LATIN COOL @ LULA

Lula Lounge launches Latin Cool - new latin jazz series featuring local and international latin jazz luminaries.

In the words of New Orleans jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton, jazz was born with a "Spanish tinge."

Our Latin Cool series pays tribute to the intertwined histories of jazz and latin music and profiles the musicians continuing to push latin jazz in new directions. Toronto is home to some of the world’s best known latin jazz players and, because of it’s special relationship to Cuba, is a favourite place to play among that country’s top artists. As in the New Orleans of the 30s and New York of the 50s and 60s, there much overlap in players in Toronto jazz and salsa groups. The result is a mutual influence between jazz and salsa that enriches both.

With the Latin Cool series, Lula Lounge returns to its roots. The series will launch with the Luisito Orbegoso’s sextet, followed by an old time Descarga. Subsequent concerts in the series will continue to celebrate the world class latin jazz players that make Toronto their home. Hilario Duran, Roberto Occhipinti, Alexi Baro and Nick “The Brownman” Ali will all make contributions to the series and continue to explore that sweet spot where jazz and latin come together.

While the series launches with a celebration of the local latin jazz scene, it will also include an impressive array of international performers. Among them will be Brazilian guitarist Badi Assad, New York latin jazz king Ralph Irizarry and Argentina’s popular interpreter of Brazilian music Beto Caletti. Toronto veteran presenter Gary Topp contributions to the series include the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen (who was recently a special guest of the Guelph jazz Festival) and a five night engagement by the saxophone group Habana Sax.

See lula.ca for concert details

September 28
Luisito Orbegoso Sextet + Alta Descarga
$10 Door 8pm Performance 9pm
Dinner reservations guarantee best seating.

Luis Orbegoso - congas / bongos / timbales / hand percussion
Mario Delmonte- drums and timbales
Paco Luviano-bass
David Virelles-piano
Luis Denis-alto saxophone
Jalidan Ruiz-drums and timbales

Lula Lounge owes its beginning to Toronto’s latin jazz musicians. Back in 2000, the owners of Lula were the primary forces behind Open City - a community arts organization that ran out of their loft spaces at 2 Federal street (near Dufferin and Dundas). Open City organized events that showcased both local and international visual artists and dancers. The weekend-long festivals culminated in huge latin jazz descargas (or jam sessions) lead by conga player Lusito Orbegoso. Many of the musicians who participated in the Open City days are now regular performers at Lula Lounge as part of Lula’s regular Friday and Saturday salsa nights.

Following Luisito Orbegoso’s sextet, Lula hosts an old time Descarga that will give musicians a chance to jam and experiment in a way that most gigs don’t make room for. (Musicians wishing to participate in the Descarga are encouraged to contact Lula Lounge before September 23 in order to give Orbegoso a chance to coordinate participants.)

Luis Orbegoso (known in the latin recording industry as “Luisito”) was born in Lima, Perú in 1971 and moved to Canada in 1972. A 1994 graduate of the Humber College music program in 1994 and has been a member of the Toronto Musicians Association since 1993. Luisito was a student of Memo Acevedo (professor of percussion at New York University) and jump-started his career as a professional conga player with Memo’s ground breaking salsa band “Banda Brava” in 1993. He has performed and/or recorded with Luis Mario Ochoa & Cimarrón, Dominicanada, Jerry Gonzalez, Hilton Ruiz, Oscar de León, Hilario Durán, Nick Ali, Jane Bunnett, Diego Marulanda & Pacande, Chucho Valdéz, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Changuito, Giovanny Hidalgo, Ralph Irrizarry, Nelly Furtado, Kenwood Dennard and far too many more to list here. Luisito is one of the most in-demand percussionists in Toronto.

October 2
Gary Topp presents: Badi Assad
$20 Advance at Rotate This and Sam the Record Man, www.ticketweb.com
Doors 7:00pm, Performance 8:30pm. Dinner reservations guarantee best seating.

"For Badi, stellar finger-style skills are merely a jumping-off point. She has developed an astonishing one-woman band technique, adding gorgeous singing, hand percussion and a startling menagerie of percussive vocal effects to her stellar fretwork. The results are technically stupefying and drop-dead beautiful." -GUITAR PLAYER

Tom Jobim once said it seems that Brazilians are born with a guitar in their arms. Badi Assad epitomizes this innate musical sensitivity. Born in '66 in São João da Boa Vista in the state of São Paulo, Badi (pronounced BAH-djee) started learning guitar when she was 14. Her father, Jorge Assad plays bandolim and her two older brothers are the worldwide renowned guitarists Sérgio and Odair Assad of Duo Assad.

