review

Panama Jazz Festival much more than a series of good concerts

by Eric Jackson

“Now we go back to the beginning of music itself,” Randy Weston told the crowd at ATLAPA, “which comes out of Africa.” As the senior statesman in the Panama Jazz Festival lineup --- he celebrates his 80th birthday this year --- Weston is privileged to make such a far-reaching statement. The pianist’s credentials, however, do not primarily rest upon seniority. The Brooklyn-born son of a Panamanian absorbed the influences of the likes of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum and Nat King Cole, then built on them. He lived, worked and learned in Africa, and traveled the world. From the French Order of Arts and Letters to Harvard University to Downbeat Magazine --- to speak of just a few --- his excellence has been proclaimed.

The best statement of Weston’s credentials made at this festival, however, came from a talented colleague less than half his age, Kurt Rosenwinkel, who excused himself from admirers, reporters, people with deals to offer or papers to sign and wannabe hangers-on who swarmed around him backstage after his set. “I want to hear Randy Weston,” the guitarist pleaded.

Which gets us to the heart of the matter, because the Panama Jazz Festivals are far more than a treat for isthmian music fans and the visitors who are attracted by them. Founder Danilo Pérez Jr. has ambitions that go way beyond that. More than anything else, he’s doing it for the kids.

“I was born poor, into a very poor family,” Pérez explained. But now he’s a respected and relatively affluent professional. He’s a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, owner of three Grammy awards and one of the movers and shakers on the New England Conservatory faculty. This year’s festival was dedicated to the late Panamanian musician Mauricio Smith, who Pérez noted “gave himself to the youth of Panama.” And so the Danilo Pérez Foundation, the prime mover of the festivals, “following in the footsteps of Mauricio… is continuing to develop young Panamanian talent.”

It’s doing so to such an extent that neither this reporter nor the many others from Panama or abroad who covered the festival could possibly take in the whole thing. Yes, some of us caught all the shows. (Not this one, however. The demands of producing this issue of The Panama News meant missing part of the last night’s concert in Plaza Catedral and skipping the jam sessions at Sparkles and La Casona.) But most of the action actually took place over at the University of Panama’s, where there were five days of high-level seminars. The famous Berklee College of Music conducted seminars in sound engineering and recording, and the artists who played at the festival spoke to an up-and-coming generation of music students. A lot of these educational activities took place simultaneously, which meant that a reporter would have to be in several places at one time to catch it all.

Pérez mustered the forces of three Massachusetts educational institutions --- the New England Conservatory, Berklee and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth --- to lend a hand in this year’s project. Yes, they held the seminars in a University of Panama framework. But what they were doing, Pérez asserted, was “showing them that another model works.”

It’s not merely a model for getting the notes and phrases right, mind you --- Danilo wants to “give the musician a chance to create a vaccine against sedation.”

That, and to give many hard pressed but excellent Panamanian musicians some paying gigs that they so sorely need; to boost the capital’s and the nation’s tourism; and to leave a mark on Panamanian culture.

At the main events for which people had to buy tickets, at ATLAPA on January 19th and 20th, there were some vacant seats but more of them were filled than at any other jazz concert here. The people got their money’s worth.

The first night at ATLAPA, veteran saxophonist Carlos Garnett opened up, accompanied by Juan Carlos De León, Eduardo Crócamo, Anibal de León and Rodrigo Denis. The 67-year-old Garnett played his own compositions, and between numbers noted that the others in his band “are young people playing jazz in Panama, and that’s one of the benefits we get from having the Danilo Pérez Foundation.” Among his numbers were “Sweet Sentimental You,” about his wife, and “Shakina Smiles,” about his daughter. Along the way he played “Lindo Boquete,” mentioning Valle Escondido in the process, and he ended the set with “Victor the Boa Constrictor,” about the late pianist Víctor Boa, with whom he played and recorded.

(Boa, by the way, called some of his work, including a disk with Garnett, “tambo jazz,” a shorthand for fusion between traditional Panamanian tamborito and jazz. But Danilo Pérez thinks that terminology is a bit misleading. “Víctor Boa was more Antillean” in his influences, Pérez opined, adding that of all the influences that go into distinctive Panamanian jazz, “Antillano and calypso are more common.”)

After the set, this reporter had a chance to talk with Garnett, and had but one simple question: “Why do you prefer Panama?”

Well, maybe it’s not so simple if you don’t know of whom we discuss. Carlos Garnett lived in the United States for most of his life. He got his first big break in the music business in 1969, landing a job with Freddy Hubbard. Later he was one of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and he went on to play with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus and Pharaoh Sanders.

