October 17-19 2002
The Brownsville Society for the Performing Arts hopes everyone enjoyed the
Sixth Annual Brownsville Latin Jazz Festival held from Thursday October 17
to Saturday October 19. It was an
exciting weekend of amazing music throughout
Brownsville! Here was the line-up for this year's entertainment:
THURSDAY OCTOBER 17
Now a tradition, the festival kicked off with a concert by the award-winning,
internationally
acclaimed
UTB/TSC Jazz Bands, directed by Terry Tomlin.
Their concert took place at
UTB/TSC's SETB
Lecture Hall at 8:00 PM.
The tickets, priced at only $5, went to the band fund. We thank everyone
who supported the UTB/TSC's Fine Arts Program
and their Jazz Bands...
they are truly phenomenal!
After the
UTB/TSC Jazz Bands Concert, the fun continued
on
the beautiful outdoor
patio of
the Rio Steak House in the
Paseo Plaza
Shopping Center
with fine dining
and hot dancing
to Corpus
Christi's
Ritmo Caribe!
The music began at 9:30 PM, and, needless to say, so did the dancing!
FRIDAY OCTOBER 18
Since
you couldn't go to Cuba, we brought Cuba to you!
"ONE NIGHT IN LA HABANA" the
Brownsville's Latin Jazz
Festival's
headline event at the
Jacob Brown Auditorium promised to be
the greatest
party
of the year...and it was! It was a night of fantastic food, drinks,
music and
dancing
featuring the
Chuchito Valdés Afro-Cuban Ensemble!
Chuchito
Valdés is considered
foremost among of the rising stars
of Latin
Jazz today. A third
generation composer and
pianist, his father is
none
other than the great
Chucho Valdés,
the four-time
Grammy
Award
winning
piano master, and his grandfather is
Bébo Valdés, yet
another great
pianist
and a truly historic figure in Afro-Cuban music. World
renowned sax
& flute
player
from Australia,
Laksar Reese and
six other Latin Jazz
pros from
the Chicago area participate in Chuchito's
Afro-Cuban Ensemble. Click
here
for bios, reviews and more on Chuchito, Laksar and the rest of the
Afro-Cuban Ensemble!
Chuchito also held a FREE WORKSHOP "Afro-Cuban Piano From Its Roots to Today" at noon on Saturday.
Ritmo Caribe
from Corpus Christi opened the show at 8:00 PM
sharp
and quickly got the crowd warmed up for Chuchito. With an
all-pro lineup
that includes
band leader
Gus Torres of Panama,
public radio-host Chris Ortiz, musical director/pianist Jon Perez,
and eight more
accomplished and diverse
musicians, Ritmo Caribe
produce, hands-down, the
tightest Latin sound in the Gulf Coast!
THE DOORS OPENED AT
7:00 PM, THE MUSIC STARTED AT 8:00 PM
AND THE SHOW WASN'T OVER UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT!
General Admission for this event
was
$20 per person.
Admission for students with ID and
senior
citizens was $10 at the door.
Reserved VIP Tables for eight persons were available for only $500!
SATURDAY OCTOBER 19
THE CAPITOL THEATRE STREET PARTY is an outdoor picnic, a party, a movie,
a
street
dance
and a concert... all in one! Every year, this event features the top Latin Jazz
bands
and dancers from
locations as diverse as
Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, Australia,
Mexico,
Chicago, Austin,
Corpus Christi and,
of course, South Texas and our own Rio Grande
Valley.
Thanks to our sponsors, including the City of Brownsville, the event was FREE! That's right...
ADMISSION WAS FREE! Preferred food & drink vendors were there,
so everyone had a chance
to hang out, eat, drink, and be merry! We worked hard to put this show together
so you'd enjoy it...it was therefore a real pleasure to see everyone dancing,
laughing, and just having a grand time.
The music started at 3:00 PM and ended about 11:30 PM at the
Capitol Theatre
on the
corner
of
11th & Levee
Streets
in Brownsville's beautiful Historic Downtown District.
Click
here for a
map and/or
driving instructions to
the Capitol Theatre festival location!
