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El Espiritu Jibaro: A Tribute to Yomo Toro with Roswell Rudd

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World Music Institute presents

EL ESPIRITU JIBARO:
A TRIBUTE TO YOMO TORO
living legend of the cuatro

YOMO TORO & ROSWELL RUDD
BOBBY SANABRIA & ASCENSIN
& special guests
DAVID OQUENDO, LOUIS KAHN, TITO CASTRO, NELSON GONZALEZ & AIMEE ALLEN & dancers NYDIA OCASIO & JESUS TITO SANDOVAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2010 8:00 PM

Peter Norton Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, NYC $25; $18 students with college I.D. Box office (212) 864-5400

Info/tickets (212) 545-7536



“a work of genius...amazing" --DESCARGA.COM

“(Toro is) a formidable improviser" --NEW YORK TIMES



The legendary Yomo Toro, master of the cuatro (10-string miniature guitar) and a longtime member of the famed Fania All-Stars, is acknowledged for his lively and innovative approach to the driving jibaro (mountain string band) music of his native Puerto Rico. Roswell Rudd, one of the greatest trombonists in jazz, is known for his groundbreaking cross-cultural collaborations, including Malicool and the Mongolian Buryat Band. Together with musical director/drummer Bobby Sanabria and Ascensin they create rousing and fiery music, rich in improvisation and Latin rhythms. David Oquendo (tres), a leading name in the new generation of Cuban artists; Louis Kahn (violin) of the Fania All-Stars; tango veteran Tito Castro (bandoneon); cuatro wizard Nelson Gonzalez; Aimee Allen (vocal), an inspiring new voice in New York's jazz community, and dancers Nydia Ocasio and Jesus Tito Sandoval appear as guest artists in this joyous and riveting program which marks the first live performance of music from Toro and Rudd's critically acclaimed El Espiritu Jibaro CD (Sunnyside). In addition to music from the CD, the program includes Puerto Rican classics and cuatro duets with Toro and Gonzalez.

Yomo Toro, a cultural icon for 50 years, is one of Latin music's most beloved musicians. He was born in the Guarnica province of Puerto Rico in Ensenada, where a statue of him now stands in the town square. He began learning cuatro with his father and during his teens performed with many popular and folkloric groups. He moved to New York in 1956, and throughout the '60s played with such groups as Ramito and Los Panchos. From the late '60s through the mid-'70s he hosted a TV show on Channel 41. In 1970, he joined Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe in recording the classic Asalto Navideo, a groundbreaking album that combined New York salsa with traditional Puerto Rican Christmas music and became one of the best-selling salsa albums of all time. He was a member of the famed Fania All-Stars, which included such artists as Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Johnny Pacheco, Bobby Valentin, Roberto Roena, Ray Barretto, Larry Harlow, Cheo Feliciano, and Ismael Miranda, and toured with the band throughout the world. He has appeared on more than 150 albums, including over 20 solo albums for Fania, Island, Rounder and Green Linnet Records. He has recorded with such stars as Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, David Byrne, and Marc Anthony, made several cross-cultural albums, and worked on the soundtracks of Woody Allen's Bananas and Crossover Dreams. In recent years he has performed with Larry Harlow and the Latin Legends Band and appeared in the off-Broadway show Sofrito! In addition to performing, he is an accomplished songwriter, particularly of romantic ballads.

Roswell Rudd, whose trailblazing on the trombone has influenced an entire generation of trombonists, is known for his work with groundbreaking groups and musicians such as Herbie Nichols, the New York Art Quartet, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Carla Bley, and Steve Lacy. One of the giants of post-bop jazz, he was a pivotal figure in the “free jazz" movement of the '60s. In addition to receiving international recognition as a performer, he has been acclaimed for his compositions and arrangements, ranging from large-scale music dramas to instrumental jazz suites. His jazz operas Blues for Planet Earth and Gold Rush have achieved cult status from their performances in the 1960s. On and off for three decades, he assisted Alan Lomax with his world song style project which inspired him to collaborate beyond the periphery of Western music. Many of his recent works show the connections between jazz, world music and the European classical tradition. In 2003, '04, '05 and '09 he was voted Trombonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, and in recent years he recorded several CDs on the Sunnyside label - The Roswell Rudd Quartet, Rudd's Trombone Tribe, MALIcool with Toumani Diabate and Blue Mongol -and appeared on Michael Doucet & Beausoleil's Grammy-winning album Alligator Purse. He is presently working on a CD of Singles - A Sides Only and a project entitled Kerhonkson - The Musical.

Bobby Sanabria, drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, filmmaker, conductor, educator, and multiple Grammy nominee, has performed with a veritable “Who's Who" in the world of jazz and Latin music, as well as with his own critically acclaimed ensembles. His diverse recording and performing experience includes work with such famed figures as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Paquito D'Rivera, Charles McPherson, Mongo Santamara, Ray Barretto, Marco Rizo, Arturo Sandoval, Roswell Rudd, Chico O'Farrill, Candido, Yomo Toro, Francisco Aguabella, Larry Harlow, Henry Threadgill, and the Godfather of Afro-Cuban Jazz, Mario Bauz. Since receiving a BA from Boston's Berklee College of Music in 1979, he has become a leader in the Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and jazz fields as both a drummer and percussionist, and is recognized as one of the most articulate musician-scholars of la tradicin living today.

EL ESPIRITU JIBARO is a Verna Gillis/SOUNDSCAPE Production

This program is made possible in part with public support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

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