Pan Jazz opens to small audience

ByJOANNAH BHAROSE 'Rumba Para Monk' was named 'Jazz Record of A SMALL group of jazz The Year'in 1989 by the lovers, mainly visitors, French Academic du Jazz. turned up for the first In 1989 the Fort Apache night of the Pan Jazz Fes- band was voted number tivall VII, at the Spek- one World Beat Group in takula Forum, on Thurs- Down Beat's annual day. Readers Poll. The other The Amoco Renegades band members are John Steel Orchestra opened Stubblefield on tenor sax,1 the show a little after 8.30 Joe Forde on Alto Sax,' pm, the scheduled start, on paino, and was followed by Andy Gonzales on bass Claude Sommier's Quin- and Steve Berrios on tet, Djoa.featuring Annise drums and poercussion. Hadeed. Jerry Gonzalez The final night of Pan and the Fort Apache Jazz VII will be staged Band closed the show a tonight at Pier 1, Ch- few minutes after mid- aguaramas and features night. Phase II Pan Grove Steel Djoa's Xavier Desan- Orchestra, Fun da Men- . ^ dre-Navarre on the per- tal, Monty Alexander's /. cussion stole the show. Quartet with Derek Di- ' 1s* Barefooted and dressed hi cenco on Steel Drum and jeans and a sleevless cut Yellow Jackets. •off t-shirt Desandre- Navarre thrilled the crowd with more than 15 differ- ent instruments in his number 'Monkey's Des- peration'. It was impossi- ble to separate him from 'his music. The group led by Mar- tiniquan born pianist and , composer .Sommier is a melodic, percussive jazz based quintet. Sommier's compositions are coloured by the traditional Mar- tinique rhythms and are influenced by Afro-Latin music creating a unique combination of bebop, p^ bolero, beguine, calypso V and belia. They played in < the festival four years ago. P) The other band members X. were Francois Laizeau on drums, Jean Marc Larche on saxophone and Marc v Michel le Bevillon on o>. bass. V* By the time Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band finished performing more than half the crowd r.6^ had left. This team has \J^ been hailed by the New York Times as "the best Latin Jazz Group working today." This was a rare oppourtunity for Jazz lovers to experience Gon- zalez's crossover music and witness him on the trumpet and congas. He has performed with great names like McCoy Tyner, , Machito and . Other members of the band have played with , and Wynton Marsalis. The group's album IN THE LATIN GROOVE: JERRY Gonzalez on the congas during his performance with the Fort Apache Band at the Pan Jazz Festival VII at Spektakula Forum. Photo by AUR7HUR EDWARDS.