BOSTON, MA. (Top40 Charts/ Berklee Official Website) - It's hard to cha-cha or salsa under summer temps without a refreshing breeze and plenty of room to dance. The Tito Puente Latin
Music Series takes place in July and August at outdoor locations across Boston, cool backdrops for sultry experiences. The six-concert series is an infectious soundscape of timba, mambo, bolero, Cuban, and Afrorican jazz mixed with funk, soul, and groove music. Performers include Berklee faculty, students, and alumni, along with world-renowned artists from Puerto Rico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, Israel, and Brazil.
Son de Madre at O'Day Park, 85 West Newton Street, Boston's South End
Son de Madre is a Latin band based in New York with members from Cuba, Argentina, Israel, and the United States. The band's international flavor is a blend of Cuban music-son, mambo, bolero, timba-infused with jazz, funk, and Brazilian influences. Son de Madre and its members are on the top of the Latin music scene and have performed or recorded with artists such as Celia Cruz, Paquito D'Rivera, Victor Manuelle, and La India, and on the most prestigious stages in New York's jazz scene. The band's second recording is on its way.
July 22- Fausto Cuevas y su Orquesta la Moderna at O'Day Park, 85 West Newton Street, Boston's South End
Fausto Cuevas is currently on tour with Stevie Wonder, and is flying to Boston from Norway for this concert. A drummer from Brownsville, Texas, he made his way to Berklee, where he discovered his love for percussion and studied with masters Giovanni Hidalgo and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez. From Boston, Cuevas traveled to Los Angeles, where he currently resides. In addition to performances at the famed Playboy Jazz Festival and the Blue Note in New York, Cuevas has recorded, performed, and toured with world-renowned artists including Julio Iglesias, Al Jarreau, Tito Nieves, Roy Hargrove, and Britney Spears. The free concerts are from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Call 617 927-1707, or visit berklee.edu/events/summer for more information. All locations are wheelchair accessible. The O'Day Park concerts move inside to Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in the event of rain. All others are canceled with no rain dates.
July 29 - William Cepeda at O'Day Park, 85 West Newton Street, Boston's South End
Accomplished trombonist and noted composer and arranger William Cepeda developed a unique style that he calls Afrorican jazz-a fusion of jazz with the folk music of his native Puerto Rico. Cepeda studied at Berklee, where he learned from great jazz musicians about improvisation and composition. He played with Dizzy Gillespie and Miriam Makeba. Cepeda has won awards and grants from Meet the Composer and the American Composers Forum. He is currently on faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Cepeda will perform with a group of Berklee faculty, alumni, students, and guests.
July 31 - Caliente, a Celebration of Latin Music and Culture with Jerry Rivera and Eguie y Su Orquesta at City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston
Through a special collaboration with Mayor Thomas M. Menino's Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events, the series descends on City Hall Plaza for the remarkable Caliente, a Celebration of Latin Music and Culture. Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated salsa singer Jerry Rivera was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, and signed with CBS Music as a teenager. By his second album, Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors), he was scoring No. 1 hits in Puerto Rico, the United States, and across Latin America. His third album, Cuenta Conmigo (Count on Me), became the biggest-selling salsa album in history, and held the No. 1 spot on the Latin American Billboard chart for three consecutive months. Wyclef Jean sampled Rivera's "Amores Como El Nuestro" in his 2004 song "Amores como el nuestro," which would later become the worldwide number-one hit "Hips Don't Lie" by Wyclef and Shakira.
Berklee professor Eguie Castrillo is from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his Eguie y Su Orquesta-styled after big bands that created the legendary Latin music scene at New York's Palladium Ballroom in the 1950s-is a high-octane crowd pleaser.
August 5 - Gregorio Uribe y Su Orquesta at East Boston Greenway Caboose, 144 Marginal Street, East Boston.
The wildly danceable Gregorio Uribe y Su Orquesta is a 15-piece group that harkens back to traditional Colombian bands with large horn and rhythm sections. Directed by Berklee alumnus drummer, composer, and arranger Uribe, the band plays his original songs and traditional music from his native Colombia. A highlight at any concert is when Uribe plays the same accordion that he's had since his youth. Uribe's original music is influenced by his travels all over South America-where he played guitar to support his wanderings-and the punk and rock bands he played in as a teenager. Uribe currently lives in New York and plays steady gigs between Boston and Miami.
The free concerts are from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Call 617 927-1707, or visit berklee.edu/events/summer for more information. All locations are wheelchair accessible. The O'Day Park concerts move inside to Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in the event of rain. All others are canceled with no rain dates.
Berklee College of Music; Villa Victoria Center for the Arts; ParkARTS; and the Mayor's Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events present the sixth-annual series.
