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 • (February
22nd 2003 - Church Hill, Queen Anne's County, MD)
- Afro Bop members performed with the Annapolis Jazz Sextet
at the historic Church Hill Theatre's "Winter
Concert Series". This facility was built
in 1929 for public meetings, and debuted it's first
motion picture (Will Rogers starring in "Steamboat
Round the Bend") in December 1935. The theatre
closed it's doors in the 1970's to be reopened in
1985 as
a performing arts center. If you ever
get the chance to visit, check out the original
film projector
on display in the lobby!! Playing
here was truly a unique experience, and made
us think back to the early pioneers of Jazz. Thanks
to all the fine Eastern Shore folks who drove
through the dense
foggy
soup
to come hear us.
•
(February 21st 2003 - Washington DC) - On a cold rainy
evening in our Nation's capitol, Afro Bop had the opportunity
to
heat things up with some Latin jazz
at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
IMAX Jazz
Cafe. Everyone seemed to enjoy the whole
experience, which was clearly evident to us seeing
all of the smiles,
and hearing all of the generous applause and
cheering throughout the evening. Thank
you to all of you that attended and made it a
memorable evening for us,
and the staff at
the Smithsonian that made us feel so welcome. We
look forward to seeing you all again soon.
If
you haven't been to the Smithsonian
IMAX Jazz Cafe, you owe it to yourself to go
enjoy some great food and
drink in a nice atmosphere, and hear some great Jazz
performed
by local and national artists every Friday evening
at 6pm.
 • (August
2002) - Afro Bop leader and drummer Joe
McCarthy recently
picked up an endorsement from Maryland
Drum Company, based in
Baltimore, Maryland. Ed
Fast's composition "Incarnation",
performed by Afro Bop, appears on the Maryland
Drum Company
CD sampler "Associate
Artists, Vol. 1". Joe has
been performing on these sweet, warm sounding
drums since the company
started
making them. Congrats Joe!
Stork
Report
(November
2003) Congratulations
to Afro Bop percussionist, Felix
Contreras and his wife, on the birth of their
second child. All are doing well, except for Felix,
who is "Sleepless in Silver Spring". Go get
'em diaper man! :-)
Smithsonian
Latin Jazz Series
(Summer
2003) Afro
Bop
had the pleasure and honor of being the "house" band
for the Smithsonian's IMAX
Jazz Cafe "Latin Jazz Night" concert
series. Featured artists included trumpeter, Ray Vega; composer,
arranger and trumpeter, Michael Mossman; and pianist, Arturo
O'Farrill. Thank you to all of you that attended, and a big
thank you to the fine folks at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural
History, IMAX Jazz Cafe, for all of their support.
NEA Jazz Master Conguero Ray Barretto Passes |
For nearly 40 years, conguero and bandleader Ray Barretto has been one of the leading forces in Latin jazz. His hard, compelling playing style has graced the recordings of saxophonists Gene Ammons, Lou Donaldson, Sonny Stitt, and guitarists Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell.
Born April 29, 1929, in Brooklyn, Barretto is one of the most prolific and influential Latin percussionists in the history of modern jazz. With a musical heritage as deeply rooted in the bebop jam sessions held in Harlem during the late-'40s as in his Puerto Rican ancestry, Barretto has spent over four decades refining the integration of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with the improvisational elements of jazz. Coincidentally, it was the tune “Manteca” recorded by Gillespie with Chano Pozo on percussion that drove Barretto to music. And it was a version of that same tune that became Barretto’s first recording with Red Garland.
Few artists have been as successful over the years at fusing these two genres as Barretto, an undisputed master of this style. A pioneer of the salsa movement, Barretto achieved international superstardom and released nearly two dozen albums with the Fania label from the late-'60s until salsa's popularity peaked in the mid-1980's.
Afro Bop Alliance celebrates the life, and mourns the loss of this legend.
Listen NPR's All Things Considered rememberance
by Felix Contreras
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April 29, 1929 - February 17, 2006 |
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