About
Los Hombres Calientes
Label: Basin Street Records
The Band: Irvin Mayfield trumpet
Bill Summers percussion
and vocals
Jamal Batiste drums
Victor Atkins piano
Leon Brown trumpet
Stephen Walker trombone
For almost 10 years Los Hombres Calientes has established itself among the preeminent multi-ethnic musical ensembles on the planet. The Billboard Latin Music Award Winners' and Grammy nominee's recordings are an awe-inspiring blend of historically accurate yet contemporary treatments of African-derived music from all ports of its dissemination. So powerful is this ensemble's music that after its very first gig at Snug Harbor in New Orleans, three record companies were scrambling to sign them to a record deal. The response they have generated in concert is nothing short of ecstatic, with people leaping to their feet to dance and chant, with a fervor reserved for those who have been reconnected to roots long left behind.
Check out Los Hombres Calientes as they were interview on Backstage with Erika Schwarz (Berkano Productions)
Co-led by percussionist / ethnomusicologist Bill Summers (52) and trumpeter/composer Irvin Mayfield (22), Los Hombres Calientes gets its strength from a union of generations. "Bill and I have this spiritual connection," Irvin explains. "Whatever one can't do, the other can finish." They are a brotherhood united by a sense of purpose: to create a causeway of cultural exchange.
That goal has never been more clear than in the conceptualization and creation of their third and finest project to date, Vol. 3: "New Congo Square". The album's title is a nod to an intriguing aspect of African American history.
Summers explains, "Congo Plains was an area in New Orleans where slaves were allowed to worship and celebrate - to some degree - in the manner they were accustomed to in Africa. They could dance, sing in their own language and use the drum. Part of the reason this was allowed was that New Orleans was under French rule as opposed to being ruled by the English, who were more extreme in their efforts to strip Africans of their customs. In French colonies like Haiti or in Portuguese colonies like Brazil, a rich Yoruba-based religious community still thrives. In Cuba, African languages are still spoken and traditions remain intact. Congo Plains was like that."
"Los Hombres Calientes has accumulated a base of knowledge that allows us to bring together all of the diasporic aspects of African and African-based music and leave them pure. It's like a family reunion: aunts, uncles and cousins hanging out."
"New Congo Square," Irvin continues, "is a reunion of our brothers and sisters of the human culture. It's about respecting cultures and differences, but it's more about appreciating those differences and moving closer together. Our goal is to establish New Orleans- the place that gave the fine art of jazz music to the world ? as the cultural Northern port of the Caribbean. We're distinguishing that fine line in music where people are able to shake their behinds, yet maintain musical integrity. That's something that Caribbean cultures have never lost. When you listen to Bob Marley, Antonio Carlos Jobim or Ibrahim Ferrer's music, those people are partyin', and their music remains intricate. That's what the song 'New Second Line' is all about - how people can come together to appreciate each other?s culture."
To bring this dream to life, after cutting some basic tracks at Bill's studio, the group reached beyond their home base of New Orleans to fellowship and record with musicians in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; and the streets of the Dominican Republic. "We were on a cultural exchange. It has been dream of mine to record in Cuba with some serious musicians - to write music in the vein of what's happening in Havana today, yet have it stand up to the scrutiny of the rules and regulations that make that music popular."
Crucial to making this concept gel was the addition to the band of Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, the most sought after Cuban drummer in America today. Horacio came to Los Hombres, as a replacement for original member Jason Marsalis, following a high profile stint in Carlos Santana's multi-Grammy-winning group. "Horacio fits our situation in great fashion," Summers states. "He knows the repertoire. He and I have known each other for many years." Irvin adds, "Now we're even more experimental with Cuban and Latin music because Horacio is of that culture and can help us maintain the authenticity of the music. Bill is the one who brings it all together. He's the guy who can go anywhere and help Horacio and me work together and understand each other."
