[Trombone-l] Sam Burtis at Birdland, NYC w/The Giants of Latin Jazz, Birdland, NYC 1/22-26 w/The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Egypt(!!!) 2/14-19

[sabutin]

Hello all...

If you are in the NYC area and you have never 
heard the classic NYC latin big band style played 
authentically in a live situation, you owe it to 
yourself to come down. This band has music from 
the original libraries of of the Tito Puente, 
Machito and Tito Rodriquez bands, and is 
comprised of about 18 musicians who all 
experienced the functional, day-to-day playing 
life of those bands when they were THE dance and 
social music of the latino audience in NYC.

Burning!!!

No other word will quite do.

A few names should suffice for those who know what's up.

Johnny Rodriquez

Joe Madera

Bobby Porcelli

John Walsh

Sonny Bravo

Mitch Frohman

Until recently...God rest his soul...Mario Rivera

The trombone section?

Reynaldo Jorgé, Louis Kahn and myself. Plus some 
surprise guests, no doubt. Under the belts of 
that trombone section alone I will bet that there 
are many thousands of nights of real, no holds 
barred NYC latin gigs. Hazardous duty pay kinds 
of gigs.

You cannot...I repeat, you CANNOT...record a band 
like this accurately. The power lies in its 
rhythmic punch to the gut. That and the 
simultaneous realization that for all of that 
power, there is also a highly formal system at 
work in which the musicians reside with perfect 
comfort and no apparent excess effort. Listening 
to even the best recordings of it is like 
watching a film of Roberto Duran in action. You 
can get some idea or what's going on, but you 
have to be there...or better, climb into the ring 
with him...to appreciate what is really going on.

Anyone who wants comps...I think I have enough 
pull at the club to get some. The Chico O'Farrill 
band has been there on Sunday nights for 12 years 
now...say 50 Sundays a year plus maybe 10 
week-long engagements. That's going on 700 gigs. 
Add in the other 20 weeks or so that i have 
played there with other bands? Now we are talking 
about 840+ nights.

That two years and 4 months of my life on that damned bandstand.

I can getcha in, I think.

Email  me if you're interested.

Sam