2:45 PM - The University of Texas - Pan American (UTPA) Latin Jazz Ensemble, a twelve
piece band
consisting of
UTPA students and faculty under the
direction of
Chris Gassler opened the
festivities.
Their first time at the Brownsville Latin Jazz Festival, the UTPA
Ensemble wowed the audience!
3:50 PM - Our favorite Caribbean band,
Sugar Iced Tea,
is the house band for the Yacht Club in McAllen, the hottest dance club in the
Rio Grande Valley. Originally from the island of Curaçao, part of the
Netherlands, Antilles along with the islands of Bonaire, St. Maarten, St.
Eustatius and Saba, this super tight band
was a tropical treat, especially for those that like to dance!
5:00 PM - These are the youngest, funkiest and hottest
jazz guitars in
the region...
Matt Meade and
Grayson Murphy were winners
of a Best in Genre
Award
(Jazz/Funk) at the STTC's
prestigious 2002 South Texas
Talent
Showcase!
Matt's father, Jay Meade, an expert drummer, keeps up with the
fastest
kids
in the music neighborhood. René Sandoval, originally scheduled to
accompany Meade-Murphy, couldn't make it due to a prior commitment at the Texas Jazz
Festival in
Corpus.
6:00 PM - BSPA's
great partner,
CINESOL Latino Film Festival was showing
the must-see, historic film that started the whole Afro-Cuban music revival...
Buena Vista Social Club,
which screened between sets inside
the
Capitol Theatre.
The audio was running through our mega sound system so, just in case you hadn't
seen BVSC,
you could still appreciate its ground-breaking music! Those who had
never seen
the movie or
heard the CD were in for a real treat!
7:00 PM -
Del
Castillo was voted "Best Mexican/Traditional
Latino Band"
and "Best
World Music Band" at the 2001-2002 Austin Music Awards!
This
outstanding
band
features
Brownsville-born brothers and guitar virtuosos
Ricky and
Mark
Del Castillo on
guitars, accompanied on bass by Albert
"Beto" Besteiro,
former
creative
genius of The Connectors, Rick Holeman on
percussion and
other top Austin
musicians! If you like the Gypsy Kings, then you love Del Castillo. Their latest CD,
"Brothers of the Castle"
was on sale at
the concert. Here's
a
sound clip from their tune "Spanish
Castle
Tango".
8:00 PM - The state champs of Brownsville's top dance academy,
Unlimited
Dance,
under the
direction of master-choreographer
Mayté Sanchez,
graced the
Brownsville
Latin Jazz Festival stage
for the fifth year in a row!
This year's dance troupe included: Liliana
Barrientos, Elizabeth Rodriguez,
Mayra Vidal, Deynna Dragustinovis,
Jackie Varón and Analyn Nuñez. They
also performed at the
Chuchito Valdés
concert on Friday night!
8:20 PM - The Rodriguez brothers, Michael, Mark and Joe, also
Brownsville
natives based in
Austin, make up the core of
The Brew,
Brownsville's all-time
favorite band. The
Brew's sound has evolved
from an eclectic mix of
cultures: Spanish, Flamenco,
Middle Eastern
and Latin. Their repertoire
includes Salsa, Charangas, and
Merengues
that will get you off your
seat and on the dance floor!
"Latin Brew",
the third and latest release by
The Brew, was
produced by band leader and
guitarist extraordinaire
Michael Rodriguez and was
on sale at the festival.
9:20 PM - That's right! The Capitol Theatre Street Party ended in grand fashion when none other than Chuchito Valdés himself made a surprise appearance. Chuchito amazed his audience for a second day in a row, this time as a quintet playing straight-ahead jazz and powerful Afro-Cuban dance tunes that enchanted the crowd, almost literally lifting them from their seats and prompting them to head straight for the dance floor!
Immediately after the Capitol Theatre Street Party, the fun continued
at
Cobblehead's Bar &
Grill, Brownsville's most popular watering hole. The dancing never
ceased thanks to great music by Corpus
Christi's
Latin Talk. The music began at
9:30 PM and ended at 2:00AM.
CLICK TO GO TO THE SEVENTH ANNUAL BROWNSVILLE LATIN JAZZ FESTIVAL!
©2005-2006 BSPA - All Rights Reserved
Last Updated: September 09, 2008