The Songs
"Foforo Fo Firi" begins the album with a BANG. It is the first of three collaborations recorded in Cuba with horns from the premier Cuban jazz group, Irakere. Vocals were handled by Isaac Delgado, lead singer of the group NG La Banda, who also helped with the lyrics. It's about a woman who is so hot; her presence causes a commotion wherever she goes. It's like an Afro-Cuban version of the Ohio Players "Fire!"
"Brother Runnin'," with its amalgam of blues, jazz and the Congolese Macuta rhythm, is the most unsettling number of the collection, painting an aural picture of life-threatening distress. "If you're an African American," Irvin says, "you can have so many different relationships to that scene - from slavery to being down south in the '50s to dealing with the police today. The piece is subtitled 'Mark's Groove' for Mark Samuels - President of Basin Street Records.
"Fantizias de Samba" is a Brazilian piece about two people preparing for carnival who are being assisted by the Orishas (Oshumari and Olorun). Summers explains, "It's about them meeting and becoming the king and queen of the carnival." The melody was inspired by Luis Bonfa's "Samba de Orfeu" from the film, Black Orpheus."
Jah Rastafari" is a perfect example of the album's cultural exchange philosophy. The basic tracks were done in Jamaica with the drummer from "Burning Spear" to capture reggae?s essence. The vocals were done later in New Orleans by Louisiana native Early Brooks - the best reggae singer in the city.
"New Second Line" - (see paragraph six)
"El Negro" is a three-part suite that Irvin started on Vol. 1 with "Rumba For Jason," and continued with the "Cuban Suite" on Vol. 2 with a string quartet. "El Negro," a special dedication to new drummer Hernandez, is more expansive than the motifs from the previous recordings, encompassing a piano theme quoted from the opera "Dido and Aneas" that evolves into some very modern Cuban Montuno playing and later features Kent Jordan playing over the changes (in true New Orleans style) on piccolo. "That phrasing is indigenous to Caribbean culture and works really well over Cuban music," Irvin shares.
"New Bus Stop (For Curtis Mayfield)" is a special tribute from Irvin to the late soul poet/prophet. "He's actually a relative ? my father's cousin," he states. "In the music of the '70s, you can hear black people trying to understand how Africa relates to them and what it means to be an African American. The interaction between the piano and organ here - a very church thing - represents that. The Bus Stop was a dance done in the '70s that is still done today, only it's called the Electric Slide now."
"Corcovado/Nocturnal Low Moan" finds Irvin taking Antonio Carlos Jobim's timeless bossa nova classic (also known by the title of its English language lyric "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars") and embellishing it with a sensual, Gil Evans-inspired coda of his own. He chuckles, "Quiet nights may start out quiet, but there comes a point when they're not quite anymore!"
Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" also finds Irvin using a Gil Evans inspired arrangement, this time for trombones. "We have come into a time when we can appreciate Marley's music as standards," Irvin says, "which is why I chose that song."
"Sentimientos" is at first a deeply sorrowful ballad that finds resilience in the end. It is a collaboration between Summers and lyricist/singer Pedro Martinez that again features horns from Irakere.
"Warrior Suite" finds Summers stepping out on faith writing a suite of music for Eleggua, Ogun and Oshossi - spirit saints of the Yoruba culture. Though Bill is an acknowledged drum master and has played many ceremonies, he has never felt that he had the authority, right or ability to compose any new music for the Orishas...until now. "It's a touchy thing," he states. "I wrote the music using my knowledge of traditional Yoruba and the new Afro-Cuban Yoruba. It was done in honor of music that is not recognized among Westerners on any serious level. This is my heritage - sacred classical African music - and I am proud to make a contribution to its history."
"Africa N.O. (Edwin's Groove)" represents a fusion of traditional African concepts with New Orleans jazz. The title is a play on the word Africano, only split up between Africa and N.O. (New Orleans).
"Nyabingi" is named after the Jamaican family of drums (played in Rastafarian ceremonies) featured on this song. These drums represent one of the last vestiges of pure African tradition left in Jamaica. The different sizes of the drums (much like the African Bata drums) represent father, mother and child. Played together, their message is about keeping the family together; a philosophy espoused by Cuban priest Estaban "Cha Cha" Vega Iyalode Oshun.
