Roberto Santamaria, born in Havana, has lived for many years. The nephew of the famous percussionist Mongo Santamaria can therefore be safely described as a local hero.
Here he also found congenial musicians with whom he can play what the Cuban had already absorbed with his mother’s milk and what his uncle stood for: Jazz made in Cuba! Of course, his uncle’s footsteps are big, as he landed a global jazz hit with Afro Blue in the late 1950s, which was also part of John Coltrane’s repertoire.
But if you grew up in Habana Vieja, like Roberto, you are already in a good position to absorb the groove that blows through every corner of this old town district. Even as a small child he drummed on everything that made a sound. “In this environment you can’t escape the music,” says the “tasted” Tübingen native.
Musicians who have the Latin feeling inside them: For the gig at the Jazz & Classic Days, he gathered around him musician friends who he has known for years, who he trusts and who he knows have the Latin feeling inside them, even if there is no Caribbean blood in their veins.
Oliver Wendt on alto saxophone and flute, Wieland Braunschweiger (drums), Andrey Tatarinets (electric bass), and the Father & Son duo Dizzy Krisch (vibraphone) and Anselm Krisch (piano) represent virtuosity and joy of playing! And that can be heard after just a few seconds of the opener Sadie’s dance.
A hint of the Caribbean caresses the ear with this fresh start, in which Braunschweiger, Tatarinets and Wendt also immediately present their calling card in terms of complexity. This is followed by Manteca, a number written by Dizzy Gillespie, in which the “German” Dizzy lets his mallets dance over the metal plates of his vibraphone. The Comandante, as Santamaria calls him because of his Che Guevara cap, should have plenty of opportunity to prove over the course of the concert why he is one of the top vibraphonists in the republic.
Maybe tears will come to your eyes: After Mambo Mongo, the group moves into completely different musical realms: “Maybe tears will come to your eyes,” says Santamaria as he announces Imagine by John Lennon and points to the chaos of war in the world. A flat, harmonious vibraphone intro opens the ballad, which really has what it takes to not forget the suffering of this world, despite all the joy of life. Before the break, Madiba comes along with crisp unison licks and a virtuoso shékere, one of the percussion instruments that reveals Santamaria’s rhythmic art just as he demonstrates it on the conga set, the bongos or the bells. Visitor Joachim Staudt, who is also one of the greats of the Tübingen jazz scene, also enjoys the crackling energy that this combo exudes in a conversation with our magazine during the break.
Samba do Brazil after the break: Then the gentlemen go one step further. In round two they indulge in samba, among other things. Samba do Brazil may have little to do with Caribbean jazz, but you don’t want to define the motto of the evening that narrowly. The main thing is that it’s percussive and Latin! After Partido Alto, Para Chick follows, a homage to one of the greats who made Latin jazz even more accessible to a large audience: Chick Corea. Santamaria raves about an encounter he had with this “wonderful pianist and person”.
Wendt puts his sax aside for Para Chick and picks up the silver reed, which he intones just as skillfully and precisely. In the last numbers of the evening, Maroni Moreno, Yatra Ta and One for Tom, Roberto and his “friends” are once again at their best: furious unison phrases, rhythmic delicacies from Braunschweiger and Santamaria, delicate piano figures, powerful sax solos and, last but not least, the vibraphone whirlwind Dizzy with highly sensitive playing and fantastic solos.
Santamaria beams at the “encore!” calls from the audience and, together with them, turns them into a spontaneous number that everyone enjoys. Flor de lis was to conclude the evening: all musicians united in a percussive samba – a successful finale and a no less successful Caribbean evening that also included South America.
Roberto Santamaria (percussion, vocals)
Dizzy Krisch (vibraphone)
Anselm Krisch (piano)
Oliver Wendt (saxophone)
Andrey Tatarinets (bass)
Wieland Braunschweig (drums)
