Flynn Center Presents
Ray Vega’s Latin Jazz
All-Stars
Welcome to the 2016-2017 Student Matinee Season!
Today’s scholars and researchers say creativity is the top skill our kids will need
when they enter the workforce of the future, so we salute YOU for valuing the
educational and inspirational power of live performance. By using this study guide
you are taking an even greater step toward implementing the arts as a vital and
inspiring educational tool.
We hope you find this guide useful. If you have any suggestions for content or
format of this guide, please contact [email protected].
Enjoy the show! -Education Staff
An immense thank you...
The Flynn Center recognizes that field trip resources for schools are extremely limited, thus matinee prices for
schools are significantly lower than prices for public performances. As a non-profit organization, the Flynn is
deeply grateful to the foundations, corporations, and individuals whose generous financial support keeps
matinees affordable for schools.
A special thank you to Linda and Ken Fishell with additional support from Joan Lenes for sponsoring this
matinee performance.
Thank you to the Flynn Matinee 2016-17 underwriters:
Northfield Savings Bank, Andrea’s Legacy Fund, Champlain Investment Partners, LLC, Bari and Peter
Dreissigacker, Forrest and Frances Lattner Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Tracy and Richard Tarrant, TD
Charitable Foundation, Vermont Arts Council, Vermont Concert Artists Fund of the Vermont Community
Foundation, Vermont Community Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for
the Arts, and the Flynn Jazz Endowment. Additional support from the Bruce J. Anderson Foundation, Green
Mountain Fund, & the Walter Cerf Community Fund.
Ray Vega: Artist,
educator, Jazz pioneer
Growing up in the South Bronx, Ray Vega
was immersed in the heart of two vibrant
New York City music scenes: Jazz and Salsa.
After studying trumpet, Jazz harmony,
improvisation and Afro-Caribbean
percussion, Vega rose to prominence by
collaborating with various Jazz legends and
releasing a series of critically acclaimed solo
albums. Vega’s success, established him as
one of the most unique and innovative
artists within the international Jazz and
Latin Music scenes. Aside from performing,
Vega is also an educator and has conducted
master classes at various colleges,
conservatories and organizations. Currently,
Vega teaches trumpet and jazz history at
the University of Vermont.
Dig Deeper into the Show Experience
Pre-Viewing:
DISCUSS: Jazz can provide lessons in how to function in a democratic society. As a jazz musician you
have freedom and responsibility and you must contribute to your musical surroundings—sometimes
listening to other musicians and supporting them and sometimes coming forward and making a
statement while always being sensitive to those around you. What are some other examples of ways in
which music influences the way that we interact with our surroundings or provides a metaphor for a
broader theme in our lives?
CONNECT: Do you have a piece of music that you feel represents something about who you are? What is
it about this piece that affects you and that you connect to?
While Viewing:
LOOK FOR: How does Ray interact with the other members of the band on stage? How do they
communicate? Is it always verbal or are they using other techniques to speak to each other? What
does this say about their relationship on stage? Do you think this comes naturally or is this something
they had to learn and perfect?
Post-Viewing:
REFLECT: Why do you think Jazz was the chosen genre for Ray Vega? How does jazz help him tell his
story, connect to his cultural roots, and share his culture with others? If you were going to tell your life
story creatively, what medium or genre would you use? Why would you choose that format as the ideal
way to express your story?
Latin Jazz:
a History
Latin jazz, also called Afro-Cuban jazz, a style of
music that blends rhythms and percussion
instruments of Cuba and the Spanish Caribbean
with jazz and its fusion of European and African
musical elements.
Latin jazz was the result of a long process of
interaction between American and Cuban music
styles. In New Orleans around the turn of the 20th
century, Latin American music influenced the city’s
early jazz style, endowing it with a distinctive
syncopated (accents shifted to weak beats)
rhythmic character. A well-known pianist and
composer of the time, Jelly Roll Morton, referred to
that Latin influence as the “Spanish tinge” of jazz.
