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| Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band At Town Hall Four time winners of Beyond Group of the Year in Downbeat Magazines Readers & Critics Polls, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band are cited as the most influential modern Afro-Caribbean Jazz Group of the past 30 years. This band will perform in the Nyc's Town Hall Friday, March 3, 2006 in a rare benefit concert for the Bronx High School for Performance and Stagecraft. While Latin jazz has become quite popular and there are many new releases of this genre of music, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band is one of the longest running jazz groups in the world. With their unique fusion of jazz and Latin music, they just reach deeper, have more street smarts and just plain play better than anyone else. As noted in the New York Times: “A Fort Apache tune may start out swinging with the feel of the drummer Art Blakey, then move into a Cuban guaganco, then take on a shuffle, then return to swing.” Gonzalez explained it by saying, “I am bilingual -- I speak Spanish and English. I can play the blues and I can play the rumba.” Just call him “Jerry from the block” - a Bronx-born conga and trumpet player, Jerry Gonzalez and his brother, bassist Andy Gonzalez, were discovered by pianist Lew Matthews who heard them jamming behind their housing project. The Gonzalez brothers formed the Fort Apache band in the early 1980s featuring top soloists Andy Gonzalez (bass), Larry Willis (piano), Steve Berrios (bass) and Joe Ford (alto & soprano sax). write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |