Monthly Archives: April 2019

The Bending Straight Line: Mitch Frohman’s Latin-Jazz Quartet

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by Glenn Siegel

Lineage is very important in jazz music, as it is in every art form. Watching the passing baton is one of life’s great pleasures, it gives us the opportunity to both relish the past and anticipate the future. Mitch Frohman, the massively talented saxophonist and flutist, is a living link to Mongo Santamaria, Machito, Celia Cruz, La Lupe, and especially Tito Puente, with whom he spent over 25 years. A nice Jewish boy from the Bronx, the 65-year old Frohman is one of the leading horn players in Latin music, a torchbearer for mambo, guajira, and other classic Latin rhythms.

Frohman performed at the Community Music School of Springfield on April 11 with
Zaccai and Luques Curtis, whom he first met when the brothers were precocious pre-teens. The three of them along with drummer Joel Mateo are now the Mitch Frohman Latin-Jazz Quartet, and they enthralled 80 of us as Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares continued its seventh season.

The Curtis brothers, now in their mid-thirties, have also benefited from a long line of elders, having been mentored by Andy and Jerry Gonzalez and Donald Harrison, and trained at the Hartford Academy of the Arts, the Artist Collective, Berklee and New England Conservatory.

On Thursday, the Quartet dipped liberally into From Daddy With Love, their fabulous 2013 release on Truth Revolution Records. “Mambo de Nice,” an original by Frohman, reminded us of the long and happy marriage between bebop and mambo, and featured a fluid Frohman solo on tenor saxophone. “Soprano Con Soul” highlighted another fruitful union, in this case between Motown and Latin music. The bass line which introduced the piece elicited smiles, then knowing nods as the contour of the Temptation’s “Just My Imagination” came into view. Before long there was cha-cha everywhere, along with quotes from other soul classics. The band consistently found a rhythmic sweet spot, providing fertile ground for one brilliant solo after another. “Mongo’s Groove,” a simple, ear-grabbing funk line at medium tempo was a case in point, featuring a full-bodied tenor solo full of cascading wrinkles.

Joel Mateo, born in Ponce, PR now of Brooklyn, was very strong. He modified the drum kit, substituting timbales for rack toms, and had easy access to cow bell, as well. He kept the band “in the pocket” all night. Priscilla Page and I saw this quartet at Subrosa in New York three years ago. Mateo is now a mature captain of the ship with a firm grip on the rudder. I look forward to seeing him in other contexts.

We’ve seen Zaccai and Luques in many situations over the years. I hired their band Insight in 2005 to open for the Ray Barretto Sextet at UMass. The Curtis Brothers Quartet (with Richie Barshay and Reinaldo De Jesus) performed in 2017 as part of our Jazz Shares experiment in locally sourced concert production. They are full fledged professionals, handling their business, which includes Truth Revolution Records. Zaccai will be at the Magic Triangle Series at UMass in November with Avery Sharpe’s all-star sextet.

Mention must be made of Frohman’s skill as master of ceremony. His story-laced song introductions were captivating, and his repeated gag about his various mouth guards, which he took in and out all evening as he switched instruments, had the timing of a seasoned comedian. After going on a bit (“TMI,” said my neighbor) about how the plastic inserts distribute the pressure on his teeth, especially helpful for the aging saxophonist, he paused, “If I’ve helped one person tonight…” It elicited a hearty laugh.

The concert was dedicated to the memory of Victor ‘Cuco’ Guevara, a long-time supporter of arts in the Valley and a charter member of Jazz Shares. Next year’s tribute will feature the Román Diaz Rumba Ensemble at UMass.

Lineage is a descent in a line from a common ancestor. But as the Austrian artist and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser reminded us, “the straight line is godless and immoral.” Mitch Frohman and his band of young cohorts are descendants of generations of Latin music greats, having arrived in this spot circuitously, con clave.