Badi studied classical guitar at the University of Rio de Janeiro. Her first launch to stardom was in '84 when she won the Young Instrumentalists Contest in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later she joinined the Guitar Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, headed by guitar player Turíbio Santos as conductor. By '87, when she was only 20 years old, Badi had played in Europe, Israel and Brazil together with guitarist Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis. Together, they created Duo Romantique.

Badi's first album, Dança dos Tons [Dance of Sounds], was released in Brazil in '89 with compositions by her brother Sérgio Assad, Leo Brouwer, and Roland Dyens. Badi wrote the lyrics for two of Sérgio's compositions. Chesky Records has released two of her albums in North America, Badi Assad-Solo, and Rhythms.

When Badi performs, her beauty, her music, and her talent fill the room with magic and suspense -- you never know what is coming next. As she says, "I play with my heart -- and my heart plays with me."

"Badi (pronounced Ba-Jee) Assad redefines solo (guitar) performance! Revelatory, a brilliant display of innovation, imagination and skill...almost hypnotically compelling." - LOS ANGELES TIMES

Toronto is in for a very rare treat when New York City Master Timbalero Ralph Irizarry brings his 8-piece ensemble Son Café to Lula Lounge this October. Irizarry is best known for his killer latin jazz outfit Timbalaye and for his work with Ruben Blades and Ray Barretto. The impetus behind the creation of Son Café was to celebrate the dance music of Cuba - originally made popular by the likes of Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco and Sonora Matancera.

Powerhouse Irizarry is joined in this project by vocalist Elsa Ozuna who though new to the New York salsa scene, has been widely compared to Celia Cruz for the simultaneous ease and strength of her voice. (Son Café's first release, Bailando Con... ¡Azúcar!, includes an heartwarming tribute the legendary salsa Queen herself.) Ozuna's singing finds a perfect match in those of veteran vocalist Jorge Maldonado. While the rest of the band is based in New York, Irizarry will bring to Toronto a very special guest from Chicago. Pianist Edwin Sanchez has played with Jimmy Bosch and Africando. Son Café's first release boasted liner notes by the legendary Ray Barretto who first discovered Irizarry's talents on a snowy night in 1978 at Manhattan's Corso Club. Son Café will soon be known world over for their highly danceable treatments of salsa pura and son cubano all combined with the best of the typical New York swing.

"However you like your coffee, strong and black, or cream with sugar, Son Café will satisfy your taste buds every time. The groove is strong, the beat is steady.... For those of you that still remember what great dance music was, this one's for you!" — Ray Barretto

Ralph Irizarry is well known as one of the world's most "swinging" timbaleros, whose distinctive playing style has made an indelible mark on those artists with whom he has performed. Born in Spanish Harlem of Puerto Rican parents, Ralph is self-taught, learning to play from listening to his brother's music albums and sneaking into nightclubs at the age of 16. While still a teenager, Ralph's family returned to Puerto Rico, where he gained his first professional experience with groups such as La Terrifica, and sitting in with El Gran Combo, Sonora Ponceña and many others.

Three years later, Ralph moved back to New York City where he began playing with local groups. One snowy Friday night in 1978, at Manhattan's Corso Nightclub he caught the attention of the legendary Ray Barretto, with whom he has made five recordings since. He has recorded with David Byrne, Paul Simon, Harry Belafonte, Earl Klugh, Juan Luis Guerra, Cachao, Celia Cruz and Yomo Toro. He is especially known for his work with Ruben Blades and Seis Del Solar with whom he recorded and toured internationally for 13 years. Ruben Blades has called Ralph "Innovative! Powerful! Irizarry leads one of the best Latin Jazz ensembles ever to perform in New York, truly outstanding in every way."

Ralph was also instrumental in the creation of Seis Del Solar's two Latin Jazz CDs on Messidor Records. He is a sought-after studio musician who has played on countless jingles, film and television scores. Ralph's special charisma has also brought him an unexpected acting career. He appeared in the role of Pito Fernandez in the major motion picture "The Mambo Kings" and has also appeared in films and documentaries such as "Cachao", "Como Mi Ritmo No Hay Dos" with Andy Garcia, "The roots of Rhythm" with Harry Belafonte, and with Ruben Blades "The Life and Times of Ruben Blades."

