Afro-Cuban Jazz - Scott Yanow

Last week I found myself at De Slegte in Breda a reference book about Afro-Cuban Jazz. It is written by Scott Yanow. It prides itself as the essential listening companion.

This kind of refrence works are very important if you are interested in all kinds of jazz music and jazz-related musicians. It gives you reviews of recordings and, although you may differ in opinion it can help to form a notion of a musician.

The first thing you do is turn over the leaves and take the entries of the book. Who's in the book and who's not. I'm not going to make a review, but reviewers seem to derive their opinion to the musicans who are NOT in the book. And of course some musicians catch attention.

Some remarks: I missed an entry for Ry Cooder. He is mentioned in as the one who organized the Afro-Cuban revival in the 1990s with the well known Buena Vista Social Club. Other musicians, like Jane Bunnett, who organized her Spritis of Havana band has an entry by herself. One section of the book is titled They Also Recorded Afro-Cuban Jazz , but no Ry Cooder entry either.

Roy Hargrove has, among a large number of jazz musicians, an entry as leader of the Crisol band, one of his greatest experiences in his carreer. This Crisol band ( Yanow miss spells it as Cristol, which is wrong) visited the Porgy en Bess Jazz Club in Terneuzen (The Netherlands) ( 9 November 1997 ) with great names in Cuban jazz, like Chucho Valdes, David Sanchez, Horacio El Negro Hernandez, Jose Luis Quintana and Miguel Diaz. The first two are, of course in the book.

I will return to Roy Hargrove tomorrow as that blog will be a very special one.

Horacio El Negro Hernandez returned in Porgy en Bess last year ( 6 November 2005 ) and I visited that concert with my nephew Elmer, who is an amateur drummer himself. Hernandez will perform on the 5th of June in Park Brakkenstein in Nijmegen ( The Netherlands).

Another entry is for the Brazilian trumpet player Claudio Roditi who was with his trio in our jazz club too ( 17 Oct. 2004 ), who sticks in my memory as a very gifted player and a great personality.

Find some impressions of the Claudio Roditi concert by clicking on the title.

Don't miss tomorrow's blog ... it will be special.