Search Results for: salsa
Latin America – August 2021
ISM interviews Héctor Cuevas and his Son Borojol Orchestra.
Dominican Republic where the traditional music is merengue expands to diverse musical rhythms such as bachata, rap, salsa, among others, and this time we had the opportunity to present 2 great musicians (both cousins) called Héctor and Cuso Cuevas , who have joined their talents and experiences in music to found the Orchestra who baptized it “Son Borojol” in March 2015, which is characterized by being a different and very tropical band, its name derives from a tribute to that popular sector because there the genre of son has always been danced.
Héctor Cuevas, was born in the Dominican Republic and lived a season in the USA, from the age of 13 and 14 he began his musical life with Johnny Ventura learning and working in the USA with respect to music, he was also in Caracas, Venezuela, Miami where He was musician for Hansel and Raul in the 80s.
In the “Son Borojol” Orchestra he is integrating a musical group that has several members from other countries apart from Dominicans and he mentions that the vast majority are Venezuelans, among them Cesar Augusto Anuel better known as Albondiga, a great trombonist, arranger, composer and musical director of the Latin dimension. He said he was very happy with the coupling of the members of the orchestra, who at each party give their best, showing their talents to please the dancing public.
The orchestra is composed of experienced musicians who have the peculiarity of having 3 violins (which are from the symphony), trumpeters and other instruments which manage to make a difference in quality and sound, when playing either Cumbia, Merengue, Son , Guaracha, Charanga, Traditional Salsa (La sonora matacera style, jhonny pacheco, Roberto faz)
He comments that once they had a contract with a Latin music label, where Hector wanted it to be pure salsa but they wanted a compilation of different Latin rhythms (merengue, salsa among others) but the most important thing is that the music was from Son Borojol and not from other artists, for a time they were counting on the support of maestro Sony Ovalle (who passed away on December 13, 2020).
The experience that Son Borojol has, in addition to its members, is added the great career he has had in various orchestras with his cousin and renowned bassist Cuso Cuevas (he also died in 2020), who worked with Félix del Rosario, Joseito Mateo, Jhonny Ventura, Santa Cecilia among others. For his part, Héctor Cuevas, played with the orchestras of Hansel and Raul, Jhonny Pacheco, Primitivo Santos and others in the United States.
With this project, the Son Borojol Orchestra has the objective that the public can enjoy different musical genres such as cumbia, danzones, salsa, boleros, Latin jazz and of course the son, a rhythm that every day continues to penetrate more and more in taste. popular of young people; since normally the more adult people who dance are montuno, habanero, bolero and son.
But apart from this particular objective, they have the following as their main idea:
“Our goal is to conclude some songs in the portfolio and prepare to travel to the United States, where they already want to get to know the orchestra, but for that we continue to rehearse hard, because we want to stay for many years to make our people happy every weekend and at private parties. How we are doing it ”, he expressed.
Héctor Cuevas, who is currently the musical director, once commented… “In those trips that I took to the Dominican Republic, I always had the idea of forming an orchestra of my own, since I have the experience because I had The Boston Latin Band, I met with my cousin Cuso Cuevas and we invited other proven musicians and today Son Borojol, it is a reality that continues to rise every day and our presentations speak for themselves, because we try every day to improve in quality, sound and interpretation ”.
Although he currently conducts the orchestra alone, he continues on in honor of his cousin Cuso Cuevas; During the Covid 19 pandemic, they took advantage of this time when all the events were canceled and the closure to record their new musical themes so that when the events opened they were ready for everything that came to them in the future; At least now in 2021 they began to open clubs and other venues, mobilizing dynamic activity in the country, of course with a much shorter work period than before or opening much earlier to take advantage of the regulatory time given by the government ( flexible quarantine)
Currently they have many television offers and live events on the beaches of the country, and when everything is normalized with the pandemic, make their musical tour that was planned in 2020 to different countries of the world And as the penultimate stop in the USA and finally in the Dominican Republic .
A message to his viewers in this interview was the following: “That they take care of themselves, that they always have friends in their hearts and many blessings, and if they have a goal to follow that they do not deviate and always continue forward … nothing stops me and I keep moving forward and that’s what makes you feel good and reach that goal and don’t look back … ”
Europe – August 2021
Meet The Amazing Fasching Jazz Club In Sweden
The Home Of The Best Live Jazz Since 1977
Located in the heart of the Swedish capital (Stockholm), the Fasching Jazz club has been the residence of lovers of this genre for 44 years. Thousands of people certify and endorse it as the protagonist of the numerous presentations of renowned artists or future stars of the national and international music scene.