Toronto’s brand new Caribbean Latin Jazz group CaneFire launches their debut CD with a special concert at Lula. Featuring guest appearances by David Rudder, Eliana Cuevas, and others.

CaneFire is a Caribbean Latin Jazz experience that features the steelpan (steel drum) in a way you’ve never heard it before. The original compositions of pianist and bandleader Jeremy Ledbetter form the basis of CaneFire’s repertoire, combining Trinidadian calypso, Latin rhythms, jazz and blues to create a unique, exciting sound. At the heart of this sound is the steelpan, played by Mark Mosca , who is quickly establishing himself as one of the world’s premiere pannists. The band also includes Cuban powerhouse Alexis Baró on trumpet; Latin jazz specialist Paco Luviano on bass; and the explosive Cuban duo of Chendy León on drums and Alberto Suárez on congas.

CaneFire premiered at Lula Lounge in May of 2005, and have since performed at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre and the Beaches International Jazz Festival. On October 13 they return to Lula to launch their debut CD, “Kaiso Blue” , recorded this summer at CBC’s Studio 211. For this show they will be joined by vocalists David Rudder (Trinidad) and Eliana Cuevas (Venezuela), plus a few surprises. Jeremy Ledbetter is a versatile young composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who has covered a lot of ground in his short musical career. Having lived and worked in Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Cuba, the USA, Nicaragua, and Canada, Jeremy has acquired a wide range of musical influences to draw on in his compositions. Since 2002, Jeremy has worked with Trinidadian legend David Rudder as his musical director and pianist.

October 18 to 21
Gary Topp Presents Sun Ra Arkestra (under the directio of Marshall Allen)
$30 Advance at Sam the Record Man and Rotate This, Ticketweb.com
Doors 7pm, Performance 9pm
Dinner reservations guarantee best seating.

Saturn is the place that the late-Sun Ra claimed as home, even though a more earthly account would have his birthplace (22 May 1914) and resting place (30 May 1993) as Birmingham, Alabama. Composer, arranger, keyboard master and philosophical guru (and Trickster), Le Sony'Ra became an internationally acclaimed exponent of free jazz, a leader in retro-swing and a continuing source of breath-taking originality in the music that we call jazz. And for 50+ years, his ever-changing, ever-versatile Arkestra have done little else but roll down highways, mount stage steps, and blow minds. They swing like no other.

"The Sun Ra Arkestra takes the stage in glittering costumes and outlandish headgear, looking like the house band at a particularly wild Star Trek convention and sounding like nothing else on earth...Since Sun Ra’s death in 1993, the patented mixture of swampy big-band and riotous free jazz has been presided over by saxophonist Marshall Allen, who launches tonight’s proceedings with a squealing solo...Everyone plays flat out, generating furious noise and energy in a rambunctious free jazz blow-out. It’s not refined or pretty, but it’s thrilling; briefly, the spirit of ’68 lives." - London (UK) February 2005

(Photo: Alan Nahigian Marshall Allen)
Marshall Belford Allen, alto saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and arranger, was born May 25, 1924 in Louisville, Kentucky and started clarinet lessons at age 10. At 18, he enlisted in the Army's 92nd Infantry (renowned as the Buffalo Soldiers), playing clarinet and alto saxophone in the 17th Division Special Service Band. Stationed in Paris during World War II, he played with pianist Art Simmons and saxophonist Don Byas, and he toured and recorded with James Moody during the late '40's. Upon honorable discharge, Mr. Allen enrolled in the Paris Conservatory of Music, studying clarinet with Delacluse. Returning to the States in 1951, Marshall settled in Chicago, where he led his own bands, playing in clubs and dance halls, while writing his own music and arrangements, as he continues to do today.

During the mid-'50's, Marshall met Sun Ra and became a student of his precepts. After joining the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1958, Marshall Allen led Sun Ra's formidable reed section for over 40 years (a role akin to the position of Johnny Hodges in the Duke Ellington orchestra). Marshall Allen was one of the first jazz musicians to play traditional African music and what is now called "world music," working frequently with Olatunji and his Drums of Passion. In fact, Marshall is most likely the sole jazz musician who builds and plays the kora (a popular West African multi-stringed instrument), and he has been a major factor in its introduction to American audiences, as well as the world at large.

