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Eddie Palmeri and LP
artist Giovanni Hidalgo |
by Arturo Riera
San Jose, the city with the moderate climate and home of high-tech,
is not normally mentioned in the same breath as “Latin”, “jazz”,
or “funk”. Thanks to the LP
artists who entertained last August at the 16th annual Comcast San Jose
Jazz Festival, this is apt to change.
Over a four-day period, top flight Latin and jazz artists, many of them LP
artists, performed on the main stage, on side stages including those dedicated
to Salsa and Latin Jazz, and on the street in impromptu jams.
LP was out in full force, from headliner/bandleader Eddie Palmieri to virtuoso
conguero Giovanni
Hidalgo, who, of course, performed on the LP Galaxy series that bears his
name.
It seemed you had merely to shift your eyes and another famous artist would
cross your field of vision. Look one way and there was LP statesman Armando
Peraza. Look the other and it was Carol
Steele, who has carried the spirit of Cuban percussion to a host of pop
artists, including Joe Jackson and Joan Baez. Front and center, John Santos
was backing John Calloway and Diaspora alongside Ray Vega. Top player and educator Michael
Spiro was there too, working his LP congas, as was Latin jazz composer
Bobby Matos, who played timbales and bells, backed by his son Jud and conga
player Robertito Martinez.
David Garibaldi,
drummer for Tower of Power and a beaming new father, also made the rounds.
So did LP phenom Dafnis
Prieto, composer, Latin drumset specialist and recording artist, who appeared
with both Yosvanni
Terry and the NYC band Columna B. Word is that when Yosvanni is not channeling
John Coltrane through his sax, he plays a mean shekere! More buzz surrounded
Babatunde Lee, namely for his band leading and distinctive way of incorporating LP
instruments with his drumset.
For more on the festival, go to www.sanjosejazz.org.
LP has a proud seat at the San Jose Jazz Society board, a non-profit organization
that injects a solid jazz component into traditional educational curriculum
and presents the largest free jazz festival in the world.
The local newspaper termed the San Jose Festival as “a gift to the jazz
lovers of the world”.
Click to see
exclusive shots of the festival!
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