Fasching has hosted 350 events per year of which more than 70% have been live concerts, obtaining an astronomical total of approximately 80,000 guest artists. In this club, bar, performance area, and restaurant in the Venice of the North, you can also go on stage on Monday afternoons because the upstarts also have their space here.
In Fashing, the art of improvisation thrives!
This home of jazz entertainment can host 360 people, distributed in 110 seated and 250 standing. Some nights they offer live music in the lobby bar with free admission and annually, during the fall, it is the main venue for the city’s Jazz Festival.
In the discotheque there are age limits: only those over 23 years old can stay inside the facilities on Fridays, while people 20 years and older on Saturdays. At concerts, the minimum age to witness them is 18 years old, and most of the time these live performances start at 8 PM and end at 10 PM with a short break between the two sets.
Fasching currently follows the guidelines of the Public Health Agency regarding the number of people in the audience and the respective distance meter between the groups. Likewise, they maintain sanitary measures such as dew on tables and public spaces between concerts at night to keep the risk of contagion low and at the same time keep you safe within the areas of the premises.
History Of Fasching Jazz Club In Stockholm
One of the oldest jazz clubs in Europe is Fasching. The only one that is the principal owner is the Swedish Jazz Musicians Association (FSJ its Swedish acronym) and the Friends of Fasching Association (as co-owner) with almost 2,000 members.
FSJ managed to acquire the current premises located at Kungsgatan 63 in 1977 with state support, thus achieving its highest aspiration of having a meeting place for musicians and the public to help improve the conditions of professionals of this genre and to publicizing Swedish Jazz and its interpreters.
Since 2004, Fasching has been given the task of ensuring the artistic content, initiating and executing several musical and educational activities from the Ministry of Culture, politicians, and even city officials.
At the end of the 80s, this incredible club through the Jazz Musician Association decided to award an annual scholarship to a young virtuoso of this musical style. By 2019, this financial aid had reached the figure of 40,000 SEK due to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Association and although this year the distribution of this scholarship was not made due to the pandemic, the possibility that be reactivated shortly.
However, the events in Fasching continue and Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana will participate in the Stockholm Jazz Festival which will be organized in the club’s concert hall.
Saxophonist Melissa is credited with exceptional talent and an unmistakable sound. From a very young age, she occupied a privileged place in the Jazz scene of Santiago de Chile. She has performed with Randy Brecker (Spring 2006) and was accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA) as a researcher and student of composition and improvisation. She graduated and changed her residence to New York in 2009. This same year Melissa was nominated for a Grammy for best solo improvisation and two years later her biggest dream came true when she signed with the Legendary record company Blue Note.
Melissa Aldana, moreover showing her music in countless clubs and concerts in New York City, has shared the stage with figures such as George Coleman, Antonio Sánchez, Marc Copland, Kendrick Scott, and the female group Artemis.
Date: Saturday, October 23rd
Address: Kungsgatan 63, 111 22 Stockholm, Sweden
Tickets: Tickster
Fasching also broadcasts its concerts live through Facebook free of charge. You have to like their official page, and they will send you a notice when they have a performance live on the doorstep.
By doing so, you will receive a link to the event hours before its start. When the link is active, an image of the Fasching stage will appear, exactly at the time, the concert will be broadcast. Therefore, you will not be able to enter in advance but be prepared for when the clock strikes 8 PM.
Book: Fasching
For more than 40 years, this jazz club has offered nearly 10,000 concerts. World stars such as Chet Baker, Chick Corea, and Wayne Shorter, as well as all the great names of Swedish Jazz have set foot in its concert hall. Fasching is one of the few venues in the world that pays tribute to this genre, thus maintaining its position as one of the major organizers of events in this musical style that has been operating uninterruptedly for decades.
Besides Jazz, here you can listen to related genres such as Blues, Funk, Hip-Hop, and Soul.
But running this club has been a fight for survival on multiple occasions. In the eponymous book, you can go back in time and learn about the success and difficult stages in the history of Fasching including the greatest challenge for Swedish cultural life: the prevailing corona pandemic. All this information is contained in 256 pages with more than 200 illustrations and images in black & white.
The book entitled Fasching is written by journalist and author, Carlsson Bokförlag.