long live Latin

There's a must-see PBS documentary called Latin Music USA. It is a fabulous piece of filmmaking that provides insights into the history, impact and effect of the fusions of Latin sounds with jazz, rock, country and rhythm and blues.

It aired on Oct. 12 and 19, two, one-hour segments each night.

The series gets it right. In the 1930's, jazz was the first North American form to be influenced by and influence Latin music, particularly the music of Cuba and led by South Carolinian Dizzy Gillespie.

The doc is historically accurate, fully respectful of the Latin form, entertaining and full of substance.

Although it has run already, you can purchase a recording. You can also see it on your computer. Go to PBS.org, then hit the ShopPBS button to buy a CD or DVD. To watch the doc on your computer, hit the WATCH NOW button on PBS.org. Under its Programs button, there's a drop-down menu where Latin Music USA will appear in alphabetical order on the list. Click on it.

Featured artists include Willie Colón and Marc Anthony; Flaco Jiménez; Carlos Santana; Linda Ronstadt; Los Lobos, Gloria and Emilio Estefan; Ricky Martin and Juanes; Pitbull, Daddy Yankee and Tego Calderón, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

One of the nicer touches is the use of "Oye Como Va" as a kind of theme. This classic was written by mambo king Tito Puente in 1963 and popularized by Santana in 1970, a year after the Bay Area band introduced Latin music to rock 'n roll at Woodstock.

One of the many things I learned was the fact that I knew even less about Tejano than I thought.

This doc gives as full a treatment as I've seen to describing Reggaeton, the latest manifestation of urban Latin music.

The film also made me aware of "In the Heights," a Broadway musical from 2008 that won a Tony Award. It showcased merengue, salsa, souls music and hip hop.

The images, especially the archival stills and film, are stunning. The editing gives a nice pace to the piece and still allows full treatments to subjects that deserve them.

Here's the content:

Program One-The first program traces the rise of Latin jazz and the explosion of the mambo and the cha cha chá. Latin Music infiltrates R&B and rock 'n roll through the 1960's.

Program Two-Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvent the Cuban son and the Puerto Rican plena, adding elements from soul and jazz to create salsa.

Program Three-Mexican-Americans in California, Texas and across the Southwest create their own distinct musical voices during the second half of the 20th century.

Program Four-The last program looks at the Latin pop explosion of the turn of the century, focusing on the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Shakira.

In the way we look at the world today, Latin music and culture are probably more American than any other. American no longer refers only to the United States.

Latin Music USA does nothing to dispel that.

more compelling evidence of a theory

It was with a great deal of pride that I attended the 2009 MOJA Arts Festival's jazz cabaret at the College of Charleston's Cistern last night.
It was headlined by the heralded vocalist Lalah Hathaway, daughter of the late, legendary singer Donny Hathaway.
Charlestonnan Charlton Singleton, son of the Rev. Charles and Jeanette Singleton of Awendaw, led an octet that opened up for Lalah.
It has been my contention fo a while now that the jazz musicians in the Lowcountry are as good - in a lot of instances better - than any in the world.
Some are bemused by my opinion. Some laugh. But a growing number is beginning to agree with me.
It would be confirmed in their minds if they were at The Cistern last night.
Charlton's band kicked the shit out of its set. It pierced the hot, humid air with well executed sounds that thrilled the audience.
I was hanging with artist Jonathan Green, film producer Debra Rosen, S.C. Arts Commission director Bud Ferillo and his wife, Julia. We have business on a film project of Bud's and decided to dilute our talks with some entertainment Saturday. It was perfect since I'm likely to pull Charlton in on the project as it develops. He's a helluva composer and arranger as well as a monster trumpet player.
Given the let-down that came a couple of songs into Lalah's set, we left for quieter surroundings so we could go back to work.
Charlton put this band together especially for this show, comprising Quiana Parler's rhythm section and three of his instrumentalist colleagues.
I talked with trombonist Stephen Spaulding earlier today about the band and show, congratulating him and thanking him for representing Charleston the way they did.
He talked a bit about how Charlton really wanted this one to go well. As I certainly know, Charlton is not mean spirited or vindictive but, according to Stephen, he really wanted this one to go well. I believe that.
Stephen said that over the course of rehearsals and the show, he had never seen the competitive side of Charlton like he did on this project. They're approaching 40-years old and they have known each other and played music together since middle school.
The homegrown octet, including Quiana on vocals, offered up a highly nuanced program of contemporary jazz that was dynamic, extremely tight and varied in styles. The band covered Sting, Jeff Lorber, Prince and Bob Marley, among others. Everybody swung like all get-out. Quiana's approach Saturday rivaled the attack of Chaka Khan or Aretha Franklin - on the money and full of strength and conviction.
Charlton also sang lead and backup.
Nothing I heard Lalah and her band do for as long as I stayed even came close to our people.
I doubt very seriously if anything radically changed after I left. I spoke today with some people who were there and they confirmed my suspicions.
She wasn't bad. Charlton was just amazing.