But “the recording companies in America didn’t treat me well,” Garnett said. Sure, both as a member of bands led by more famous jazzmen and as a band leader in his own right, Garnett recorded on the independent labels, starting in 1972. But the major labels were not receptive, and after 1977 there was a hiatus of more than a decade in his career. “I got very depressed,” he said. “Many students of mine got breaks, but I didn’t get any.” So he came back to Panama.

This reporter mentioned that the move back to Panama from Michigan was in part a natural cure for seasonal depression brought on by short winter days, and Garnett smiled and replied “Panama is therapeutic for you? For me, too…. I’m basically happy, at peace with myself, and have great friends.”

“At the age of 67, after 50 years of playing music,” he added, “I’m playing better than I ever have before.” And, as he occasionally plays in North America and Japan, those of you living in more northerly latitudes may not have to come to Panama to catch his act.

Following Garnett there were a couple of tipico acts, Cantadera with Toñito Vargas and Manuelito Corrales, then Voces y Tambores de Panama, the latter a group of youngsters directed by their teacher, Ricaurte Villarreal.

At this point we glimpsed bright young stars of the future, and may have had a hint of an unstated ulterior motive on the part of the participating US universities.

It will probably be awhile before Berklee, the New England Conservatory or UMass can enroll percussionist Milagros Blades as a student. You see, she’s only 11 years old. But when she’s ready, they’ll surely want her. She’s that good on the tambor already.

Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldena, on the other hand, is 17 and definitely headed to Boston. She told this reporter that she wants to study at either Berklee or the New England Conservatory. She came on stage to jam with the Voces y Tambores de Panama, and judging by the way she played, and by the opinions her elders backstage expressed about her, and by the eyes and body language of the folks from the two aforementioned institutions while in her presence, it would seem that they are both really eager to bring this prodigy to their schools.

Thus it would be reasonable to infer that teaching skills to young Panamanians was not the only educational mission underway at the Panama Jazz Festival. This was a recruiting tour as well.

Puerto Rican saxophonist David Sánchez and his quartet closed out Thursday night’s show with a performance that drew on the cool jazz tradition and displayed a tight but easy collegiality. Early on they went into a number in which drummer Adam Cruz went way out there, and in the ancient African call and response mode Sánchez blew these little minimalist one- to four-note things in reply. Just about every number, the band leader would blow his horn, then step back to turn his quartet into an impressive little trio generally led by pianist Ben Street. Bass player Edsel Gómez also got the opportunity to play a very good solo.

Every time, Sánchez would come slowly back front and center, stalking like a cat, to blow into the stationary microphone set up for his horn. He looked like he was having an awful lot of fun --- he’d have had to be a really brilliant actor to fake those little smiles.

Sánchez, a product of the University of Puerto Rico and Rutgers, broke onto the New York Latin jazz scene, playing with the likes of Paquito D’Rivera and Eddie Palmieri, and at the age of 23 became part of the Dizzie Gillespie United Nations Orquesta.

Friday night began with a special tribute to Mauricio Smith, with his family coming onstage before the music started.

Then a bunch of guys whom you have heard if you follow the Panama City jazz scene at all paid their tribute, and very well. It was good to hear the likes of Wichy López, Chispa Lawson and Luis Carlos Pérez in this context, because they held their own and thus reminded us not to disparage that which is familiar. They’re good, and therefore the Panamanian jazz scene, small and poorly paid as it may be, is also good.

The high point of Friday’s opening set, however, was when two of Mauricio Smith’s sons, flutist Mauricio Smith Jr. and bass player Marcelino Thompson, joined the band. This was a demonstration of their jazz credentials, a test they easily passed. Will either continue to become a towering figure like their dad? That’s still an open question. They are, however, both already competent professionals.

Next came Kurt Rosenwinkel, along with saxophonist Mark Turner et al. They played things written by Rosenwinkel or Turner, with the former scat singing along with his amazing guitar playing.

It was a grand tour, with influences that sounded to this reporter to range from Spanish classical to bebop, with many stations along the way, from very cool to very hot. WOW!

And yet, there were actually people walking out on this set. Well, yes, we do live in a country whose social and economic elites treat Mickey Mouse as the pinnacle of gringo culture, but no, I didn’t expect to find that variety of plastos in a jazz crowd.