Marshall Allen is featured on over 200 Sun Ra releases, as well as appearing as special guest soloist in concert and on recordings with such diverse groups as NRBQ, Phish, Sonic Youth, Diggable Planets, Terry Adams, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

Perhaps most significantly, Marshall Allen assumed the helm of the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1995 after the ascension of Sun Ra in 1993 and John Gilmore in 1995. Mr. Allen continues to reside at the Sun Ra Residence in Philadelphia, composing, writing and arranging for the Arkestra much like his mentor, totally committed to a life of discipline centered totally on the study, research, and further development of Sun Ra's musical precepts.

Marshall maintains the Sun Ra residence as a living museum dedicated to the compilation, restoration and preservation of Sun Ra's music, memorabilia, and artifacts. Marshall has launched the Sun Ra Arkestra into a dimension beyond that of mere "ghost" band by writing fresh arrangements of Sun Ra's music, as well as composing new music for the Arkestra. He works unceasingly to keep the big-band tradition alive, reworking arrangements of the music of Fletcher Henderson and Jimmie Lunceford for the Arkestra to play, along with many other American standards.

Hot off their 2005 Juno win for their latest album New Danzon, The Hilario Duran Trio featuring Roberto Occhipinti on bass returns to Lula Lounge. Duran is one of the most respected pianists working in latin jazz today.

"Hilario Durán is an unparalleled pianist, as well as being a composer and arranger of the first order... one of the greatest Stone and Spin Cuban pianists of this 20th Century." - Chucho Valdés

Hilario Durán
Hilario Durán was born in La Habana, Cuba, on October 10th, 1953. In 1968, he started his musical education at the Conservatory Amadeo Roldán in La Habana. In 1976, Durán joined the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music in substitution for pianist Chucho Valdés. When Arturo Sandoval formed his band in 1981, Hilario Durán joined him and worked with him for 10 years, as composer, arranger and producer as well as playing both piano and keyboard and touring at major jazz festivals around the world, sharing stages with such outstanding musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Legrand and others.

In 1990, Durán formed his own group, Perspectiva, which toured successfully throughout Latin America and Europe, and released several musically innovative and critically acclaimed albums, most notably "Tiembla Tierra" and "Buscando Cuerdas". In 1991, Hilario Durán participated as a pianist in Jane Bunnett's Juno Award winner CD "Spirits of Havana". In 1995, following a successful European tour with his group Perspectiva, which included a stint at Ronnie Scott's (April 1995), Durán decided the time was now right for him to pursue his solo career, allowing him more scope to follow the many different areas of his musical interests.

In 1998 Hilario decided to move to Canada with his family and released the "Habana Nocturna" album, "a round-trip ticket from Cuban music to jazz and back; a landmark album of Cuban jazz in the nineties" according to Nat Chediak (author of "Diccionario de Jazz Latino").

Durán made his establishment as a musician in Canada in 1998, working in different areas, as a piano teacher in the music program of Humber College (Toronto) and Carleton University (Ottawa) as well as ensemble teacher in the same program at Humber College.

Durán has been for many years a prominent member of the Canadian saxophonist and flutist Jane Bunnett's "Spirits of Havana" Afro-Cuban jazz band, with whom he has recorded several albums. He has worked also as composer, arranger and pianist on the sound track for the animated cartoon "George and Martha" (Nelvana Production) and the recent film "Tropic of Cancer" of the director Ramiro Puerta.

His 2005 release New Danzon with Roberto Occhipinti and Horacio Hernandez won a 2005 Juno for Best Contemporary Jazz album.

Beto Caletti
Argentinian guitarist interprets the music of Brazil.

Although singer and guitarist Beto Caletti was born in Buenos Aires his work is heavily influenced by the rhythms and melodies of Brazil. He has worked for over ten years on investigation, composition and performance of Brazilian music, playing on stages at Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Bogotá, Mexico City, Montreux, Barcelona, and in the most important cultural centers and theatres in Buenos Aires.

Having acquired musical training at Conservatorio Nacional de Música Carlos Lopez Buchardo and Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, he has taught Brazilian rithmics and guitar at Instituto Tecnológico de Música Contemporánea, Escuela Popular de Música -Sindicato de Músicos and Escuela de Música de Buenos Aires.Caletti was a special guest at the Brazilian Night in Montreux Jazz Festival and is winner of ACE Award.

Has published two music instruction books on brazilian music: "Guitarra brasilera" and "Samba, choro e bossa nova", and has produced the CDs "Eu quero um samba", "Travessia brasileira" , "Notorious en vivo" and "Esquinas".

