Charles J. Gans
This Sept. 18, 2014 photo released by Jazz at Lincoln Center the shows Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, special guest percussionists, seated from left, Clemente Medina, Roman Diaz and Pedrito Martinez and and vocalists Amma Dawn McKen and Denise Ola DeJean at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. (AP Photo/Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frank Stewart)
September 19, 2014 - 9:30 AM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Wynton Marsalis has opened Jazz at Lincoln Center's new season with the world premiere of "Ochas," a three-movement suite blending jazz with the traditional folkloric music of Cuba.
At a pre-concert reception Thursday night, Marsalis said the season would be "a spectacular journey through the Americas celebrating the depth, diversity and influence of jazz in the Caribbean and North, South and Central America."
Marsalis collaborated with the influential Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdez and rising Cuban percussion star Pedrito Martinez on a commission to create "Ochas."
The suite, built around a dialogue between the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Cuban bata drummers, draws on the rhythms and chants of the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014