Alaska would seem to be a strange place for the host sounds of Latin Music but the music is alive in the North and heating up the nights.
Latin Jazz Artist Turiya Mareya arrived in Anchorage Alaska in May of 2006 and has rapidly become part of the Latin and Jazz community in this diverse City. She recently performed as part of the Juneteenth Celebration with a 7 peice group performing her original music and arrangements featuring some of the top players from the Air Force Band based here in Anchorage.
Turiya Mareya is also featured on Flute and Piccolo performing every Saturday night at Club Soraya with Hector Ortiz y Su Combo Tropical Hector Ortiz and El Combo Tropical Latino, his 10-piece band perform every saturday night at Club Soraya's in beautiful Downtown Anchorage. For years Hector Ortiz and his 10-piece band, El Combo Tropical Latino, lugged their equipment around Anchorage playing the bachata and the cumbia in basements and banquet halls. In 2001 he and his wife, Soraya opened the club which features his group every weekend. “We're just trying to have a good time, dance and pay the rent," Hector Ortiz said recently. “We're the only club in town that offers the Latin community a place to dance. We all know each other. We are a social dance club."Hector fronts the band as Lead Vocalist and conga player
Turiya Mareya can also be seen at the weekly jam sessions at Blues Central and performs regularly at the Organic Oasis and is the Entertainment director for the Anchorage Latino Music festival.
She recently performed with the Juneau Latin Jazz Project on July 29th at the Southeast Alaska State Fair. The Latin Jazz Project features Eric Ocasio on Congas, Antonio Diaz on Cajon and Bongos and other members of the Juneau Jazz community.
The Project is Latin jazz based in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Peruvian styles, “Mostly it's my original music, and we take different classic grooves, the boleros and the dance rhythms, and put jazz on top of it," Mareya said of the group. “So we play the full gamut. They're danceable rhythms, they're Latin American rhythms, and we put our original harmonies and melodies on top. Every show is different. We're reacting to the audience." Mareya first came to Juneau in November 2002, at which point she wrote “People of The Tides," a two-hour work for a six-person Latin ensemble based on seeing Alaska for the first time inspired by the culture of the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska . She returned in the summer of 2003 and formed the Project with Diaz and Ocasio.
In October, Mareya will return to her home base in the vibrant community of Tijuana Mexico where she will be performing at Casa De Los Suenos as well as venues in San Diego. In December she will travel to Havana to be part of the the yearly Havana Jazz Festival.
Latin Jazz Artist Turiya Mareya arrived in Anchorage Alaska in May of 2006 and has rapidly become part of the Latin and Jazz community in this diverse City. She recently performed as part of the Juneteenth Celebration with a 7 peice group performing her original music and arrangements featuring some of the top players from the Air Force Band based here in Anchorage.
Turiya Mareya is also featured on Flute and Piccolo performing every Saturday night at Club Soraya with Hector Ortiz y Su Combo Tropical Hector Ortiz and El Combo Tropical Latino, his 10-piece band perform every saturday night at Club Soraya's in beautiful Downtown Anchorage. For years Hector Ortiz and his 10-piece band, El Combo Tropical Latino, lugged their equipment around Anchorage playing the bachata and the cumbia in basements and banquet halls. In 2001 he and his wife, Soraya opened the club which features his group every weekend. “We're just trying to have a good time, dance and pay the rent," Hector Ortiz said recently. “We're the only club in town that offers the Latin community a place to dance. We all know each other. We are a social dance club."Hector fronts the band as Lead Vocalist and conga player
Turiya Mareya can also be seen at the weekly jam sessions at Blues Central and performs regularly at the Organic Oasis and is the Entertainment director for the Anchorage Latino Music festival.
She recently performed with the Juneau Latin Jazz Project on July 29th at the Southeast Alaska State Fair. The Latin Jazz Project features Eric Ocasio on Congas, Antonio Diaz on Cajon and Bongos and other members of the Juneau Jazz community.
The Project is Latin jazz based in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Peruvian styles, “Mostly it's my original music, and we take different classic grooves, the boleros and the dance rhythms, and put jazz on top of it," Mareya said of the group. “So we play the full gamut. They're danceable rhythms, they're Latin American rhythms, and we put our original harmonies and melodies on top. Every show is different. We're reacting to the audience." Mareya first came to Juneau in November 2002, at which point she wrote “People of The Tides," a two-hour work for a six-person Latin ensemble based on seeing Alaska for the first time inspired by the culture of the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska . She returned in the summer of 2003 and formed the Project with Diaz and Ocasio.
In October, Mareya will return to her home base in the vibrant community of Tijuana Mexico where she will be performing at Casa De Los Suenos as well as venues in San Diego. In December she will travel to Havana to be part of the the yearly Havana Jazz Festival.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