"Digidall" is a bassline-driven, funk/jazz spin on the concept of all things digital that was worked out from an idea of Horacio's.
"Dominicanos" is an excerpt of a jam recorded right in the streets of the Dominican Republic.
"Call It What You Want" is an expanded revision of an R&B hit Bill Summers enjoyed in 1981 with his group Summers Heat. "We always close our albums with something 'mainstream' to party to," Summers says. "It's a funk tune, only this time with jazz solos on top and guitar more reminiscent of American pop music."
The Musicians:
Bill Summers ? percussion:
Summers first gained musical prominence as a member of Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking '70s fusion group, the Headhunters. However, It seems that Summers was destine to form a group like Los Hombres Calientes long before his work with Herbie. His studies of European classical music (at the Detroit and Michigan Conservatories of Music), extensive studies of percussion and ethnomusicology along with equally extensive world traveling have provided him a broad view of world culture and thus the concept that is manifested through the music of Los Hombres Calientes. Summers is also using the knowledge that he has accumulated to establish the Summers Multi-Ethnic Institute of Arts. Bill and his wife, Yvette Summers operate it from their home - gratis to the community. Soon, it will be a full-fledged campus on 100 acres of land he inherited not far from a Louisiana plantation on which his grandmother's family were once slaves.
"My dedication to Los Hombres Calientes is based on education," Summers states "working with younger musicians so that we can build a stronger musical and cultural base is important to me. This institute will include traditional instructors as well as musical and cultural masters who might not gone through typical western systems of accreditation."
Irvin Mayfield ? trumpet:
Mayfield is next in line to join the Crescent City trumpet elite of Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton. Irvin met Bill at the Summers Multi-Ethnic Institute of Arts along with original Los Hombres Calientes? drummer Jason Marsalis. In addition to the albums he has recorded with Los Hombres Calientes, he has two solo albums on Basin Street Records: he self-titled debut Irvin Mayfield and How Passion Falls and two CDs recorded "Live At The Blue Note".
"Anything that requires a certain amount of challenge, diligence and discipline is always going to be the most fun thing for me," he says. "The relationship we're developing with this music connects to so many people either by their culture, or their feelings about the rhythm. They immediately understand how they are related to what we're doing. With each album, the band and our musical conception stretches. We started out in a town, then a state, now it's about another country. Hopefully by the next album, we'll be in another universe."
Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez - drums and percussion:
the most sought after Cuban drummer in America today. Horacio came to Los Hombres, as a replacement for original member Jason Marsalis, following a high profile stint in Carlos Santana's multi-Grammy-winning group. "Horacio fits our situation in great fashion," Summers states. "He knows the repertoire. He and I have known each other for many years." Irvin adds, "Now we're even more experimental with Cuban and Latin music because Horacio is of that culture and can help us maintain the authenticity of the music. Bill is the one who brings it all together. He's the guy who can go anywhere and help Horacio and me work together and understand each other."
Victor Atkins ? piano:
Acclaimed Atkins has played with a wide range of artists, including Elvin Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Heath, Frank Morgan, Nnenna Freelon and Lalah Hathaway. Among his writing credits is an arrangement for the film Moon Over Miami. When not performing or recording, he resides as adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans.
Yvette Summers - percussion and vocals:
St. Louis-native studied Afro-Cuban dance with Ballet Folklorico Nacional de Cuba and began modeling in Los Angeles in 1980. Yvette began studying percussion, specializing in the shekere, guiro, clave and conga drums after meeting Bill. Yvette made her first percussion recording on Vinx's I Love My Job, later she graced Herbie Hancock's "Dis Is Da Drum", and performed live with the late saxman George Howard. Her voice can also be heard on the soundtrack for Julie Dash's film, Daughters of the Dust.
