Episode 1 – “Dialog and Displacement”
Performance: “Gandinga, Mondongo y Sandunga” by Frank Emilio Flynn

Kicking off this classic Cuban descarga (jam session), Horacio and Tato open with a synchronized break, then the ensemble launches into the highly syncopated and classic piece penned by Cuban...

Among the essential elements of Afro-Cuban music is the alternation of rhythmical subdivision between 4/4 and 6/8 time. In this exercise, Horacio demonstrates how Cubans internalize and play “on top of” the clave. Using rumba clave as the foundation, he subdivides each beat of each measure into ...

The art of improvisation within an Afro-Cuban drumming context highlights how each musician utilizes the clave while they improvise, and how they negotiate the distribution of the clave pattern itself as an anchor or pulse. Even when the clave pattern is not literally stated, its “essence” remain...

In addition to the clave pattern, the Cuban cáscara pattern can serve as an anchor for polyrhythmic playing and developing heightened independence. A primary component of both folkloric as well as popular styles of Cuban music, the cáscara rhythm, as well as its primary accents, can underscore an...

Quickly becoming an annual tradition at SFJAZZ for Bay Area jazz fans of all ages, pianist Adam Shulman reprises his tribute to Bay Area jazz legend Vince Guaraldi and his beloved soundtrack to Charles Schulz’s 1965 holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Shulman’s stellar trio was joined on ...