a contradiction of race

In the aftermath of writing a story on Charleston composer Edward Hart, it occurred to me that it's impossible to tell a Charleston story without race being a factor, directly or implicit.
Hart is about to have a piece performed by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, an interesting one, "Three Latin Rivers." I've written about him before when I was on staff at the Post and Courier. He's very good at what he does - musician, composer, producer, professor - so when I heard about the CSO gig, I pitched the Post and Courier about a story on Ed's piece. The editors agreed.
What fundamentally attracted me to the project is that it's a great Charleston story. Like Ed, I'm a native Charlestonian and I understand our aesthetic.
So, with much anticipation I began reporting the story a few weeks ago, interviewing, reflecting and researching until I got my arms around what I thought the essence of the story to be.
When I got to working on the part of the story that puts Hart's work in historical perspective, I was reminded of the work of another Charleston composer, Edmund Thornton Jenkins.
I also admire Edmund's work. In fact, when I became aware of him about 30 years ago, it was a serious epiphany for me. His story is one of the best against-all-the-odds stories I know of.
Citing Edmund in Ed's story revealed some contradictions that are always the backdrop for stories about Charleston culture and history.
Race.
Edmund is African American, the son of the legendary minister, the Rev. Daniel Joseph Jenkins, founder of the famed Jenkins Orphanage.
Ed is white and a descendant of a very prominent, music-oriented Charleston family.
Edmund's work peaked in the early twentieth century.
Ed's work is peaking in the early twenty-first century.
Edmund practiced his crafts in Europe. There was no career outlet for a black composer in Charleston during his time. He is virtually unknown.
Ed lives and works in his hometown where he is respected and receives the attention he deserves. His work is known around the world.
Ultimately, I was also reminded of the resolution of these Charleston contradictions. It has to do with the matter that makes up this place, one of the most unique in the history of the world.
Both Edmund and Ed have infused the historical and cultural makeup of Charleston into their work - concepts such as its indigenous music, land, waters, climate and way of life.
These elements are so strong, they bridge even the racial divide, the strongest one in America.

james jamerson jr.

I just got through listening to "I'll Be There" as arranged by James Jameson Jr., son of the late, great James Jamerson, a towering American music figure who played all that bass on Motown Records hits during its heyday, from 1959 through 1971.
This is the Berry Gordy song that was a hit for the Jackson 5 in 1970.
The tune is set to be released next month but I got a preview through an MP3 sent to me by James' cousin, my friend and colleague, Anthony McKnight.
Anthony and I, along with others, have been preaching and promoting Jamerson Sr.'s work for about 15 years now, sharing with the world that this son of the South Carolina Lowcountry changed the face of popular culture with his music.
Listen to any Motown record from this time period and you will hear - and feel - Jamerson's indelible stamp, a progressive, complex, soulful, rendering of modern music that sings to your heart and mind.
Two of Jamerson's children, Jimmy Jr. and Derrick, and many of his cousins, including Anthony, play music and sing professionally. For a while now, Anthony has been working on a recording of tunes composed and performed by Jamerson family members.
The record I was checking out will be added to that compendium. Jimmy Jr., a renowned studio bassist in his own right, is reviving his career and just sent Anthony a take of "I'll Be There."
It's fabulous.
It romps with the signature Jamerson propulsion, underpinning the lush tracks of vocals, drums and saxophone.
Ever the innovator - just like his dad - Jimmy Jr. plays here a six-string bass that facilitates his playing melody like a guitar, a real tour de force. The soaring feel is reminiscent of the stuff Jamerson Sr. used to do on his 1962 Fender Precision after he put down his upright.
Fender, which just inducted Jamerson into its Hall of Fame, has made a custom version of the famous instrument and sent one to Jimmy Jr.
Anthony tells me he loves it. Jimmy Jr. told him he can't put it down.
Good for us.
Jimmy Jr.'s return to the scene is an important step in Anthony's project.
Jimmy Jr. told me in a telephone conversation tonight "I'll Be There" is a contemporary jazz tune, the direction in which he's taking his playing.
After all, his dad was a jazz bassist.
We all feel we're a major step closer to the fruition of the best way to honor James Sr.'s legacy, a family recording.