Edwin Livingston - bassist/composer:
This Dallas, Texas native holds a Bachelors of Music Performance degree from Wichita State University. He went on to play with Alvin Batiste James Clay, Lamont Johnson, Wessell Anderson and Delfeayo Marsalis, among others. Edwin has also recorded one album as a leader, The Edwin Livingston Group (available on www.jazzloft.com)
Ricky Sebastian - trap drums:
This native of Opelousas, Louisiana began working with Los Hombres Calientes as a road substitute drummer for Jason Marsalis. He's spent 13 years and counting with flute master Herbie Mann, and worked with Tania Maria, John Scofield, Dianne Reeves, Harry Belafonte and Dr. John. Ricky is about to release his first solo album, The Spirit Within, on STR Digital.
Pedro Martinez - percussion & vocals:
Havana Cubano Martinez won the Thelonious Monk competition for outstanding percussion and performs regularly in the United States with highly revered Orlando "Puntilla" Rios.
- A. Scott Galloway, April 2001
Accolades
Billboard Latin Music Award Winner for Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year (Los Hombres Calientes)
Down Beat Magazine (August 2000) Critic's Poll for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition for Acoustic Jazz Group and Best ?Beyond Album? (Volume 2)
Downbeat Magazine (August 1999) Critic?s Poll for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in both ?Acoustic Jazz Group? and "Beyond Group" categories.
Named #1 Local CD of 1998 by New Orleans? Times-Picayune (Los Hombres Calientes)
Named "Album of the Year" by Jazzusa.com (Los Hombres Calientes)
#1 Selling CD at the 2000 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivals (Volume 2)
#1 Selling CD at both the 1998 and 1999 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festivals (Los Hombres Calientes)
Hit Gavin Jazz radio charts for several weeks in late 1998 and early 1999 (Los Hombres Calientes)
Volume 2 hit the top 10 on Gavin Jazz charts in late 1999 and early 2000
Volume 2 hit #8 on CMJ Jazz Charts in early 2000
Hit Billboard Jazz chart in May 1999 (Los Hombres Calientes)
Hit Billboard Jazz chart in May 2000 (Volume 2)
2000 Gambit Weekly Big Easy Entertainment Award nominee for ?Best Contemporary Jazz Band?
1999 Gambit Weekly Big Easy Entertainment Award nominee for ?Best Contemporary Jazz Band?
1999 Gambit Weekly Big Easy Entertainment Award nominee for ?Album of the Year? (Los Hombres Calientes)
1999 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best Contemporary Jazz Band?
1999 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best Latin Band?
1999 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best Contemporary Jazz Album? (Volume 2)
1999 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best Latin Album? (Volume 2)
1998 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best New Contemporary Jazz Band?
1998 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best New Latin Band?
1998 Offbeat Best of the Beat Winner for ?Best Contemporary Jazz Album? (Los Hombres Calientes)
1998 Offbeat Best of the Beat Runner-up for ?Best Contemporary Jazz Band?
1998 Offbeat Best of the Beat Runner-up for ?Best Latin Album? (Los Hombres Calientes)
Notable Gigs
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1998, 1999 and 2000
Opened for Santana at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans in 1999
Les Rendez-vous de L?Erdre in Nantes, France (9/4/99 ? 9/5/99)
Ronnie Scott?s in London, England (9/6/99 - 9/11/99)
Jazz Aspen Snowmass? Artists for the New Millenium on 12/31/99
Dominican Republic Jazz Festival (10/10/99)
San Jose Jazz Festival
Cancun Jazz Festival
Atlanta Jazz Festival
Artsplosure in Raleigh, N.C.
Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz
Birmingham City Stages
Jackson Jubilee Jam
Clearwater Jazz Holiday
New Orleans By the Bay (Bill Graham Presents)
Northbeach Jazz Festival in San Francisco
Red Sea Jazz Festival (Eilat, Israel)
The band was featured in the March 2000 issue of Downbeat Magazine, was featured on CNN Worldbeat on 2/19/00, was featured in the Hearsay column of Jazztimes, was featured on Jazzset with Branford Marsalis (NPR) in April 2000, was featured on Jazzsouth (syndicated radio) in February, and was featured on the House of Blues radio hour. The band has also appeared on Emeril' Live TV show on the Food Network.
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Eleven Stones