November 2 to 6
Gary Topp Presents Habana Sax, Direct from Cuba
$25 and $30 Advance at Sam the Record Man and Rotate This, Ticketweb.com
Doors 7pm, Performance 9pm (8:30 on Thursday and Sunday)
Dinner reservations guarantee best seating.

People’s Perceptions of Cuban Music music have been deeply influenced by Wim Wenders's Buena Vista Social Club documentary. Imagine a sax quartet with virtuoso percussion that blows away this stereotype with a sound that mixes traditional Afro-Cubano music with Latin jazz, funk, pop and hiphop. That would be Habana Sax. "As a quartet of saxophones, we are unique," says leader Jorge Almeida” Legend has it that promoter Gary Topp was sitting by a campfire in northern Ontario when he tuned into a magic frequency on his short-wave radio. When Topp came back to Toronto and did a little digging, he discovered he'd been listening to Almeida and his band. He had to bring them to Toronto. -- NOW, 2002

The reintroduction of Cuban rhythms after forty years of isolation has taken the U.S. by storm. The wonderful sounds of Buena Vista Social Club and the various traditional Cuban artists who have toured around that success has set the stage for round two of this continuing musical adventure!

"Habana Sax are one of the most extraordinary and unique musical groups in the world. Period Habana Sax are new music in every sense of the phrase; they are at once uncompromising, fascinating, rigorous and entertaining. They gave a virtuosic, exhausting and triumphant performance from start to finish." - PAUL RAPP, NEW YORK, REVIEWING THEIR FIRST US PERFORMANCE

" a whirlwind of dancing Afro-Cuban rhythms that ties together the ensemble's shifting palette and propels the horn‚s ecstatic fervour." - STUART BROOMER, TORONTO LIFE and editor of CODA JAZZ MAGAZINE

A night of funk, bossa and flamenco lead by the sweet vocals of Machado and Martinez

Evaristo Machado is part of a new generation of Cuban composers of modern salsa and Afro-Latin jazz, as well as a powerful singer and dancer. This Cuban-Canadian combines salsa with traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms and flamenco. The result is highly danceable songs with sophisticated arrangements, innovative rhythms and ear-catching melodies.

Since forming Evaristo and Orchestra in 2000, has been playing in clubs around Toronto working with a variety of arrangers, including Juno award nominee Hilario Duran and new talent Julio Cesar Jimenez. Backed up by a 10-piece band, Evaristo performs both original material and Latin Jazz and traditional Cuban music.

Evaristo was born in Havana City, Cuba, in 1962. He graduated from Havana’s Ignacio Cervantes Music School, training to be an operatic lyric tenor. This included training in piano, acting, and musical composition and history. He also studied classical guitar for 8 years. In the 1980s, Evaristo started playing guitar and singing publicly, both in street performances, and with various rock and pop bands around the Havana club scene. He has been composing music since he was a teenager. One of the bands Evaristo played with, Groupo Mezcla, a well-known pop-rock band that still plays in Havana, recorded some of his songs, which became popular on the national radio.

In 1989, Evaristo joined the famous Tropicana Nightclub in Havana as a singer and dancer. then moved to Milan in 1995, where he began his career as a salsa singer. When he came to Canada in 1997, Evaristo met Gramy-nominee Jane Bunnett and started performing with her Cuban jazz ensemble, which includes Hilario Duran and her husband Larry Kramer. He performed at the Du Maurier Theatre with Memo Acevedo in 1998.

Amanda Martinez is a Canadian singer, actress and host of JAZZ.FM 91’s latin jazz show Café Latino. As a band leader and singer, Amanda has been invited to be part of the TD Jazz Festival , the Distillery Jazz Festival, Harbourfront's Ritmo y Color Festival, and a regular performer at jazz clubs including The Rex Hotel, Sassafraz & Mezzetta. Her voice can be heard on various documentaries for CBC, and was hired by both Hallmark and Fisher Price to record two children's albums.

On television Amanda has guested on shows including This is Wonderland, Train 48, Streetime & Mutant X and hosted Citytv's Ontario Lottery tonight.

Trinidadian born, New York trained trumpet player Nick "The Brownman" Ali has just under 100 CD recording credits and leader of the hard hitting latin jazz unit Cruzao.

Cruzao funkifies it's audiences with Brownman's original latin-funk compositions and high-energy virtuositic jazz soloists.

media contact: Jose Ortega/ Tracy Jenkins

email: media@lula.ca

website: www.lula.ca

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