above:
Jesus Alemany and Pablosky Roales give "Jammin'" the
full Cuban treatment.
CUBANISMO!
Live at Vienne Jazz Festival, France July 6th 2004
The gorgeous town of Vienne, close to Lyon in France, hosts the
annual Vienne Jazz Festival, committed to a world class bill that
this year included Chuck Berry, Zakir Hussein and John McLaughlin,
Meshell Ndegeocello and Herbie Hancock. The open-air stage is
on an abandoned yet functional Roman style amphitheatre that tonight
is packed to the rafters with 7000 people.
The grand exodus of Cuban superstars has only benefited the world
of music and helped shape sounds coming from modern music in Europe
and the USA. Over a decade ago, brilliant trumpeter Jesus
Alemany, who began his career with Sierra Maestra at
the age of 15, moved to the UK and formed all-star Cubanismo!
to maintain a fresh brand of salsa, son and Latin jazz while working
consistently internationally, attending to a relentless touring
schedule, producing several stellar recordings and playing to
packed houses throughout Europe.
It is easy to say that Cuba these days is teeming with some of
the world’s best musicians and indeed most of Alemany's
hand-picked selection hail from illustrious careers honing their
talents amongst the likes of NG La Banda, Sierra Maestra, Los
Van Van, Isaac Delgado, Klimax and Bamboleo.
The all-star 14 piece orchestra is set up in true Latin style
with a dedicated frontline of 3 cantantes (vocalists) led by the
legendary Rolo Martinez (a megastar in pre-revolutionary
Cuba), with a voice that cuts through the night like a hot knife
through butter, the charismatic Fernando Ferrer
on his first tour with the band and Jesus Cantero
(who is also not bad on the old footwork). The full brass section
consists of Eduardo Rodriguez (trumpet), Jorge
Maza (sax and flute), Rolando Perez Perez
(saxophone) and Carlos Alvarez (trombone). The
young and brilliant tres player Pablosky Roales
demonstrates his sensibilities on the Bob Marley cover “Jammin’”
and Roberto Riveron on bass keeps it funky, especially
during the “Descarga” number. Peruchin Jr
holds down the keys and timbalero Jose “Pepe”
Espinosa, swinging on the backline, sets the framework
for Eduardo Lavoy (bongos and percussion), and
Jorge Torres “Papiosco” on the tumbadoras
(congas). On this night everyone was in fine form.
The show flows along a steady repertoire of modern classics from
their many recordings, and new numbers...tightly arranged mambo,
salsa descarga, cha-cha-cha, son and rumba with a spicy jazz sabor
… interludes blasting from Alemany’s trumpet, with
an understated elegance and minimal fuss, and true to the descarga
(jam) tradition developed by Cuban jazz players of the 40’s.
Alemany conducts the session through swaggering horn sections
from a polyrhythmic base that pay tribute to the son big band
era, but punctuated by sophisticated jazz breaks the sound is
kept firmly in the present.
On this night they deliver a seamless performance – nothing
less than you would have come to expect from an orchestra of this
calibre. What makes it so special? It swings like a mother', noone
breaks a sweat and it’s all done with that insouciant attitude
Cubano.
Cristina Dio
1. Jesus Alemany @ soundcheck | 2. Pablosky
"Jammin'" | 3. Fernando Ferrer & Rolo Martinez | 4.
Jesus Cantante | 5. Out front
6.Timbalero Pepe Espinosa | 7. Roberto Riveron
| 8. Peruchin Jr | 9. "Papiosco" | 10. Carlito Alvarez
and the brass section
