The Barrie Jazz and Blues Fest has a well-deserved reputation for delivering surprises and exceptional concerts, going far beyond expectations.
This past weekend, the festival included performances in venues across Barrie, but also in Alliston, Bradford, Georgina, Midland, Orillia, and Innisfil.
Audiences had the opportunity to hear the likes of guitarist Toney ‘Wild T’ Springer at the Bradford Public Library, Jack de Keyser at Alliston's Gibson Centre, Joe Agnello and Frank Gennuso at the Lake Simcoe Arms in Jackson's Point, and at the Lakeshore Library in Innisfil on Feb. 2, a special treat - a duo of Cuban jazz legends.
Juno Award-winner Hilario Durán, Canada’s Cuban jazz piano master, was joined by Numero Uno Rumbero, Jorge Luis Torres ‘Papiosco.’
What is a rumbero? A master of rumba rhythms, and as 'Papiosco' laid down a Latin beat on the Conga drums, Durán wove his magic in a repertoire that ranged from improvisation to classics like “Till there was you.” The music made it hard at times for the audience to stay in their seats.
Durán grew up in a musical family in Havana, and shared stories of his childhood – being impacted by the American blockade in the early 1960s, and the travels of his father, also a musician, who visited Paris, London, and Spain and brought back international musical influences.
In Cuba, Durán played in the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna with another Cuban jazz legend, Chucho Valdés, and later toured internationally with the Arturo Sandoval band. For the past two decades, he has made Toronto his home, teaching at Humber College’s Jazz Faculty, performing and recording.
Jorge Luis ‘Papiosco’ Torres is one of Cuban jazz’s top percussionists. He first took to the stage at the age of only 10 in Cuba, under his mentor Tata Güines. Papiosco has played with the greats of the jazz world, including ¡Cubanismo!, Pablo Milanés, Valdés, and since coming to Canada, ensembles like Jane Bunnett and the Spirits of Havana.
On Sunday, he teamed up with Durán as the Contumbao Duet.
Contumbao – also the name of Durán’s latest album – translates roughly as “with African swing or sass,” and the Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms warmed up a chilly February afternoon in a free concert that was personal, intimate, but also extroverted, and full of Cuban heat.
