[Dixielandjazz] Music as Flirtation? NOT OKOM, BUT SHOULD BE.

[Stephen Barbone]

List Mates:

Thought long and hard about posting this one. Ms. Portuondo is a 71 year
old Cuban singer. The theme of her presentation is sexy flirtation. It
can be useful to OKOM presentation with a little thought by those of us
on the list who lead, or perform in OKOM bands. There is a lesson here
for those who want OKOM to appeal to the young.

PLEASE DELETE IF THE ABOVE IS OF NO INTEREST TO YOU, and send your
gripes to the Chaplain who will punch your TS Card. :-)

Cheers,
Steve Barbone



July 2, 2002  The New York Times

To Everyone's Delight, Music as a Form of Flirtation

By KELEFA SANNEH

Omara Portuondo found a way to let her musicians shine Saturday night at
the Beacon Theater, even though she never relinquished the spotlight.
The idea was simple: Ms. Portuondo treated her band like a toy,
presiding over the players with a
playful mixture of high-handedness and generosity.

She seemed to love the loping grooves as much as the audience did, and
when she wanted people to get up and clap, she led by example. Any
musician who stepped forward for a solo was likely to find himself
waylaid by Ms. Portuondo's singing. She seemed to be searching for a
dance partner who could keep up with her. Even during the long
instrumental stretches, you got the feeling that every note was being
played for her amusement.

Ms. Portuondo, 71, has been one of Cuba's most important singers for
about half a century, and in the last few years she has enjoyed
new-found popularity in the United States, thanks to a mesmerizing
performance in the 1999 documentary, "The Buena Vista Social Club."

Her style, which draws from Cuban folk music and American jazz, has been
enormously influential, but she'd obviously rather be a star than a
legend. She took the stage at this show, part of the JVC Jazz Festival,
in a flowing hot-pink pantsuit, and when she called out, "La más," the
audience finished the epithet, "Sexy!"

Many of the songs were based on simple figures: a broken chord played
twice, transposed and played twice more. The pianist and the bassist
rode the back of the beat, keeping the music slightly off balance by
hitting every note as late as possible.

Sometimes the band members would sing the refrain, but Ms. Portuondo
didn't really need backup singers. Her voice was brassier than her
seven-piece horn section and brawnier than the five-piece rhythm
section, and she sang an exuberant version of "No Me Llores Más," even
though the lyrics are about love and betrayal. "Veinte Años" began with
a plaintive trombone line, and Ms. Portuondo responded with a soft,
elegiac vocal.

All night Ms. Portuondo showed how making music can be a form of
flirting, and vice versa.

After one extended solo, she looked at the trumpeter, sighed, and
whispered, "He is 23 years old." Then she shot a glance at the
audience: "I am 24."