Home » Jazz News » Event

95

Rare Indoor & Outdoor Concerts Honor Miguel "Anga" Diaz

Source:

Sign in to view read count
Dedicated to Miguel “Anga" Daz (1961 - 2006): Un Homenaje Para Ang

The Jazz Gallery joins “Make Music New York" on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 from 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM with a major open-air concert, culminating a series of events held earlier in the week dedicated to Miguel Anga Diaz (1961 - 2006): Un Homenaje Para Anga.

Performances earlier in the week include:
Sunday, June 15th: Pedro Martinez's ensemble “Iborru", featuring Dafnis Prieto on drums. Commemorating what would have been Anga's 47th birthday.

Thursday, June 19th: Flor Urrutia's “Timba Jazz Para Anga"

Friday, June 20th: Yosvany Terry's “Percussion Ensemble"

Saturday, June 21st's open-air concert on Dominick Street, adjacent to The Jazz Gallery will feature a series of performances by: Kwaku Martin Obeng - An African Preamble; Gema y Pavel - An Abundance of Folkloric Traditions; Yosvany Terry - Afro-Cuban Roots Ensemble; Roy Hargrove - Crisol, Explorations in Jazz Cubano

The closing track on Afreecanos, pianist Omar Sosa's 2008 recording for Ot Records, is titled “Why Anga?" It's a question many music lovers are still asking in the wake of the tragic and untimely death of Cuban percussion master Miguel “Anga" Daz. Anga was felled by a heart attack at the age of 45 on August 12, 2006. But the legacy of his extraordinary conga playing and forward-thinking musical conception will live on forever.

For us at the Jazz Gallery, the question “Why Anga?" has another meaning as well. Recent days have also seen the passing of such Afro-Cuban music legends as Tata Gines, Carlos “Patato" Valdez and Ray Barretto. Yet between June 15th and June 21st, we will honor the far younger Anga Daz with a special series of concerts we call “Un Homenaje Para Anga". The concert on the afternoon of June 21st will be held under the joint banner of the Gallery and Make Music New York, the annual citywide outdoor music festival.

Again, “Why Anga?"

Because Anga played here at the Jazz Gallery during his first-ever visit to the US. Because he enjoyed close friendships and associations with artists central to the Jazz Gallery's mission, including Chucho Valdes, Steve Coleman, Roy Hargrove and Dafnis Prieto (Prieto dedicates his latest release, Taking the Soul for a Walk, to Anga's memory). But most important, because Anga embodied the philosophy we have championed from the moment we opened our doors as a performance venue: that jazz is an international language, youthful in spirit, progressive in outlook, conversant not only with the American jazz heritage but an array of folkloric traditions from around the globe. The performers in our special homage - Pedro Martinez (June 15th), Flor Urrutia (June 19th), Yosvany Terry (June 20th) and Roy Hargrove and many others (June 21st) - share Anga's commitments to musical excellence and global fellowship, and they'll join us in hailing Anga's work as a shining example for present and future generations.

Miguel Aurelio “Anga" Daz Zayas occupied a unique place in the lineage of Afro-Cuban music. He was deeply invested in the traditional roots and communal functions of the art, but equally interested in pushing it into new, pan-stylistic territory - including but not limited to jazz. “It's astounding how many sonic colors you hear in [Anga's] work," Omar Sosa told The Los Angeles Times. “He understood the entire language of Afro-Cuban percussion."

Born in 1961 in the village of San Juan de Martinez, Daz took the nickname “Anga" from his saxophone-playing father. As a child he absorbed the sound of rumba, joining fellow villagers in the public square every Sunday for music-making and dancing. He began studying congas with the local rumba player Titino, though his professional career got off the ground when he moved to Havana, attended the Cuban School of Arts and joined the pathbreaking group Opus 13.

Ang's mentor in Havana was the great conguero Tata Gines (1930-2008), himself a direct link to Chano Pozo, Arsenio Rodriguez and other Afro-Cuban giants. “Tata's way of thinking, his ability to play Latin jazz, jazz, funk - that's the main thing he gave me," Anga said. “He could play anything because he was open." On YouTube there are clips of Anga and Tata Guines performing together, and the special bond between the two is palpable. Tata's example served the young Anga well, for he went on to join Chucho Valdes for nine years in the pioneering ensemble Irakere.

Anga also discovered a new musical language playing with M-Base innovator and alto saxophonist Steve Coleman (hear 1999's Sonic Language of Myth). He went on to share Grammy-winning success for Habana, the breakthrough 1997 album by Roy Hargrove's Afro-Cuban group Crisol. But even as Anga joined forces with leading American jazz artists, he remained close to his roots, working with Juan de Marcos Gonzalez in the Afro-Cuban All Stars; with Orlando “Cachaito" Lopez on the 2001 album Cachaito; and with Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubn Gonzalez, Omara Portuondo and other members of the renowned Buena Vista Social Club. One can also hear Anga's brilliance on Live a FIP, the fiery 2006 quintet album by Omar Sosa, recorded in France just over a year before Ang's death.

Alluding to Anga's spectacular five-drum technique, Afro-Latin music expert Paul de Castro has said: “[Anga] could do things [on congas] that could only be dreamed of before he came on the scene." But on Echu Mingua, Anga's 2006 album for World Circuit, his first and last disc as a bandleader, we hear more than just chops. We hear the culmination of Anga's journey - his goal, as he put it, of “mixing percussion with everything that exists, everything musical." From danzon and flamenco to the instrumental timbres of Mali; from Coltrane and Monk to the sound world of DJs, beat programmers and hip-hoppers, Echu Mingua is Anga's lasting testimony, a tribute to his ancestors and mentors and an inspirational text for generations yet to come.

Please join us at The Jazz Gallery, during the annual Make Music New York festivities, as Kwaku Martin Oben, Gema y Pavel, Yosvany Terry and Roy Hargrove honor Anga's vibrant musical and personal spirit with “Un Homenaje Para Anga".

Make Music New York is a new live, free musical celebration across the city that took place for the first time on June 21, 2007. On that day, public space throughout the five boroughs - sidewalks, parks, community gardens, and more - became impromptu musical stages and dance floors and social meeting points. The event is based on France's Fete de la Musique, which has been a great success for 25 years. Since it was inaugurated, the festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 300 cities in 108 countries, including Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Australia, Vietnam, Congo, Cameroon, Togo, Colombia, Chile, Mongolia and Japan.

The Jazz Gallery is proud to take part in this fun but also meaningful celebration, which highlights the arts' centrality to human societies around the globe.

The Jazz Gallery is a New York State-accredited cultural center that has long sought to highlight the significance and varied dimensions of Afro-Cuban musical traditions, and their ongoing relationship to jazz. For more information visit www.jazzgallery.org.

The Jazz Gallery is located at 290 Hudson Street (below Spring), in lower Manhattan and can be reached by the IRT #1 or 9 to Houston Street or the IND C or E trains to Spring Street.

General admission - $12.00 - 30.00; $10.00 for The Jazz Gallery members. Reservations are recommended. 212-242-1063.

Visit Website

For more information contact .

Comments

Tags

View events near New York City
Jazz Near New York City
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

News

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.