Afro Cuban Jazz

Latin Jazz legend, Pete Escovedo, has captivated audiences worldwide with his musical prowess and insight. From the early formation of the Escovedo Bros Latin Jazz Sextet, to his days with Santana alongside his brother Coke Escovedo—and the subsequent launch of their joint venture, Latin Rock-Jazz fusion group, Azteca. Staff Writer …

The Jazz & Democracy Project® manifests a hypothesis that Wesley J. Watkins, IV, Ph.D. has been investigating since he was an undergraduate: a music-centered curriculum with genuine links to the other subject areas can increase student identification with school, impact academic engagement, and have a subsequent positive effect on overall academic …

ETIENNE CHARLES: Recording Artist, Composer, Arranger, Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies, Michigan State University Over its century-plus history, jazz has forged its shape-shifting identity by encompassing a rainbow of musical dialects in an improvisation-infused setting. While jazz’s potency launched into popular appeal based on the integration of the European classical …

Aruán Ortiz is a critically acclaimed Cuban pianist, an award-winning composer, and a solid producer and educator, not only on the New York City scene, but internationally as well.  Named “the latest Cuban wunderkind to arrive in the United States” by BET Jazz, this classically trained violist and pianist from …

Cuban born pianist and composer Aruan Ortiz expertly blends contemporary jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms and classical music. The up and coming artist began studying music at the age of eight. Ortiz, classically trained in both the piano and the violin, has won numerous awards with both instruments. As a violinist, …

Arturo Sandoval The year is 1977 and jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie is in Cuba playing ‘impromptu gigs’ with Stan Getz in the Caribbean. There is a young Cuban who also plays the trumpet and is eager to meet his idol Gillespie. A chance meeting occurs, and as they say the …

  “What I love about this music is that it has the capacity to carry the message of empathy.” – Stefon Harris Despite countless references to its oppressive regime, Cuba is home to some of the most engaging Jazz artists in the world today. Afro-Cuban Jazz is a cornerstone in …

Alfredo Rodriguez photo by Anna Webber Oil and water. These are two items that do not mix. Some would say science and spirituality don’t mix either. Well, when listening to pianist Alfredo Rodriguez’s album Sounds of Space, it’s difficult to support the idea that barriers exist being the technological and …