Author Archives: Fernando González

Pianist Chucho Valdés Facebook Live Mini-Concert, Tomorrow Tuesday

30 Monday Mar 2020

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Chucho Valdés performing “Caridad Amaro,” a tribute to his beloved, and very influential, grandmother, at the Victoires du Jazz Festival 2010. 

Cuban pianist, composer, and bandleader Chucho Valdés will offer a solo mini-concert from his home in South Florida tomorrow, Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. EST.
It will be his fourth free online concert.

“Some people have asked me why I do this because, after all, I’m not getting paid. And I tell them that what happens in these concerts is for me more valuable than money,” said Valdés in a phone conversation earlier this afternoon. “The comments I get, the beautiful responses, the gratitude, it’s all so stimulating. No money can buy that.”

Click on the image below to access the performance.

The repertoire on these performances is never pre-planned.
“Sometimes when I’m at the piano I remember something I like or something I haven’t played in a while and then, I talk about it,” he explained. “I prefer doing it this way: it’s organic, free.”

As for the experience of inviting the world to his home to hear him play, “it’s different,” he said. “It’s not the first time I do something like this and still, it’s an incredible feeling. I just got a call from Clarín [a newspaper in Argentina] and I reminded them that in 2003 I played two concerts at Teatro Colón [in Buenos Aires]. One was a solo piano concert, the other with a symphony orchestra, and in total, 5,000 people were there. Great. But the first online concert [on March 17] was seen by 250,000 people. It’s a global concert, and you get the feeling that you are reaching out well beyond your regular audience.”

Besides, “I enjoy a lot playing at home,” he said. “And here I’m playing for myself, doing what I want to do, but at the same time, I’m sharing it with so many people who are, like me, locked-in in their homes. Maybe this will bring them some calm, some reassurance.”
“This virus doesn’t differentiate. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, white or black, and it doesn’t care about where you are. It’s time to realize we are all one people and we need to come together.”

 

 

Cuban Pianist Roberto Fonseca Performs on Livestreaming Music Festival From Havana Saturday

27 Friday Mar 2020

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Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca performs in the weekend-long online festival “Tunturuntu pa ‘tu casa,” from Havana, Cuba, in an Instagram Live concert tomorrow Saturday, 5:30 to 6 p.m. EST time.

This weekend’s performances represent the second installment of the event, the first live streaming music festival from Cuba. The previous edition took place on March 18 to 22 and featured artists such as Cimafunk, Daymé Arocena, and Alain Pérez. This weekend´s announced performers include Dayramir González, Zule Guerra, Haila María Mompié, Luna Manzanares and Suylén Milanés. Only today´s schedule was available at Tunturuntu´s site.

The event was organized by Tunturuntu, a cultural platform, in collaboration with Fonoma, a phone recharge service. Each artist offers his or her performance on their personal platform.

Having an online festival from Cuba is a testament to the Cubans’ ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit, especially when considering the troubled history and high cost of accessing the web from the island. In fact, in a story on Fonoma’s blog, writer Jose Raul notes that “the high cost of internet in Cuba, it’s an obstacle for the festival’s impact on the island, but is important that the message gets to everyone: stay at home, connect with your family, your friends and with music.”

Sound advice — in Cuba and wherever you are reading this. Stay safe.

African Music Giant Manu Dibango Dies of Coronavirus at 86

25 Wednesday Mar 2020

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Manu Dibango at the festival Les Escales a Saint-Nazaire, France, July 2019 Photo via Wikicommons

Cameroonian saxophonist Emmanuel N’Djoké “Manu” Dibango died in Paris yesterday, March 24, after contracting Covid-19. “It is with deep sadness that we announce you the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove,” read the announcement on his official Facebook page. He was 86.

His best-known hit, “Soul Makossa” (1972), is a smooth mix of jazz, soul, funk, and African music elements. Originally the B-side of a Dibango’s 45 RPM single, the song outlived the disco era and remained an inspiration for generations of American artists. According to the site whosampled.com, Dibango’s work was sampled (not always with his permission) by artists such as Michael Jackson (on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ ,” which was settled out of court), Rihanna, Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, and Busta Rhymes. Others have noted his work on tracks such as Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” and JAY-Z’s “Face Off.” He also collaborated with artists as disparate as Herbie Hancock, Fela Kuti, Peter Gabriel, Eliades Ochoa, and Don Cherry.

Born in Douala, Cameroon in 1933, Dibango went to high school in France, where he learned to play piano and then saxophone. He spoke in interviews about falling in love with jazz after listening to Louis Armstrong and Count Basie in the cellars of Paris. A BBC.com story noted that the first song Dibango performed on the sax in front of his classmates was “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

“I play different kinds of music before playing my own. I think that’s very important to play other people’s music,” he is quoted in the story. “As you are African they expect you always to play African. Forget that. You’re not a musician because you’re African. You’re a musician because you are a musician. Coming from Africa, but first, a musician.”