careful what you ask for

I'm involved in a lot of things and I care deeply about them all. There's my Post and Courier column, JazzBeat(s), the Charleston Jazz Initiative, the Charleston Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Artists of Charleston, a small, private nonprofit presenting and advocacy organization.
I'm most active right now as a aboard member with JAC, given its repeating presentation schedule, organizational development and administrative work. Along with the column, it is my highest profile endeavor so it attracts quite a bit of attention.
Things are going extrememly well with JAC. It is only a year-and-a-half old but it's already a fixture on the Charleston jazz scene, especially as it presents a night club series in the spring and CJO concerts every quarter.
The biggest plus, however, is that constituents - musicians, fans and supporters - have really bought in to our mission. They applaud us all the time about our success and our leading the charge in advancing jazz' presence in Charleston.
They also regale us for our efficiency and production values with regard to live shows. They have come to expect high quality shows that are well presented.
At the same time, our success has heightened expectations from people. While JAC continues to scratch, claw and generally struggle to do what it does, things seem effortless by the time they reach the stage. It seems as if these concerts come about from some kind of magic.
Poof. They just appear.
This is perhaps why we get requests from people for videos, pictures and recordings of our events all the time, sometimes the morning after a show.
Well, it doesn't quite go like that.
We do shoot, tape and record. But it's primarily for archival purposes. And we're so busy, as are our technicians, we rarely see tape and pictures or hear audio from programs until weeks or months after a concert.
When told this after a request for copies, people often look incredulously at us as if to say how can these things not be ready. Then their body language says we just don't want to fulfill their request.
Not true.
To us, material we capture is for our future use in producing CD's, commercial videos, documenatries and books. We are in no rush to do that. It's all we can handle to keep up with imminent demands for the day-to-day operation of the enterprise.
Needless to say, that goal would never be reached if we handed out raw material from our shows for social purposes. Not to mention the fact that music or images could end up on someone else's commercial venture, even if not intended.
We live in fear of that, not in fear of musicians, family and friends just wanting to hear and see reproductions of a great musical experience.
Ironically, these requests probably wouldn't be at play if the music weren't performed and presented so well.
We're a victim of our own success, I guess.
With all the heartache that comes from denying the requests, we're holding out for the long term.
Then we'll share.

courage

Quentin Baxter's courage never ceases to amaze me.
As I've written in other outlets many times before, he is multi-faceted and is much more than the dynamite drummer that he is day to day.
Evidence of this took place Saturday at the Riviera Theater where he staged a hand-picked band that played a benefit concert for Jazz Artists of Charleston, a non-profit group in Charleston that benefits musicians, fans and everybody else interested in America's classical music.
Baxter put pianist Tommy Gill, saxophonist Mark Sterbank, trumpeter Charlton Singleton, bassist Kevin Hamilton and himself around Savannah trombonist extraordinaire Teddy Adams.
Baxter's courageous move this time was to offer a program of only originals by Adams, a very substantial composer as well as performer.
This is no small feat, especially since the audience comprised mostly lay people, not jazz aficianados who would be more open to a program of songs other than easily accessible standards.
Yes, it was the band that pulled it off but the bandleader's vision, execution and strength made it happen.

JazzBeat(s) response

I got off to a great start with my new column in the Post and Courier's Preview entertainment magazine on Thursday.
There was a nice, photographic key from page 1A to it in the section. Editor Marcus Amaker laid it out nicely, complete with a cool picture and, with all due modesty, a minimum of changes from what I originally wrote.
He's been completely supportive from the beginning of the idea and through the run up to publication.
He believes; and nothing that happened Thursday has changed that. We exchanged e-mails Thursday afternoon and he's ready to continue.
So am I.
The initial response has been strong and positive. I got great complements, and that's cool, but among the ones I like the most are those who see it as "our" space, the local jazz community, that is.
After all, we are a family. We're not clannish (although we and others everywhere are accused of being such); it's just that we're a minority and we tend to band together for support. We also enjoy sharing our love of the music with others and this column is a helluva way to do that.
We can even show off.
Jazz is America's gift to world culture. It's multi-faceted and sparkles with beauty and invention. That's a big part of what attracts us fans. So, when there's an outlet for turning others on to it, we bask in it.
Here's to a good, long run of furthering the good news.

new voice

I've been in talks for a few weeks with Marcus Amaker, editor of Preview, the weekly entertainment magazine of the Post and Courier, Charleston's daily newspaper, about a jazz column.
I heard from him yesterday saying it was a go.
So now, I have a new voice, a new outlet for my musings on my favorite art form totally from my point of view, no less.
I'm no stranger to the newspaper. Until a few months ago I worked there for 24 years, doing everything from clerking to sports writing to copy editing to feature writing to arts and entertainment criticism to community news gathering.
Writing about jazz is not the most of what I did there but it was my favorite.
I'm a longtime fan and I've been in tune with it for one of its most interesting periods, the last half of the twentieth century until now.
Over the course of its 200-plus year history, the paper of record in one of the country's most historic cities has not been known for its embrace of modern culture.
Evidently, that's changing - slowly, but inexorably.
I'm glad to have the shot.

