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| Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet at Joe's Pub in NY Trumpeter and composer Gabriel Alegra has developed a unique form of World Jazz that combines his distinctive approach to the jazz trumpet with the rich heritage of Afro-Peruvian music. Alegria will appear at Joe's Pub on January 20 with his Afro-Peruvian Sextet featuring saxophonist Laurandrea Legua; acoustic guitarist Yuri Jurez; bassist Joscha Oetz, drummer Hugo Alczar and master percussionist Freddy “Huevito" Lobatn, who plays the traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments cajn (box drum) and quijada (jaw bone) and adds spectacular passages of zapateo dancing to each performance. Alegria and his Afro-Peruvian Sextet will be joined at Joe's Pub by the renowned Peruvian vocalist Eva Ayllon. The concert will showcase music from Alegria's forthcoming CD Nuevo Mundo set for US release on January 15, 2008 and featuring guest appearances by Bill Watrous, Bobby Shew, Tierney Sutton and Russell Ferrante. The ensemble will also accompany Ms. Aylln in her first public performance in a jazz context in advance of her appearance with the Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet at the Festival Internacional Jazz Peru in March 2008. A native of Lima, Peru, Gabriel Alegria is the founder and artistic director of Jazz Peru Internacional (JPI), the premier jazz arts and cultural exchange organization in his homeland and producer of the annual Festival Internacional Jazz Peru. Alegria was recently named Associate Director of the Jazz Studies Program at New York University and has been living in New York City since September 2007. Eva Ayllon is a renowned vocalist revered as the “Queen of Lando" not only in her native Peru but also around the world. Ms. Aylln's stature in Afro-Peruvian music circles is comparable to Cesria vora's in the world of the morna music of Cape Verde or the late Cuban salsa star Celia Cruz. GABRIEL ALEGRIA - trumpet / flugelhorn / composer / conductor / educator / producer One of the most influential figures on the current jazz scene in Per, Gabriel Alegria was born into an artistic family in Lima in 1970. His grandfather Ciro was Peru's most famous novelist and his father Alonso is Per's most acclaimed playwright. Currently Associate Director of Jazz Studies at New York University, Alegria earned a doctorate in jazz studies from the University of Southern California, a master's degree from the City University of New York and a bachelor's degree from Kenyon College. His knowledge of Afro-Peruvian music is the result of fieldwork and time spent in Per learning from the art form's greatest exponents. In addition, in 2000 Alegria founded Jazz Peru Internacional (JPI), Peru's premier jazz arts and cultural exchange organization whose goal is to spread the message of peace, love and joy found in Afro-Peruvian music around the world. Under the auspices of JPI, countless artists, students and music fans have toured internationally and Alegria continues to work for the internationalization of Afro- Peruvian jazz music and education. Alegria combines his experience playing jazz as it developed in the U.S. with a passionate interest and careful study of the black music of coastal Per. By incorporating and exploring the common African roots found in both styles, he has developed a uniquely Afro-Peruvian jazz music concept. The rich legacy of the black music of coastal Per can be heard in a contemporary jazz context in all of Alegria's work, a cross-cultural exchange between the Americas. While this had a precedent during the 20th century when Brazilian and Cuban musical forms significantly influenced the development of jazz, in the 21st century Afro-Peruvian music presents a unique sound, feel and concept that distinguishes it from its Latin American counterparts. With the release in 2002 of Un Rezo, Alegria's recording debut as a leader, many Afro-Peruvian rhythmic concepts were introduced into the mainstream jazz language for the first time. This creative contribution was explored in a documentary film about Alegria and Afro-Peruvian music directed by Lonnie Goodwin. Alegria's latest recording Nuevo Mundo, set for release January 15, 2008 on Saponegro Records, was inspired by locations and experiences he had along Per's rich and mysterious coastline. The CD includes collaborations with jazz artists Tierney Sutton, Bobby Shew, Russell Ferrante and Bill Watrous as well as with the formidable native Afro- Peruvian artists Freddy “Huevito" Lobaton (Peruvian percussion - cajon, quijada, cajita), Hugo Alcazar (drums), Jocho Velazquez (acoustic guitar) and Joscha Oetz (bass). The CD, which includes six compositions by Alegria and his Afro-Peruvian jazz arrangement of the Gershwin classic “Summertime," represents, represents his most varied work as a trumpeter and composer to date. During the course of a career that has spanned the globe, Alegria has appeared in concert and/or on recordings with Maria Schneider, Placido Domingo, Ingrid Jensen, Tierney Sutton, Natalie Cole, The Peruvian National Symphony, Bill Watrous, John Thomas, Russ Ferrante and Alex Acua. He has also performed concerts for the United Nations and various diplomatic missions from around the world and in May 2005 conducted and recorded Didier Lockwood's Afro-Peruvian jazz opera “Libertad" commissioned by Radio France and Opera Montpellier. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |