congaplace.com

Hi Congaplace,

Hope this message finds all of you well.

Below you'll find couple of video clips from a recent performance the Mountain View College Latin Jazz Ensemble did.

This is a Latin Jazz Ensemble class I teach in Dallas, Texas. A very nice group of young talented performers getting their feet wet and learning about our rich musical legacies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsC7BCL0euE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hIRTfS8JRc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmKQCDXXHj8

For more information about MVC Latin American Music Program please visit:

http://mvclatinjazzensemble.blogspot.com/

Happy Holidays,

Jorge Ginorio

Great work Jorge and congratulations. Im sure you are proud of all of them, they really do sound good. I liked all of the videos.

Hola King Conga,

Yes, I'm very proud of all of them. They did work really hard this past semester.

I'm blessed to have such group of talented young musicians in class.

Thank you very much for watching and for your comments, we really appreciate it.

Happy Holidays,

Jorge Ginorio

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

Hola Tocayo,

Thank you very much for your comments and for sharing that awesome story with us, it's very inspiring!!!

Assure that I'll keep doing my part with them to my best.

Happy Holidays,

Jorge Ginorio

Mountain View College Latin Jazz Ensemble working on "Mueva Los Huesos" by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.

Yours truly-Director

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... D=57059783

Saludos,

Jorge Ginorio

Couple more video clips from the Mountain View College Latin Jazz Ensemble in Dallas, Texas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZc57B2YseA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K7r2pKVT1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GZ9AKtjaOo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkfiNGFr0Zs

Very proud of all my students!!!

Saludos,

Jorge Ginorio

Excellent Jorge they must be proud of themselves as well.

Wow!!! Terrific. What a great, great thing you are doing. And the musicians are just wonderful. I enjoyed these clips very, very much.

Thank you guys for watching and for your very kind comments.

I'm blessed to have such committed and talented students in my class.

Saludos,

JG