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A rare East Coast performance by the John Santos Sextet and by the Federico Britos Sextet will perform "A Latin Jazz Tribute to Cachao," on Saturday at 8 pm. Known as the "father of the mambo," the Cuban bassist, Israel Lopez Cachao, is revered and respected by Latin music historians, musicians and fans. A classically trained musician, Cachao would revolutionalize Cuban music during his lifetime—first in the 1930s creating and inventing the mambo from the Cuban musical form danzon--and later in the 1950's, especially at Cuban jam sessions. His love of Afro-Cuban melodies such as son and rumba influenced his playing and composing and resulted in the contemporary Latin jazz and salsa sound. Cachao was the composer of "Chanchullo," on which Tito Puente based his classic hit "Oye Como Va," later made even more famous by Carlos Santana.
Five time Grammy nominee and USA Fontanals Fellow, John Santos, and his Sextet unite the contemporary, historical and cultural significance of Latin jazz. A multi-percussionist, composer/historian/producer/educator, Santos is a prolific exponent of Afro-Latin music through the innovative use of traditional forms and instruments with contemporary music. His career spans four decades and he has worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner and Carlos Santana and dozens of other acknowledged masters. Santos toured with Maestro Cachao in the 1990's performing on bongos.
Santos' band members include Saul Sierra, bassist; Marco Diaz, pianist; John Calloway, flautist; Melecio Magdaluyo, saxophonist/flautist; and David Flores, drummer/percussionist.
Violinist Federico Britos is a jazz/classical crossover artist of the highest order. Born in Uruguay, Britos served as principal chair, soloist and Concertmaster with some of the great symphony orchestras of Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Cuba and the United States. He has performed with Astor Piazzolla, Cachao, and Joao Gilberto as well as with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Charlie Haden and Charlie Byrd. He has toured Europe with the Hot Club USA and Frank Vignola, and has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and the San Francisco Jazz Festival and was a special guest in the Grappelli Legacy at Carnegie Hall in 1998. In 1999, Maestro Britos performed at the Kennedy Center in a program called, "Americanos," with Cachao, Nestor Torres, Jose Feliciano, Juan Luis Guerra, Gloria Estefan and Paquito d'Rivera, produced by James Edward Olmos.
Maestros Santos and Britos were featured last September in the PBS/American Masters documentary "Cachao: Uno Mas," a production of DOC Film Institute of San Francisco State directed by Dikayl Rimmasch and produced by Andy Garcia, Tom Luddy, Stephen Ujlaki and Anay Tarnekar in association with THIRTEEN for American Masters and Latino Public Broadcasting for PBS. |