Carnegie Hall Jazz Band Salutes Latin Jazz

Getting to Carnegie Hall is a lot simpler than people will tell you. A quick jaunt on N, R, Q or W subway lines to 57th Street will drop you right at the Carnegie’s doorstep. Getting to play at Carnegie Hall, however, is rather difficult; a privilege normally reserved for artists who have achieved outstanding distinction in their musical fields. The opening of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band’s 2001 season on Nov. 1, billed as “A Tribute to Latin Jazz,” will boast such musicians, in the persons of saxophonist/clarinetist/composer Paquito D’Rivera (pictured left), vocalist Herman Olivera and bandleader Jon Faddis. It’s enough to make you try to decipher the New York City subway map.

For the program, four compositions by Tito Puente, Mario Bauza and Alberto Barretto have been adapted for the jazz-band medium by CHJB trumpeter Michael Philip Mossman. D’Rivera will also perform and lead some of his own compositions, including “A Lo Tristano” and “Snow Samba.”

The CHJB is scheduled to present three other concerts in the coming year: “Many Shades of Blue” (Dec. 6, 2001); a special 10th anniversary celebration, “The Best of The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band” (Feb. 21, 2002); and, as part of the annual JVC Jazz Festival, a concert entitled “Jazz in the Great American Songbook” (June 21, 2002).

For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.carnegiehall.org.

Originally Published October 26, 2001