On a quick side note...If anyone is interested in seeing a great documentary about Cuban Music and it's roots, check out: Roots in Rhythm narrated by Harry Belafonte. It was released probably close to 20 years ago, but it gives a great history of the roots of Cuban music (Marriage of African and Spanish Traditions) and contains interviews and performances with phenomenal Cuban musicians. Its a three hour documentary, and I've only been able to get through the first half over the past several days because I have been taking so many notes on the film.
After dinner, I decided to check out a Jazz Jam session at the Miami Shores Country Club that happens every Thursday night. I got there around 8PM and was very surprised by what I saw. I was expecting a standard jazz group of some kind (bass, piano, drums). Instead, there was a 40 key keyboard with a acoustic bass and piano split on the keyboard and a percussionist with bongos, assorted percussion instruments, and a ride cymbal. There were a number of older female vocalists sitting in with the band, and the piano player and percussionist were pretty good, so I decided to stay for a bit. I eventually introduced myself to the band and sat in on piano for two tunes. I performed Take the 'A' Train and Quizas, Quizas, Quizas in a duo with the percussionist. The band members liked me and told me to come back anytime I would like. I was hoping that they would be able to put me in contact with some Cuban musicians or something like that, but no luck. The piano player only plays showtunes and Klezmer and music like that, and the percussionist didn't know of anyone. The one good thing about this session was that all of the musicians recommend I check out a restaurant called Spice in Hollywood, which supposedly always has Cuban music. I will be checking this out soon!
I left at about 10PM and was not really up to going back to the hotel. It was still somewhat early and I felt like my night wasn't quite over yet. So, I decided to drive into Miami Beach to see the incredible view of the skyline and ocean across one of the causeways. I had been to Miami Beach before to view these sights, but not at night. It is truly a different experience. So, I drove into Miami Beach at the 34th Street Causeway (I forget the formal name for this rode). I thought I would drive through South Beach's main street (Ocean Drive) and see if I could hear any live Cuban music performed. It was a long-shot at best considering that restaurants might not have music outside, or the bands could be on a break as I rode by, but I decided to try it anyway. The other factor was parking, which did not seem like it was easy to come by. I drove down Ocean Drive for about 20 blocks and didn't spot the type of music that I wanted to hear, so I kept driving. Right around 7th street, I heard a Cuban band playing outside of a restaurant/bar. I quickly went around the block and tried to find parking, but had no luck. So...I kept circling the block, driving by the band playing, stopping in the middle of the street for a moment with my window down when there was no one behind me or if there was standstill traffic (its very strange how traffic fluctuates like this in South Beach so rapidly). I finally was able to find a metered spot a block away (cost me $2 instead of the $15 that the valets were all charging in front of the restaurants). Of course, by the time I walked around the block, the band had stopped playing for the evening. While this was disappointing, I went up to the musicians and started a conversation. The first gentleman I saw, the percussionist, did not speak any english. I finally had a fantastic opportunity to put my spanish to good use. Here's the gist of what I said:
Hola. Soy un estudiante de piano. Soy de Philadelphia. Viajo a Miami a estudiar la musica cubana y necesito hablar y estudiar con musicos cubanos.
Translation: Hi. I am a student of piano. I'm from Philadelphia. I traveled to Miami to study Cuban music and I need to talk and study with cuban musicians.
While this might not look like very complex language and description, it got my point across. I said some more after this, and we conversed in spanish a little bit. Finally, he brought over the piano player who was playing with the group. Of course, he didn't speak much english either. So, I explained myself again in Spanish, and then we conversed in spanish and english. We both understood each other rather well. He told me that he is a saxophone player first and foremost, but plays piano on the side. He was very friendly and gave me the number of a great piano player that lives in Miami. He also offered to call me tomorrow in order to make the introduction between me and this other piano player. I hope that that all makes sense!!!
As always, I am truly amazed at the kindness and friendliness of the Cuban community. Most of the musicians that I meet are exceptionally friendly and will go out of their way to help me out. I will look forward to hearing from this Cuban musician tomorrow and I will continue my journey in Miami in pursuit of understanding and learning Cuban music.
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