A Night of Music in Celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month

Emilio Morales and Los Nuevos Amigos kick off the jam session. May 4, 2012

May 4, 2012 – Following USINT’s celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, Public Affairs Officer Gloria Berbena hosted a Musical Evening at her residence.   Performing under the stars were the winners of the second annual "Compón Un Song" songwriting contest:  Raydel Rojas Góngora, winner in the traditional Cuban genre for “Canto de un guajiro”;  soloist Orlando Nuñez Melián, whose song “Dime qué sera” was the winner in the fusion genre;  Mary Rodríguez, whose “Cuando todo termina” took the prize in the pop-rock genre; and the lively group D’Clase, winners in the reaguetón genre for “Amor como el tuyo.”

Their performances were followed by a jam session kicked off by Emilio Morales y Los Nuevos Amigos.  Other local musicians joined in, adding trumpet, percussion and other unique Cuban sounds to the evening. The rhythms soon had many in the audience tapping their feet and swaying to the beat, including the Bailadores de Santa Amalia who added their impromptu performance.

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) is celebrated every April across the U.S. and at its foreign missions.  Jazz is believed to have emerged as a music genre in the early 20^th century in New Orleans, Louisiana, and over the past 100 years, it has embraced local, national, and regional musical cultures, spawning innumerable sub-genres.  As COM John Caulfield mentioned in his welcome remarks, “… it’s very special to celebrate JAM in Cuba, a country which has given birth to so many notable musicians and whose music has been such a strong influence on modern day jazz.” 

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