Female Spirit in Ascendence: Jane Bunnett & Maqueque

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by Glenn Siegel

Since the early 1990s, Jane Bunnett has been performing with a rich cross section of master musicians from Cuba. All of them men. The soprano saxophonist and flutist observed that female musicians would not bring their instruments to jam sessions. Five years ago, Bunnett met a phenomenal young singer named Daymé Arceno, and together they hatched an idea for an all-women ensemble they called Maqueque.

On Thursday, March 28, over 300 people saw the latest incarnation of the sextet at Bowker Auditorium, as the UMass Fine Arts Center’s Magic Triangle Jazz Series continued its 30th anniversary season. Their three day residency included stops at the UMass Latinx Cultural Center, Gateway City Arts, Amherst Media and a private home in Northampton.

Maqueque means “the spirit of a young girl,” in Lucumi, an Afro-Cuban dialect, and this band of twenty-somethings: Joanna Mojoko, vocals; Mary Paz, congas & vocals; Dánae Olano, piano; Tailin Marrero, acoustic and electric bass and vocals; Yissy García, drums, along with the veteran Bunnett, brought energy and polish to 80 minutes of non-stop entertainment.

With one exception, the program featured originals by Bunnett, Olano, Garcia and Marrero. Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine” was set at a simmer, which gave Mojoko free rein to bend the lyrics the way she wanted. Mojoko is from Zimbabwe, speaks no Spanish and is the newest member of the band. Those were all non-factors once we heard her voice and felt her presence.

It’s easy to see how this band has captured the imagination of both promoters and audiences. After all, hard-hitting, virtuosic all-female Latin bands are not common. Along with Garcia and Marrero, pianist Olano is a product of Cuba’s vaunted conservatory system, meaning she has tremendous technique and a strong musical foundation. She told UMass students during a class visit that musicians were forbidden from playing tumbao, son or any other Cuban music in the conservatory. She learned that outside of school.

Percussionist Mary Paz, who played congas, cajón and batá with precision and soul, learned her lessons outside of school. She was mentored by Oscar Valdés, one of the founders of the influential 1970s Cuban band, Irakere, but never formally studied music. When I asked her how she learned her art, her smart phone translator told me “autodidact.” Two months ago, she spoke no English; now she is on her way.

Bunnett has supported dozens of Cuban musicians over the years, opening her home in Toronto, dealing with visas and permits, and raising the profile of deserving artists. She has provided a great opportunity to the young musicians of Maqueque, who are playing major stages throughout Europe and North America, earning good money, making contacts and expanding their skills. The band’s success has also helped young Cuban female musicians aspire to a career in music.

The concert drew from both Maqueque releases, as well as from a third recording due in June. The band was tight and the writing strong. But listening to the recent re-release of Bunnett’s important 1990s-era work, Spirits of Havana, I wished the UMass performance had more directly referenced Cuban folkloric music and classic Cuban forms. I also would have loved to have heard from the band members. Perhaps they could have introduced their own compositions in Spanish. I love being in bi-lingual spaces, and besides, many in the audience spoke Spanish.

We did, of course, get to hear the voices of Olano, Paz, Marrero and Mojoko. Their singing was a highlight of the evening. There harmonies aligned the spine, and the playful trading of eights, fours and twos (bars) between Mojoko and Marrero (vocals) and Bunnett (saxophone), perfectly captured the essence of the band’s name. Marrero, by the way, was a formidable vocalist, and a rock-solid acoustic and electric bassist.

The level of talent on the stage was evident everywhere. Yissy Garcia was a powerhouse, a joyous force. She is, along with Olano, the longest tenured member of the band. Her charisma and style drew us in, and the riser on stage gave us a good vantage point to watch a talented young drummer in full flower.

Bunnett is, of course, a major voice on soprano and flute, and her discography is beyond impressive. She has constructed a successful career as a jazz performer and band leader; in today’s world, that is no mean achievement. Here’s to the continued evolution of Maqueque and more women with instruments in their hands.

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