Early in the 20th century, several American
musicians adopted the Cuban habanera rhythm (a
syncopated four-beat pattern) in their
compositions; most notably, W.C. Handy used it in
his “St. Louis Blues” (1914).
In the decades leading to 1940, Latin American
melodies and dance rhythms made their way
farther northward into the United States, while the
sounds of American jazz spread through the
Caribbean and Central and South America.
Musicians and dancers across the entire region
became familiar with both musical languages, and
the large bands of the swing era expanded their
repertory to include rumbas and congas, two types
of Afro-Cuban dance music. Those developments
laid the foundation for the fusion of jazz and Cuban
music, a process inaugurated in 1940 in New York
City with the establishment of the Machito and the
Afro-Cubans orchestra, under the musical
directorship of Cuban-born trumpeter Mario Bauzá.
For many jazz critics, Bauzá’s tune “Tanga,” one of
the Machito orchestra’s hits dating to the early
1940s, was the first true example of the music that
is now known as Latin jazz.
Bauzá was born in Havana in 1911 and studied music
at a local conservatory. He joined the Havana
Symphony at age 16, while already playing jazz with
local groups. In 1930 he moved to New York City,
where he played with singer and bandleader Noble
Sissle. Bauzá became music director for the Chick
Webb Orchestra and played saxophone and trumpet
in the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, and
Cab Calloway.
Machito’s sound inspired pianist and bandleader Stan
Kenton, who began experimenting with a mixture of
big-band jazz sounds and Afro-Cuban percussion
that led to his recordings of “The Peanut Vendor” and
“Cuban Carnival” in 1947. Meanwhile, Dizzy Gillespie,
one of the leaders of the new jazz style that came to
be known as bebop, decided to combine Afro-Cuban
dance rhythms with bebop elements, relying heavily
on the guidance of Cuban percussionist, dancer, and
composer Chano Pozo. Gillespie and Pozo’s musical
synthesis became known as Afro-Cuban jazz or, for a
short period, “Cubop.” One of their collaborative
efforts produced the 1947 hit “Manteca,” which
quickly became a standard of the jazz repertoire.
The growth of Afro-Cuban jazz continued with vigour
in the 1950s. In December 1950 producer Norman
Granz recorded the successful Afro-Cuban Jazz
Suite, which featured the Machito orchestra along
with soloists Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, Buddy
Rich on drums, Flip Phillips on tenor saxophone, and
Harry (“Sweets”) Edison on trumpet, with
arrangements by Arturo (“Chico”) O’Farrill. Musicians
in Cuba, led by pianists Frank Emilio Flynn and
Ramón (“Bebo”) Valdés, also kept in touch with and
contributed to the development of this new style.
Valdés’s “Con Poco Coco,” released in 1952, became
the first spontaneously improvised Afro-Cuban jam
session known to have been recorded.
Latin Jazz: a History, Continued
As audience preferences evolved and economic
incentives for musicians diminished in the 1950s, big
bands began to dissolve. Afro-Cuban jazz started to
be called Latin jazz, most likely for marketing
reasons, and the music, like jazz itself, began to be
performed by smaller groups. Pianist George
Shearing and percussionist Cal Tjader were the
leaders of this trend in Latin jazz on the U.S. West
Coast. They both led small combos, produced
numerous recordings, and featured other prominent
Latin jazz performers, such as pianist Eddie Cano,
bassist Al McKibbon, and percussionist Willie Bobo.
Afro-Cuban drummers played a fundamental role in
the development of Latin jazz from the late 1940s
through the 1960s, giving the genre its seemingly
inexhaustible stream of rhythmic patterns, phrasing,
and styles. Conga and bongo drum players, such as
Cándido Camero, Mongo Santamaría, Armando
Peraza, Carlos (“Patato”) Valdés, Francisco
Aguabella, and José (“Buyú”) Mangual became a
ubiquitous presence in the Latin jazz recordings and
jam sessions of those years. Bandleader and
percussionist Tito Puente popularized the use in
Latin jazz of the vibraphone and the timbales, a pair
of shallow single-headed drums with a metal casing.
With players using sticks to strike not only the heads
but also the metal rims and sides of the instruments,
the timbales added several distinct timbres to the
music’s rhythmic component.
