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2nd Annual South Florida Jazz Summit
Al Kanovsky & Flo Eisenberg
This past weekend Flo & I had the opportunity to enjoy the South Florida Jazz Summit event at the Bienes Center for the Arts.
We haven't stopped talking about it. Well planned, well executed and very entertaining. We started with Maria Rivas's concert performance. She was accompanied by an all Latino rhythym section. Jose Velasquez (bass) Frank Bello (piano) Ivan Velasquez (drums).
Bobby Ramirez provided instrumental background including some impressive flute solos. Maria Rivas was sensational. Her scat vocals are different and invoke the tonal and rhythym patterns of the native music of her Venezuelan homeland. We loved it.
Side note: A slide show titled "I am" is background for concert events and depicts JAZZ stars old and new reflecting on what they are. On display as part of the Jazzonian Museum were three paintings by Maria. Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Chet Baker are portrayed in Maria's unusual and reflective art form.
The Summit had events starting early on Sunday but a pre-noon start is not on our usual agenda. We did get there in time for James Chism and Bobby Ramirez's opening remarks.
Next on the program was "A Versatile Approach to Jazz" a performance/clinic featuring Bobby Ramirez (saxophone, flute, percussion and (the program said "voice". I didn't hear any and maybe that was a good thing) Ryan Ellis(piano) Rick Doll (bass) and Ivan Velasquez (drums). A hand clappin', toe tappin' performance which the entire audience enjoyed.
Following the bands performance, Flo & I sat in on a clinic held by Sammy Figueroa called "Elements of Jazz Rhythym." Sammy's informative and educational hour was great. He talked his guests through the phases that Latin percussion has seen in the last 3 decades. We learned more about the influence of percussion on JAZZ today than we ever even thought about.
Sammy played some interesting recorded music that illustrated the advances made in the orchestration of percussive music. We are long-time Sammy fans and he proved to be as interesting a speaker as he is a "Congero."
Next, Christopher Dorsey was the guest Conductor for the Jazzonian Youth Honors Band. An impressive performance by Ben Stocker (tenor sax); Charlie Stiener (drums); Andrew Forman (guitar) Sebastian Rios (bass) and Iala Teresa-Callega (vocals); Zoe Fromer (vocals). Two scholarships were presented at the end of the concert.
Other obligations made it impossible for Flo & I to stay any longer. We were sorry because the next two scheduled events sounded interesting.
A closing note; James Chism, Bobby Ramirez and their volunteers are to be commended for their production of this event which included participation by the Arsht Center, WDNA, The Gold Coast Jazz Society and others. We wish them continued success!
Al Kanovsky/Flo Eisenberg
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