track on this group; they've got a lot to say.
As the cliche goes: "All good things must finally come to an end." So on this cloudy and warm afternoon on the Continent of Puerto Rico 2 we came to witness the exciting climax to The Heineken Jazz Festival in Puerto Rico - 1996. This would be the day that honors would be bestowed on the great bass player, "Cachao." The finale would be made up of a group of all stars in the "salsa" tradition of the music. So they all came to dance, eat and drink in the Puerto Rican gregarious manner - the stadium was about to rock.
But first, the late afternoon kicked off with the teachers of the Berklee in Puerto Rico Jazz Band playing in a small group setting. They did some renderings of original compositions. They were followed by the student band that were made up of some of the best sounding young people I've ever heard anywhere. Their playing was polished and clean sounding and the solos were even, logical and well thought out. Most of the musicians present had won scholarships to go to the parent school in Boston Massachusetts. As time passes, I'm amazed at the level of quality young jazz musicians are achieving.
The students were followed by the group, Caribbean Jazz Project, which combines a unique blend of jazz, salsa and all other styles that originate from south of the border. What sets this group apart is their charming appeal, which can range all the way from the casual listener to the jazz aficionado. This group, it seems to me, is on the doorstep of opening up a new idiom with regards to the Latin American fusion into the jazz media. The following is a brief description of the musicians in the group:
Paquito D'Rivera
There is an abundance of talent with regards to the musicians who have collaborated to form this project. Paquito D'Riviera was a child prodigy in Havana and grew into a clarinet and saxophone sensation with the group, Irakere. An organization which blended jazz, rock, classical and traditional Afro-Cuban music and started a fire, which today, is far from being kindled. Later after defecting into the United States, Paquito linked up with Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations's orchestra and began to make a further imprint on the shrinking world of musical styles all coming together from different cultures of this beleaguered planet. If you're not that familiar with Paquito's work and you want to come away with a good sampling, I would highly recommend listening to the CD, "Dizzy Gillespie and the United Nation Orchestra, Live at Royal Festival Hall." To truly get a good taste of Paquito; pay attention to his solo on "Tin Tin Deo."
Dave Samuels
Dave Samuels' career in a lot of ways reminds me of master vibraphonist Milt Jackson. In that Jackson, although brilliant and very much a viable part of the MJQ, was always kind of muzzled in his playing - this appraisal is not original though by yours truly, it has been reflected in the past by more notable critics of jazz - A lot of folks in the jazz community thought that Jackson's playing was restrained; And, in fact, there's a lot of truth to that notion. Only listen to some of the recordings Milt Jackson made while away from the MJQ to appreciate this. Dave Samuels has long been a mainstay with the fusion group, Spyro Gyra. Although, that group is a good distance from the MJQ in musical merit, still the analogy can be made for Dave Samuels. I learned a couple of years ago what a marvelous musician Samuels is when hearing him perform at a small club in Cold Spring New York in the Mid Hudson Valley, where Dave hails from. Seeing him perform at that club I first realized that this was a many dimensioned musician that has a lot more to tell than that which came forth from Spyro Gyra's group. Samuels, with the CJP is a natural choice, he surely has Latino chops. Not since Cal Tjader has there been a non Latin, mallet player completely at home and in command of the artistry and styles of Latino music. Dave really gets in some fine and exciting solo work especially on the marimba, an instrument usually thought to be a more romantic, bolero type, and restrained. However, when the mallets are in Dave's hands there is smoke coming from his instrument.
Andy Narell
Who among us does not like or lilt to the sounds of the steel pans? Unless we are completely devoid of human emotion, I would have to say there's very few of us. Andy Narell has taken the steel pans five steps further. Never in the history of music has there been anyone that could take these pans to play and improvise jazz upon them. Andy has commented about his own work that, "there wasn't anyone doing jazz on this instrument when I started - no one to model and say 'that's how it's done.'" Aside from his wondrous improvisations, Andy is a fine composer in the Jazz, calypso and Afro-Caribbean genre, if you will.
The Rest of the group
Keep your eyes and ears open for Argentinean pianist, Dario Eskenazi. In one of my back issues of the Jazz Zine I did a profile of some brilliant up and coming Latin Jazz Pianists. This was before I heard Mr. Eskenazi perform. He is certain to make his mark with the CJP and eventually go off on his own to establish his original voice and add to this ever changing bi -cultural music that jazz is becoming.
Oscar Stagnaro is the electric bassist from Lima Peru. His foundations are solid and deep beneath the group. There is a lot of Andy Gonzalez in his playing and when he solos there is a breath of originality that's just beginning to flower. Fitting to have such a solid young player in a festival that is honoring "Cachao."
