Event:
Jan 27th – Feb. 1st
(9:00 pm, 11:00 pm)
Village Vanguard
New York, NY

Red-hot drummer, Cuban native Francisco Mela brings his Quartet to the Vanguard for six nights. Featuring Greg Osby on saxophone, Sam Yahel on organ and Matt Penman on bass.

Francisco Mela has been hailed as one of the most charismatic musicians to hit the Big Apple in some time. Mela is already the drummer of choice for heavyweights Joe Lovano and Kenny Barron, and is also a bandleader of rapidly-increasing stature, whose debut CD Melao was played in Starbucks cafes throughout the U.S., and whose new Half-Note CD Cirio has Mela playing in various combinations with Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier, Lionel Loueke, and Mark Turner. His own working quartet featuring organ sensation Sam Yahel plays the Vanguard for six nights. If you are in NYC, make it a point to check them out.

Artist Information:

Although he’s been in the U.S. for less than a decade and just recently released his second album here, Francisco Mela has become one of the most talked about and in-demand Cuban musicians of his generation. He has performed with Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Paquito D’Rivera, George Garzone, John Patitucci, John Scofield, Jane Bunnett, Jason Moran, Mark Turner, Stefon Harris, Regina Carter, and Lionel Loueke, among others. His influences include Jose Luis Quintana (Chango), Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Thelonious Monk, Tony Williams, and Miles Davis.

Melao, his release for the Barcelona, Spain-based AYVA Musica label, features a cadre of jazz giants, among them tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, who quickly became one of the drummer’s biggest fans. Canadian woodwind virtuoso Jane Bunnett, whose passion for Cuban music has made her a leading practitioner of the island nation’s most revered styles, invited Mela into her Spirits of Havana band and recorded Grammy nominated album Cuban Odyssey with him anchoring the rhythm section.

He initially planned to study at either Berklee College or The New England Conservatory of Music, but professional opportunities headed him in another direction. It wasn’t long before Francisco was the house drummer of Wally’s Café, one of Boston’s hottest jazz clubs. While honing his own sound as a jazz drummer and broadening his leadership role as leader of a quintet, he also had an opportunity to back such world class talent as Pérez, fellow Cuban Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and his longtime idol, drummer Roy Haynes. Eventually, he started playing with music professors at Berklee.

Then, one day, he received a call to teach at the prestigious institution. He balances a hectic schedule of appearances with pianist Kenny Barron, saxophonists Lovano, David Sanchez and George Garzone, bassist John Patitucci, guitarist John Scofield and many other noted leaders and performances with his own group with teaching a class in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion and teaching private lessons to two dozen students.

(Melao, 2006)

On Melao, Francisco is joined by some of the most talked about musicians of the day. In addition to Lovano, the date features saxophonists Garzone and Anat Cohen and the Benin, Africa-born guitarist Lionel Loueke, who was recently the subject of a cover feature in Jazziz Magazine. In addition to his intuitive, tasteful and airy drumming, one of the highlights of Melao is the opportunity to hear nine of the leader’s self-composed works.

Francisco’s professional horizons continue to broaden as he collaborates with more and more musicians. One of them is saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, a fellow Cuban and, as it turns out, a distant cousin. Mela has attracted the attention of an increasingly wide circle of admirers, including Jazz Times Magazine, which has dubbed him “one of the most important Cuban drummers in jazz”.

Location:
Village Vanguard
178 Seventh Avenue South
New York, NY
(212) 255-4037
http://villagevanguard.com

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