In the 1960s a new musical style from Brazil—the
syncopated, sparsely accompanied bossa nova
(“new trend”)—arrived in the United States. Many
established Latin jazz musicians added the bossa
nova tunes of Antônio Carlos Jobim to their
repertoire. (Although sometimes included under the
rubric of Latin jazz, the fusion of Brazilian music with
jazz properly deserves its own designation as
Brazilian jazz.)
From the 1970s onward, the development of Latin
jazz was characterized by the exploration of diverse
national traditions and the bridging of musical
borders. New generations of musicians expanded
the Afro-Cuban foundation of the music by adding
elements from other Latin American traditions.
Moreover, as a wave of young instrumentalists,
including virtuoso performers on piano, flute,
saxophone and trumpet—brought the phrasing and
instrumental articulation of Cuban and Puerto Rican
motifs and melodies to the music, the style’s earlier
dependence on percussionists began to diminish.
The Cuban orchestra Irakere was among the
emblematic ensembles of this decade. Led by pianist
Jesús (“Chucho”) Valdés (son of Bebo Valdés) and
featuring soloists such as clarinetist-saxophonist
Paquito D’Rivera and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, the
group was recognized for its innovative fusion of
jazz, Western classical music, rock, funk, and
Afro-Cuban religious music as exemplified by the
collection The Best of Irakere (1994).
In the 1980s the Fort Apache Band from New York
City, led by percussionist and trumpeter Jerry
González and his brother, bassist Andy González,
offered listeners a return to Latin-bebop fusions with
Latin jazz versions of the music of jazz pianist and
composer Thelonious Monk. Toward the end of the
20th century, Latin jazz instrumental soloists
claimed the limelight, and a number of outstanding
performers emerged, including pianists Michel
Camilo and Gonzalo Rubalcaba; saxophonists Justo
Almario and Javier Zalba; and percussionists such as
Giovanni Hidalgo and Horacio (“El Negro”)
Hernández. Meanwhile, Chucho Valdés became a
prominent leader of small ensembles. More recent
luminaries include pianists Danilo Pérez and Roberto
Fonseca, saxophonist David Sánchez, and drummer
Dafnis Prieto.
Latin jazz continued to gain popularity and critical
acclaim, and by the early 21st century it had become
one of the most dynamic and diverse components of
the jazz world. Notable recordings that represent
the range of music falling under the Latin jazz rubric
include David Sánchez, Obsesión(1998); Al McKibbon,
Tumbao para los congueros di mi vida (1999; “For All
the Conga Drummers in My Life”); Jane Bunnett,
Alma de Santiago (2001; “Soul of Santiago”); Charlie
Haden, Nocturne (2001); Dafnis Prieto, About the
Monks(2005); Sonido Isleño (with Ben Lapidus), Vive
Jazz (2005); and Chucho Valdés, Chucho’s Steps
(2010).
Source: https://www.britannica.com/art/Latin-jazz
Jazz:
a National Treasure
House Congressional Resolution 57
Passed by the 100th Congress of the United States of America Introduced by the Honorable John Conyers
Jr. (D-MI): Passed by the House of Representatives September 23, 1987; Passed by the Senate December 4,
1987.
●
Whereas, jazz has achieved preeminence throughout the world as an indigenous American music
and art form, bringing to this country and the world a uniquely American musical synthesis and
culture through the African-American experience and
○
makes evident to the world an outstanding artistic model of individual expression and
democratic cooperation within the creative process, thus fulfilling the highest ideals and
aspirations of our republic,
○
is a unifying force, bridging cultural, religious, ethnic and age differences in our diverse
society,
○
is a true music of the people, finding its inspiration in the cultures and most personal
experiences of the diverse peoples that constitute our Nation,
○
has evolved into a multifaceted art form which continues to birth and nurture new stylistic
idioms and cultural fusions,
○
has had an historic, pervasive and continuing influence on other genres of music both here
and abroad, and
○
has become a true international language adopted by musicians around the world as a music
best able to express contemporary realities from a personal perspective;
●
Whereas, this great American musical art form has not yet been properly recognized nor accorded
the institutional status commensurate with its value and importance;
●
Whereas, it is important for the youth of America to recognize and understand jazz as a significant
part of their cultural and intellectual heritage;
●
Whereas, inasmuch as there exists no effective national infrastructure to support and preserve jazz;
●
Whereas, documentation and archival support required by such a great art form has yet to be
systematically applied to the jazz field; and
●
Whereas, it is now in the best interest of the national welfare and all of our citizens to preserve and
celebrate this unique art form;
●
Now, therefore be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that it is
the sense of the Congress that jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American
treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is
preserved, understood and promulgated.