Drummer Mark Walker rounds out the Project. In listening to this group perform at The Heineken Jazz Festival in Puerto Rico - 1996, I swore I heard more than one drummer on stage. Mr. Walker gives the impression that we're hearing a full complement of Latin drummers. He's the spark plug that ignites this highly charged creative association of musicians. The audience does get off on this group. My feelings are that they'll have a wide appeal from all types of listeners. However, make no mistake, in no way, shape or form does the CJP sacrifice originality, creativity, style and taste for wide general appeal. It just happens!
Sitting in, on congas, with the group at this
performance was Barrio Obrero's very own Angelo 
"Cachete"
Maldonado. I had the honor and pleasure to meet Cachete at his
workshop in Barrio Obrero the day before the concert. At the workshop
he sets up Summer camps for young people to attend and learn about
the art of African and Caribbean drumming. Aside from being the
teacher of the great percussionist, Giovanni Hidalgo, Cachete is a
master drummer in his own right. His Conga work with the CJP was the
added spice that made this group cook.
Dee Dee Bridgewater followed the CJP into the early evening that became warmer and a bit more humid with the stadium packed solid and ready to dance to the big finale waiting in the wings. I must confess that I wasn't expecting the kind of Dee Dee that appeared. Having seen her perform about fifteen years ago in New York City as a straight song stylist and now seeing her as a flamboyant personality was surprising. There's a lot of show business in her act and a lot of energy and humor as well. The good news is that she hasn't sacrificed all of this for her taste and delivery. Ms. Bridgewater has become enraptured by the music of Horace Silver and at least three quarters of her set were compositions by Silver with lyrics added on, I guess by Ms. Bridgewater. All of the Silver compositions were done beautifully with lyrics faithful to the original composition lines. The group backing her with pianist and organist, Thirry Elliez, drummer, Chris Strik and bassist Hein Van De Geyn complemented her delivery and performance. The set was entertaining to the audience and the devotion to Silver's lyrics the high point.
And than it happened! The finale to this great event was upon us. This was the moment that San Juan was waiting for. The momentum for this occasion &emdash; stirring like a pot of rice and beans, charging the night air with Latin electricity was about to occur. The crowded audience was about to unleash itself in response to what they were waiting to hear. The music that calls into something deep within their psyche that responds from something primitive but pure and would set the body into rhythmic swaying and intuitive movements brought on by something deeper than the spirit.
And I thought about myself and how I had arrived at this place in this time. I was sixteen years old in 1950 at the Palladium Ballroom in New York City and encountered my first experience with Puerto Ricans and their music. It's been something that's solidly been a vital part of my entire life, not only for the music but for the social aspects that I chose to become linked with &emdash; my wonderful marriage to my lovely wife, of Puerto Rican descent, for thirty one years plus &emdash; my many trips to this lovely Island and becoming intrigued by its vast cultural aspects&emdash; my desire for arroz con pollo and platanos.
And on the stage now something more than the conclusion of a musical festival was about to happen. It was the symbol of the people and their disposition on life. They were about to show us what it all means and how it's done as Puerto Ricans. Cachao, a symbol of the sounds that have emerged from this Island for, at least, as long as my first visit to the Palladium Ballroom, stood along side all of the great Latin All Stars ready to take this audience where it wanted to go. With the start of the clave, it began &emdash; The audience clapping in response to the sounds of the clave and dancing anywhere it could find a space. I found a less crowded space inside an outdoor bar with a giant Sony screen showing the event on the big color tube. It was a strange "Third Party" feeling being able to see the superficial event on the picture perfect tube while the peripheral of my eye caught the real event unfolding before me making it as genuine as life. What was happening was the quintessence of living. It was life expressing itself in the language that it understood through its people. It was the heritage, custom, and social expression of a people that have too long been so misunderstood by too many arrogant Americans. The Heineken Jazz Festival in Puerto Rico - 1996 was coming to a climax with a loud bang. I could feel the infectious festival boiling into the depths of rhythmic dogma being beat out by men at the bar, as they added their Conga licks on the tops of tables and chairs with their bare hands. Others grouped and sang the call and response of the chorus as if they were singing to God himself. I was there and it was all happening around me. A strange sensation enveloped me in that I wanted to participate and add my statements to this finale but all I did, as I always have, was stand back as an observer. Maybe with my words I can finally make my statement. This jazz festival has etched a place in my life and has contributed to all the things I have felt and believed in for a long time. Que viva mi Isla Puerto Rico siempre. ****
1 In 1948, Luis MUNOZ MARIN initiated "Operation Bootstrap" to improve the economy.
2 Puerto Rican Tourism slogan
