A hush came over the crowd and a pin drop could have been heard in spite of the nearly full house. The beat picked up seconds later, throwing bongos and a drum kit alongside a bass guitar that began to pick out complimentary tones just on the threshold of audibility. The flutist joined in with haste and the melody of a Caribbean dream was born. Moments later the flutist stepped back and applause lit up the room while the song went on.
The Petaluma campus’ Carole L. Ellis Auditorium hailed the starry Friday night with a beautiful array of Cuban Jazz chosen by Grammy-nominated Rebeca Mauleón.
Like a virtual live performance of the music one might expect to hear on the local 93.7 KJZY radio station, Mauleón and her band enticed, enthralled and surprised the audience with how great cultural music can be.
The night off with “El Manisero,” meaning “The Peanut Vendor,” inspired by liturgical drums, and “Around Midnight,” inspired by artists like Thelonious Monk, interspersed with bits of information about what inspired Cuban jazz and jazz music as a whole.
“Both jazz and Cuban music are very alike,” Mauleón said, which makes the two easy to combine and recreate in different cultural themes.
A practiced composer, Mauleón spent most of her time playing the piano while directing the other members, letting them fly out on their own solos when they chose to, ultimately ending up with thrown-together yet masterfully-crafted pieces. Freestyling was common, adding to the wild energy that kept toes tapping and heads bobbing throughout the show.
Lyrics were few and far between that night, yet when they did exist they almost seemed poetic. Incredibly, Elena Pinderhughes, the lead singer and the flutist, had a voice like the famous jazz musician Esperanza Spalding. She took listeners hostage as her voice wove sonnets amidst heavy downbeats and swirling piano melodies.
The incredible skill of the flutist was not alone- the whole ensemble combined equal prowess to make this show simply unforgettable.
“She has different ensembles and I play most of the time,” said Carlos Carro, one of the show’s percussionists. He said playing with Mauleón, “is extremely fun. The good thing about playing with her is that we always play different, a different vibe every time and different energies depending on how we feel.”
Carro certainly did his part contributing to the energy of the show, as audience members could constantly find him gritting his teeth or grimacing with conviction as he played away barehanded on stout bongo drums.
Mauleón has played alongside many famous artists and after each event the musicians leave with broad smiles and a gleam in their eyes. The night spent playing at SRJC was no different.
One viewer, who declined to give his name, called the night “one of the best performances I’ve seen in quite a while.”