Reflection Questions:
●
Why would Congress pass a resolution recognizing the importance of Jazz in our country’s culture
and history? What is the significance of Jazz as an art form?
●
How does Ray Vega’s music and Latin Jazz generally impact the American artform? How does Ray
unify Latin roots with American jazz culture?
Activities
EXPERIENCE AND CONNECT UNIQUELY TO JAZZ
One of the interesting things about music is that we each experience it and hear it in our own unique
ways. To get a sense of different ways that music (and specifically jazz music) can express,
communicate, and connect, invite students to experiment with listening to what music is saying.
Here are a few exercises to try with your class.
Jazz and Creative Writing
Play a piece of jazz music from one of the
recordings listed on the First Grade Jazz
site or download and play (for free) one of
the great recordings found on the
Smithsonian’s Jazz website.
Jazz and Visual Art
Listen to a piece of jazz music several times with your
class (you might pick something from the Smithsonian
website or play something from Ray Vega’s’ website.
Activity 1—Abstract Drawings
As the students listen to the music have them trace the
Have students write down words that come
line of the melody on a piece of paper—they might
to mind as they listen to the music. When
simply draw a line up and down when the notes are high
the song ends have students look at the
or low or they might draw smooth or jagged lines
words they wrote down and rearrange
depending on the sound and feel of the music, or
them/adapt them to create a response
perhaps they will want to make squiggly lines when the
poem to the song. Ask for volunteers to
music gets fast or many notes are played quickly
share their poems with the class for an
together, etc. They should not worry about drawing
impromptu poetry reading session. (You
anything in particular for this part of the exercise but
might want to play some jazz music quietly
just letting the music move their pencils on the paper.
underneath the poetry readings to set the
When the song ends have volunteers share their
mood of a jazzy open mic event)!
abstract drawings.
Discuss:
●
What common themes or ideas that
came out in the poems and/or
disparate responses.
●
How did the music affect students?
●
What did the music seem to say?
Discuss:
●
Can students remember or describe which parts
of the song corresponded with certain parts of
their drawings?
Activity 2—Cover Art
Next have students listen to a song and encourage them
to imagine that they are designing the cover art for the
album. Have them sketch or draw as they listen.
Discuss students’ impressions and drawings.
●
What did they want to convey through the cover
art?
●
What colors did the music make them think of and
use in the drawings?
●
What shapes did they use in response to how the
music sounded?
●
How did they try to capture the mood of the
music in their artwork?
Jazz Resources
Print Resources:
Jazz : the first century. 1st ed. New York : William Morrow, c2000.
●
An illustrated chronicle of jazz in the twentieth century, discussing the origins of the genre and
the contributions of some of jazz's most significant musicians; and including articles that look at
important songs, landmarks and personalities, conventions of jazz performance and composition,
and the mingling of jazz with other art forms.
Marsalis, Wynton. Jazz A.B.Z. Candlewick Press, 2005
●
An excellent example of collaborative jazz art and how music can “speak”—Wynton Marsalis
(famed contemporary jazz musician) has created a poem about 26 jazz greats. Each poem
evokes the style (or voice) of the music associated with that musician and each poem is
beautifully illustrated by Paul Rogers.
Ward, Geoffrey C. Jazz : an illustrated history of America's music. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.
●
Brings to life the story of the quintessential American music--jazz. Born in the black community of
turn-of-the-century New Orleans, honed by musicians of every color, jazz underscores the
history of twentieth-century America.
