by jorge » Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:54 pm
Hola tocayo,
Passing on the musical culture to the next generation is so important, especially given how musically lost some of our young people are these days (I admit I am biased toward live performance). What you are doing is great.
Here is one example of the lifelong impact a college music class can have. I remember back in 1972 when I started at Essex County College in Newark, NJ, I took a music class with Aaron Bell, former bass player for Duke Ellington. That class was great, it inspired me and taught me musicianship, and helped me convert from a street rumba drummer to a salsa and latin jazz musician, which became my main job that got me through college. I was so scared when he put me on congas for a live radio performance, but I will always remember Mr. Bell (that was before he got his PhD) yelling at us "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing". That threat, which he made with the authority of being Duke's bass player, helped me to learn how to swing the rhythm and I will always remember that, even though now we are more likely to call it ibiono, afinque, or some other word with the same essence.
I eventually chose to follow a different career pathway and keep music as an avocation, which was the right decision for me, but now 36 years later, I still play with some of the guys that I met through that first music class in college. This Sunday, I will go sit in with a salsa / jazz group with Gene Phipps, Butch Johnson, Chickie Johnson, Ray Rodriguez "Hardy", and others that I met back when Gene was a student in my first college music class and the jazz band at Essex County College. We are all in our 50s and 60s but Gene's group still kicks A**, and they still let me sit in even though I am not a professional musician. So Jorge keep inspiring those kids, and remember that that basic music education in college lasts a lifetime.
Sigue pa'lante mi hermano.
Jorge