Their loss. And because Rosenwinkel came without CDs to sell at the festival the great majority who stuck around to be astounded would be at a loss to hear this stuff again anytime soon --- but for the existence of www.kurtrosenwinkel.com. That’s the place to go if you want to order the recordings he’s made with Verve and to learn more about him and his music. Don’t count on the record companies to bring Rosenwinkel to you, and you certainly don’t want to depend on Panama’s record outlets to keep you supplied. As the guitarist noted at the press conference before the concerts began, “the business of music in the United States is going through a hard moment, but the music is really blooming.” It’s just a matter of braving the jungles of the Internet to search out the rare and beautiful blossoms.

At that point, the Panama Jazz Festival could have ended and all the fans would have had good reason to go home well satisfied. However, it didn’t end at that point, and Kurt Rosenwinkel the fan wasn’t about to let admirers keep him away from the performance he wanted to hear.

It’s hard to describe the experience that follows. Superlatives are too trite to convey the feeling. Yes, one can use the adjective “African” and not be wrong. Yes, you can note that bass player Alex Blake (a Panama native) and percussionist Neil Clarke have associations, histories and credentials that make them both noteworthy band leaders in their own rights. But none of that was preparation for what went down onstage at ATLAPA.

Was Dizzie Gillespie an immortal pioneer of the jazz idiom? Well, Randy Weston wrote “African Sunrise,” which he played at ATLAPA, for Gillespie. Were Neil Clarke’s percussion and vocal solos breathtaking? Well, the African riffs we heard out of him are only part of the story, as in addition to playing with such African stars as Miriam Makeba he’s worked with Harry Belafonte, and his musical travels have taken him both to the South Pacific and to Broadway musicals. Have you never heard someone play an upright bass like Alex Blake? Not surprising, once one knows that when he was 16 years old he was touring Europe with Sun Ra, and when he was 17 he was part of Dizzie Gillespie’s band, and went on to play with the likes of Stan Getz, Pharaoh Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Mongo Santamaria and Celia Cruz.

Shock and awe have been given bad names by lame brains in high places. The real things are what a jazz fan feels when, after a relatively benighted lifetime, (s)he is exposed to this musical liberation. Oh my….

The following day the music started in the afternoon sun in Plaza Catedral, and due to a combination roasting and commitment to get this edition of The Panama News out not that long after the supposed deadline, it wasn’t possible to catch the whole show. Missing the finale with Danilo Pérez Jr. and his dad was a great loss. However, with that exception I was able to catch the other acts that hadn’t been at ATLAPA the previous two nights.

The afternoon’s entertainment began with a UMass band, the Sounds of Ashé, an ensemble with a strong percussion section that played Latin jazz on this occasion. Leader Santi Debriano, a Panama native who grew up in New York and has worked for many years in academia as well as in the top levels of the world jazz scene, quoted “Panameño, Panameño” in the final number.

So what’s the esteemed professor’s expert opinion on the state of the genre? Earlier at the press conference he said that “the business is several steps behind us, but the general level of musicianship has been getting better and better.”

Take the next act, Patricia Vlieg and her quintet, as a case in point.

Her educational credentials are top-notch, Berklee grad that she is. But living and playing in Panama “has its difficulty,” she said. “It’s a road you have to pave yourself sometimes.”

Which is why she was grateful for the opportunity to show her stuff --- in English, Spanish and Portuguese --- on this occasion.

More than a decade ago, this reporter heard Patricia Vlieg play the keyboards accompanied by her sister’s flute. This time she was accompanied by four guys, but more importantly by her own voice, which covered ground running from samba to the blues. Stage time was limited during this free concert, but she showed just enough to add urgency to the desire to hear more of her work when she plays at the Teatro Nacional on January 30.

Then came the New England Conservatory’s jazz band. It’s an excellent school, with an excellent ensemble. Most notable to these ears was its young singer, Rachael Price.

By the time that Kurt Rosenwinkel took the Plaza Catedral stage, sun, fatigue and dehydration were beginning to set in. It was a good show, though not as long or definitively brilliant as the previous night’s work. Or so its seemed. But at the end of this set this reporter had to grab a cab back to Perejil, get under a cool shower, catch a few winks of rest and get on with the production of this issue.

It was a shame not to have caught the whole festival --- another Randy Weston and friends show, and then a set with the father and son Danilo Pérez, Milagros Blades et al were to follow. But then there’s always next year.

In artistic terms, this festival could hardly have been more successful. But how big a boost did it give the Panamanian economy, and the development of our national intellectual capital? Those are subtler questions. After all, Danilo Pérez Jr. reminded us, “the trick is not the money, but the music, [and] music is not like shoes that you can sell.”

Also in this section:
Cool Internet sites
The Third Panama Jazz Festival
Books, Science fiction
Books, Panamanian historical fiction

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