JAZZ
Tito Puente, often credited as "El Rey" (the King) of the timbales and "The King of Latin Music"
Many musicians believe that this education should begin before students enter college.
"Everybody is playing catch up, because they haven't experienced and lived this music," said drummer Bobby Sanabria, who teaches at the New School and Manhattan School of Music in New York.
"The problem is that there aren't many high school teachers who are qualified to teach Latin jazz," adds Oscar Stagnaro, a bassist who teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. "They have the materials, but sometimes they don't know how to get the most out of what they have. The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) convention helps a lot, but that's only once a year."
High school and even junior high school jazz educators typically draw upon their own playing experiences, according to Bobby Rodriguez, a trumpeter and adjunct professor at University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Irvine. Teachers with comparable handstand-derived Latin jazz experience are rare, and thus firsthand knowledge is not being passed along in the high schools yet.
"Some high school band directors have no idea, in general, what the hell a timbale is, what its function is and how to play it." Rodriguez said.
"A lot of the kids coming from high school have not heard of some of the basics, the foundations of learning Latin American styles in general," said Ricardo Monzon, a percussionist who teaches at Berklee. "They don't have the exposure at school and the ones who have established a foundation have done it through private instructors or on their own by listening to CDs or watching DVDs."
But that's not always the case. Pianist Danilo Pérez adds that some of his students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and Berklee are prepared to leap into an upper level of Latin jazz performance. He said that a potentially successful candidate would have, "a combination of high school programming, individual teachers, active gigging and family support."
As a fledging academic discipline, Latin jazz performance studies is enjoying a surge in popularity.
"Positive trends in jazz education reflect the importance that this music is acquiring in the cultural framework of many countries without losing sight and paying respect to its American traditions," said Marco Pignataro, a saxophonist who teaches at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and is the first Latin American IAJE representative. "Conversely, Caribbean jazz is oftentimes associated only with the AfroCuban and Brazilian experiences and its pedagogy is limited to these two perspectives, when in fact there is so much more to offer."
"Institutions are emphasizing differences more than the connection, and it is important to understand that the Latin influence has been a part of jazz from the beginning," Pérez said.
While colleges and universities with strong music programs have Latin jazz ensembles and classes on specific styles, the days of a widespread availability of a Latin jazz performance major or even minor are still in the distance. Pignataro co-founded and directs the leading program, the conservatory's jazz, and Caribbean music major, which is in its fourth year and w ill graduate its first class this year.
"It was inspired and conceived following the blueprint of the leading jazz departments in the United States, and it is similar in structure, requirements and accreditations," he said of the new major. "What makes our program unique is its double focus on the straight-ahead jazz tradition, the Latin music traditions and the various creative intersections of these two areas."
Pignataro said the number of students enrolled in the program has doubled in each of the past two years, and candidates are applying from the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile and Brazil. An exchange program has been established with the jazz department of Chicago's Columbia College, with students temporarily trading campuses between San Juan and Chicago. Pérez is also looking into how to establish more exchanges between American and Panamanian students.
Even before these programs get underway, there are several ways that students can delve into Latin music, according to these educators:
Dig Widely and Deeply
"Listening to a wide variety of recordings is the most important thing for young people to do," Rodriguez said. "And keep digging for more."
Hear With Your Feet
"Learn how to dance to Latin jazz, just as the lindy hop and ballroom and tap dancing should be studied as part of any jazz program," Sanabria said. "Mario Bauza was a hell of a dancer, as was Tito Puente. We've gotten away from that."
Keep Percussion Close
"That's where the secret is of Latin music is," Stagnaro said. "It doesn't matter what instrument you play." Berklee is considering adding percussion to keyboards as a requirement for all performance majors, he said, mentioning that "if high school students can find percussion teacher for Latin style, then they should study with him or her."
Travel, Listen and Eat
"Students who want to study Latin music should study music in a cultural context," Pérez said. "They should learn the contributions of Latinos in North America and the history of the different Latin American countries to understand the similarities and differences between them. Travel to Latin America and taste the different culinary traditions."
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© Copyright 2007, Down Beat