You never know

You never know where things are going to come from.
An accidental meeting, which has proven to be purposeful, with an author who is now a friend has led to the near completion of a book project that is one of the highlights of my publishing career.
Hans Offringa, a writer and expert on whisky form The Netherlands, brought me on to his latest book project, "Whisky and Jazz," while visiting the United States with his American wife, Becky, about a year and a half ago. I'm a contributing editor.
The "whisky couple," as they're known internationally, moved around Charleston socially on that visit and they casually talked about their latest effort. They were urged to hook up with me by many of the people they talked to.
My involvement in things jazz is known by many.
We met for drinks and live music at the Charleston Grill and then dinner at FIG through the auspices of Deneen Bell, a friend who just happened to be the property manager for the house the Offringas were renting during their stay. When they asked her if they knew me, she said yes and got us together.
We hit it off - personally and professionally - and agreed to a deal that had me editing the jazz side of Hans' book.
It was a collegial marriage made in heaven.
We worked well together since then and grew to like each other very much which, in my view, has led to a wonderful product.
Hans is a jazz fan; and the premise of the book is an analytical comparison of the characteristics of 10 whiskies with the musical traits of 10 of his favorite jazz musicians.
If I say so myself, the result of our efforts is a beautiful book that is totally unique and a serious contribution to the jazz literary canon.
The publishers left us alone to do our thing, trusted us and encouraged us to put out this masterpiece.
While it superficially appears that this was luck or happenstance, I believe it was providence.
The jazz gods smiled on us - and on me, once again.
As I've learned over the last four decades, jazz is about more than music.
This is more evidence.

The jazz of Obama

Much of my life has to do with jazz. Given my definition of its conceptual meaning and my execution of it, jazz is the predominant feature of my lifestyle. I don't limit it's meaning to musical expression. So, for me, jazz is a way of life. It's a verb, not a noun. Jazz is a process - the journey, not just the destination.
In fact, it so informs how I live, I sometimes don't see it in others when it's right under my nose.
For instance, it just occurred to me that Barack Obama, at least the way he carries himself and does his work, is jazz. Probably what tipped me off is reading the truck load of stuff being written about him around the world since his emergence a couple of years ago - the campaign, and now the run up to his inauguration as the leader of the free (?) world.
Think about it. He, the beloved, bounces rhythmically, like Count Basie; he's sleek, like a Duke Ellington tune; surgically precise, like a Charlie Parker solo; insightful, like a John Coltrane composition; lyrical, like Joe Henderson's approach to the tenor saxophone; completely African American in style and demeanor, like Dizzy Gillespie's oeuvre; unpredictable, playful, and sometimes contradictory, like Thelonious Monk; steady, like Freddie Green; and elegantly bluesy, like Horace Silver.
There are plenty more but you get the picture.
Like jazz, these traits may or may not be displayed by themselves, in combination, or with the interplay of moving among many of them at the same time. Also, like an improvised melody, the individual characteristic might not always be recognizable.
As my friend, Harriet Smartt, says, his style of governance will be jazzy. While he is steeped in tradition, he doesn't seem chained to any traditional model. We're betting he will take the reality of situations he faces and fashion goals, plans, strategies and solutions utilizing his vast knowledge and experiences, in spite of his relatively tender years.
He's full of swing and has what it takes to lead the homeland of the world's greatest musical art form.

life's tough

As you get older, life gets more and more interesting.
They say it begins at 40 and that's just about true. Certainly by then your day-to-day decisions are as much informed by the adult years of your life span than the childhood ones. Presumably, you grow wiser. At that point, you also begin to learn from experience.
I have been blessed in that I have had tons of experiences, some good, some bad, but all informative.
Still, though, you're never always prepared for what comes your way. You just deal with it. Sometimes (many times) there are contradictions. For instance, I'm on an incline these days as I pursue my craft - writing, researching and producing. At the same time, I struggle with other decisions I have to make. I also suffer as I lose more and more loved ones to illness and death. The wacky ways of today's world are becoming more and more inscrutable as social conditions rage out of control.
But I'm coping as best I can.
Though life gets tougher it gets better.
Fight fear. Peace.

maiden voyage

I've been interested in doing a blog for some time now so here we go.
As an observer of life and all that it includes - at least the stuff I can detect - it is fascinating to me. That's the kind of material I'll be sharing in this space.