Afro Bop Alliance
Where: Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F St. NW
When: 6 p.m. Monday
Info: Free; kennedy-center.org; www.afrobop.com
The comments on the guestbook pages of the jazz septet, Afro Bop Alliance would swell any musician’s head.
“Love your sound É wow,” wrote Patty Kenny last March. That same month, Joy Roy wrote that she heard of the band through a friend and was hooked. Ms. Roy lives in Brazil where, she said “… fabulous rhythms reside.”
This Monday, Kennedy Center audiences can expect to hear high energy interactive Latin Jazz, which is the marriage of Afro-Cuban rhythms with the harmonic and improvisational elements of jazz music.
“Much of the music is improvised around the basic structure of the tune, meaning the tune could be different each time we perform it,” said Afro Bop Alliance’s leader and percussionist, Joe McCarthy. “The groove from the rhythm section and the direction of the soloists dictate the vibe of each song.”
The soloists, McCarthy noted, are among the very best musicians on the scene today and include Luis Hernandez on saxophones, Dan Drew on trombone, Tim Stanley playing trumpet and flugelhorn, Harry Appleman on piano and keyboards and Max Murray, player of multiple basses.
“Like in a traditional jazz setting, the tunes, though interesting and complex, are vehicles for the soloists’ improvisational statements,” Luis Hernandez added.
Afro Bop Alliance is the 2008 Latin Grammy winner for Latin Jazz Album of the year and one of four finalists in the same category for the 51st Grammy Awards of 2009 for their collaboration with the “Caribbean Jazz Project” and the Heads-Up release, “Afro Bop Alliance.” The band is also the 2006 Washington Area Music Award (Wammies) winner for Latin Recording of the Year for their 2006 release, “Camino Nuevo.”
Based out of Annapolis, Afro Bop Alliance has been hailed around the globe for their groundbreaking records and live performances. Future gigs include The Music Center at Strathmore in August and both the Maryland Seafood Festival and Silver Spring Jazz Festival in September. The band was also featured at the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, the Georgetown Jazz Festival and D.C.’s Bohemian Caverns.