Web Resources:
Jazz Timeline from the Kennedy Center:
●
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/interactives/jazzintime/timeline.html
PBS Website from the Ken Burns Documentary with information, lesson plans, and activities.
●
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/index.htm
Ray Vega’s UVM Webpage:
●
https://www.uvm.edu/music/?Page=faculty/vega.php&SM=discovermenu.html
Ray Vega’s Website:
●
http://www.rayvegamusic.com/
An article exploring the origins of Latin Jazz:
●
http://jazztimes.com/articles/19036-latin-jazz-the-latin-tinge
Additional Activities
Dig Deeper: Biography and Geography
EXPLORE: Get a visual sense of the far-reaching nature of jazz in the world. Have each student choose a
jazz great to focus on. Once students have chosen musicians, have them mark on a map the careers of
those musicians—where did they start out, where did they begin to play music, where did they first
perform, where did they travel, what other musicians did they play with and where, etc.
Dig Deeper: History & Social Studies
RESEARCH/LISTEN: As a class, choose a piece of jazz music—research the time and place of its recording
and the musicians involved, create a newspaper from that time and place—what was happening there,
what would have been in the news at the time this music was recorded? Can you hear anything in the
music that seems to be related to or responding to the major events of the time in which it was
composed?
The Art Form: Elements of Jazz
EXPLORE: Click here for a deeper description of jazz history & jazz terminology.
Rhythm
Rhythm is the beat that defines and divides
musical space. Rhythms are most recognizable
when they are played by percussion instruments
(drums, wood sticks, shakers, etc.), but they
happen in melodies also. In Jazz, the “rhythm
section” is the piano, bass, and drums.
In jazz, a rhythm grows out of a simple, steady
beat like that of a heartbeat. This pulse creates
the foundation for the music and usually remains
constant. Sometimes a pulse is very slow (like in
a ballad) and sometimes it is very fast (like in
bebop.)
Regardless of the speed (tempo), the pulse helps
to anchor the music and provides a basic
contrast for other more complex rhythms that
occur in the tune. In some musical styles, the
beat is subdivided into two equal parts. But in
jazz, the beat is divided unevenly in a bouncy
fashion, that implies three, rather than two,
subunits. Much of the energy in jazz lies in this
irregularity of its rhythm and the deliberately
unexpected accents. This is known as
syncopation. Syncopation involves the shifting of
accents from stronger beats to weaker ones.
Improvisation
Improvisation means making it up as you go
along. People improvise all the time in their daily
lives. For instance, you may be improvising when
you choose a different way to travel home from
school on a particular day. Cooks often improvise
when they are preparing a meal. Improvisation
or the art of spontaneity really depends on a
person’s ability to listen and observe.
Jazz musicians listen and observe carefully when
they are improvising and creating music
together. The musicians start with a basic idea,
usually a tune that has a melody and some
repeating chords. Essentially the musicians are
“talking” to each other with notes, rhythms,
melodic ideas and other sounds as their
“language.” A musician’s success at improvising is
influenced by how much they have studied the
musical forms they are playing and how well they
can listen and take in what other musicians in the
group are doing. Musicians listen very carefully
to how and what the other members of the
group are playing in order to create something
that sounds good as a whole.
Common Core Standards
The Common Core broadens the definition of a “text,” viewing
performance as a form of text, so your students are experiencing and
interacting with a text when they attend a Flynn show.
Seeing live performance provides rich opportunities to write
reflections, narratives, arguments, and more. By writing responses
and/or using the Flynn Study Guides, all performances can be linked to
Common Core:
CC ELA: W 1-10
You can use this performance and study guide to address the following
Common Core Standards:
CC ELA: RL 7, SL 2, L4, RH 7, WHST 7; C3: D2.His.1-3
This guide was written & compiled by the Education Department at the Flynn Center
for the Performing Arts with inspiration from Ray Vega’s website. Permission is
granted for teachers, parents, and students who are coming to Flynn shows to copy
& distribute this guide for educational purposes only.