The Arsht Center’s Jazz Root Series will get a jolt of Hispanic salsa with an upcoming performance by supergroup Con Tumbao April 14 at Knight Concert Hall.
The “All-Star Celebration of Latin Rhythms” concert is the brainchild of legendary Cuban singer-songwriter, composer and founder of NG La Banda Isaac Delgado, who has put together a who’s who of musicians sure to set the venue ablaze.
(Rick Swig)
Cuban bandleader, singer-songwriter and composer Isaac Delgado recruited all-star musicians to form Con Tumbao.
Joining Delgado, who will lead the group on piano, will be singer and bassist Alain Perez, drummer Robby Ameen, Pedrito Martinez on congas and percussion, Tony Succar on the timbales, Bob Franceschini on saxophone, Mike Rodriguez and Juan Munguia on trumpet, and Conrad Herwig on trombone.
Delgado has been a fixture on the music scene for four decades. With Con Tumbao he is reimagining his old hits while also blending in well-known Latin American favorites as well as Afro-Cuban tunes into the repertoire.
The concert is set to be a first-class jam session with Delgado having previously collaborated with several of the supergroup’s musicians including Succar.
(Rick Swig)
Peruvian-born timbales player Tony Succar is all smiles during a performance.
“It’s an honor because I always look up to Isaac as one of these guys that has been so influential in my career because of his music,” he said. “I recorded with Isaac when I invited him to be on my album and it was a thrill.”
“Sentimiento Original,” the Succar song on which Delgado performed, is a strong swing tune they recorded in Cuba, where Delgado resides. The song was part of Succar’s two-time Latin Grammy album “Más de Mi.”
“Delgado’s participation on that recording was so good – he really killed it on that song. That’s when I got to see his attention to detail and what a great producer he is,” said Succar. “It’s so obvious that production makes such a difference to him. He knows what he wants and how to get that good sound, he’s so cultured.”
(Rick Swig)
Mike Rodriguez, Trumpet Player
The group has already performed together twice; the Arsht show will be their third time together on stage, an amazing feat given the hectic schedules of these world-class musicians.
“It was indeed work to get this group together, but Isaac is such a pro and I was so honored to be asked to join Con Tumbao,” said Rodriguez. “We have had a blast performing together in the two previous shows.”
Rodriguez counts Delgado as one of his childhood idols, discovering his music when he was in his teens and as he established his own musical career. He eventually came to play with Delgado at Birdland Jazz Club in New York City in 2021.
It’s truly a mutual admiration society with these guys, who all respect each other and have so much confidence in putting on a stellar show.
(Daniel Azoulay)
Students gather around legendary saxophonist Melton Mustafa Jr. during sound check at the Arsht Center prior to his performance at Jazz Roots.
“We’re always connected as a group,” said Succar. “Whenever we see each other, no matter how much time has passed, it feels like yesterday.”
Like Rodriguez, Succar agrees that such camaraderie isn’t easy to establish, but from the beginning the band members all agreed the project would be a team effort.
“There are no egos here. We have a lot of fans pleased when we play,” said Succar.
And although their collective Con Tumbao sound reflects influences from all over the world, Peruvian-born Succar said that “at the end of the day, the sound is Cuban. There are a lot of timbaleros out there they could’ve chosen and they chose me. They’re not discriminating – and they feel I have that same passion.”
(Manny Hernandez)
Seen here performing on stage, Shelly Berg, the artistic director of Jazz Roots, is a classical pianist and the dean of the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.
The History of Jazz Roots
That the Arsht is featuring this all-star group as part of its long-established Jazz Roots Series is no surprise, given the reputation series’ founders, Shelly Berg and the late Larry Rosen, have in the jazz world.
Liz Wallace, vice president of programming at the Arsht, recalled when Rosen – a jazz drummer who eventually became a major record producer with Arista before going solo as Larry Rosen Productions to produce television shows about jazz – approached the Arsht about a different kind of jazz series.
(Manny Hernandez)
The late Larry Rosen, founder of Jazz Roots, addressing an audience.
“Larry came to the Arsht Center in 2008 to create the Jazz Roots: Larry Rosen Jazz Series, which from day one has (had) educational programming … created specifically for this series,” she said. “The Arsht was the originating home of the series for two to three seasons.”
With Rosen from the beginning was Berg, a classical pianist and the dean of the University of Miami Frost School of Music. He, along with several other like-minded community leaders, was tapped by Rosen to help put the series together.
Through the series’ educational outreach arm, 200 Miami-Dade high school jazz students come to the Arsht to experience sound checks by the performing artists. They also attend a lecture by the musicians followed by a Q&A session prior to watching them on stage.
The students also collaborate with Berg and the UM School of Music, working with all their jazz ensembles and the Mancini Institute. With Berg as the series’ jazz consultant, Wallace works very closely with him to plan the seasons, theme the shows and decide on opening acts.
“We decide if it will be Latin, jazz, what the whole season will be and how we balance that. We try to present different genres in the jazz spectrum,” she said.
Professional musicians providing the educational component to
If You Go
students is mutually beneficial, she added, because the series both highlights the genre and its past and also acts as a tool for developing future jazz talent.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the artists who want to participate in education and also for the students to hear from these great artists, particularly about their careers and what’s involved in becoming a recording artist,” Wallace said. “And because Shelly knows everybody in the jazz world we have some amazing artists that the students get to both watch and play with on the concert stage.
“It’s great to see the rehearsals where the professionals and the students play together. Watching their chemistry is magical.”