*Pictured above: Bassist Michael League (center), with Pedrito Martinez, the brilliant conguero and vocalist from Havana, Cuba (left) and the Mexico City raised, New York City-based drummer Antonio Sanchez (right). These three first played a totally improvised set together at the 2018 North Sea Jazz Festival. Their new album — appropriately titled "Elipsis" — is a continuation of the musical conversation that started there. Photo by Francois Bisi.
By Matt Silver
It’s Friday, Feb. 20, and the KSDS Jazz Olympiad continues with a major Latin American tilt between Cuba AND Mexico.
For our San Diego-based listeners, Mexico has proximity in its favor. But that's not all: Trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, drummer Antonio Sanchez, and pianists Arturo O'Farrill and Irving Flores are modern jazz masters. And recent Sarah Vaughan vocal competition winner Lucia and bassist Mauricio Morales are two of the brightest young stars anywhere.
But, the Cubans boast a stacked roster — with forefather-type figures like Chano Pozo, modern masters like Arturo Sandoval and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and contemporary heavyweights like Pedrito Martinez and Harold Lopez-Nussa.
So between Cuba and Mexico, who ya got?
