Jane Bunnett and Maqueque Tour West Coast

Canadian Latin Jazz artist Jane Bunnett has a new music group (Maqueque) with a new music style and a new tour to the US west coast, which begins in Seattle’s Jazz Alley.

Jane is well known, and well recognized, as a Latin Jazz artist through her approximately 20 recordings, the majority of which are directly of Afro-Cuban music. She’s has won five Juno awards and has been nominated a couple of times for Latin Grammy awards.

In my exclusive conversation with Jane Bunnett for Latino Music Café, she recounted excitedly that her last Juno just awarded in March 2015 was for her new album with Maqueque, a formal recognition to go along all the accolades she’s received for her recording with the all-female Cuban band.

Jane Bunnett’s Collaborations with Cuban Music Stars

After starting her recording career with a few straight jazz albums, Jane Bunnett began to get more attention after her album “Spirits of Havana”. The album began a series of collaborations with great Cuban musicians.

“Spirits of Havana” (1991) featured percussionist Guillermo Barreto, three great Cuban pianist including a then young up-and-coming virtuoso Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban piano legend Frank Emilio Flynn (one of the forefathers of the “Felin” musical movement), and Hilario Duran, who would continue to collaborate with Jane in subsequent projects, eventually moving to Canada.

From there, Jane Bunnett has recorded with Tata Guines, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Dafnis Prieto, Pancho Quinto, Jose Luis Quintana “Changuito”, Guillermo Rubalcaba Gonzalez, Bobby Carcases, and many others.

In this audio clip of my conversation with Jane, she explains her collaboration with so many Cuban musicians.

 

Jane Bunnett’s extensive collaborations with Cuban musicians and her numerous trips to Cuba to visit, learn, and record, have given her an unparalleled first-hand expertise in Cuban music, and particularly in its adaptation to Afro-Cuban jazz.

The talent Jane brings as a performer with her soprano sax and flute almost take a backseat to her long-polished ability to weave the sounds of Afro-Cuban music into jazz melodies. I believe this is what makes her a unique performer of this music.

The Birth of Maqueque – Showcase Cuban Women Talent

Maqueque came together as an idea to help expose talented Cuban women, who got very few opportunities to get musical exposure in Cuba. The best thing is for you to listen to how Maqueque came together by Jane herself, in the following audio clip of our conversation:

Jazz Alley and West Coast Tour

After a tour of the east coast last September, with successful stops at the legendary Blue Note club, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque are now visiting the U.S. west coast, with their second stop being at Seattle’s Demitrious Jazz Alley on May 12 and 13.

For their west coast tour, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque will perform the music of their recently award-winning CD, but also new music they have been putting together since the album came out.

Here’s and audio clip of Jane describing the music of Maqueque and what people can expect on the west coast shows.

 

This is a great opportunity for Jazz music fans in the west coast to enjoy a musical experience based on Afro-Cuban Jazz.

TOUR DATES IN THE WEST COAST USA

PDX Jazz @ Jimmy Mak’s – Portland Oregon – Monday May 11
Jazz Alley – Seattle Washington – Tuesday May 12, Wednesday May 13
Piedmont Piano Company – In-Store Concerts – Oakland CA – Thursday May 14
Jazz Bakery Presents at Moss Theater – Santa Monica CA – Saturday May 16
MIM Music Theater (Musical Instrument Museum) – Phoenix AZ – Sunday May 17
Kuumbwa Jazz Center – Santa Cruz CA – Monday May 18

Video of Jane Bunnett with Maqueque

Here’s a short video that provides a sample of the music of Jane Bunnett with Maqueque.