By Jamal Weekes
The Johnny Pacheco Latin Music & Jazz Festival occurred on Wednesday, March 13th, at Lehman College's studio theater. The festival is a beautiful celebration of Latin Jazz, featuring dancing and outstanding musical performances that has been going strong for fourteen years. Johnny Pacheco, the originator of salsa and the founder of the Pachanga dance, spearheaded the festival for years until his passing in 2021. His first studio album with Alegre Records sold 100,000 copies.
In recent years, the event has been live streamed for viewers to enjoy from the comfort of their homes. This year, many musicians gathered at the Lehman College studio theater to enjoy a night of music. The performances are given by middle school and college student musicians, who get the opportunity to gain experience with professional musicians from the city and beyond. News of the event was promoted on the Lehman College Facebook page, attracting a large audience. Many people from the Bronx and the greater New York City area attended via livestream.
I had a chance to speak with some of the attendees before the performances began. Paul Rivera, a member of the Latin jazz group the Afrolatineers, learned about the event through the Facebook page. He became interested in Latin Jazz after taking some classes on the topic, and thanks to social media and his love of music, he traveled to Lehman College for a night of Latin Jazz.
At exactly 7:30 pm, the ensemble started playing, and the studio was filled with the sounds of guitars, pianos, trumpets, and drums. They played songs from Puerto Rico and Cuba, including "Chucy Frito Man." I could also hear popular Latin rhythms like the clave, a commonly used instrument in Latin music. This rhythm pattern can also be found in many pop songs like Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You," "Treat You Better" by Shawn Mendes, and "All of Me" by John Legend. This shows the importance of Latin music not just within Latin America but also in the United States. After the initial performance, the Lehman College Jazz Ensemble made their way onto the stage. They performed multiple songs, captivating the audience's attention with sheer focus and dedication toward their instruments. During the performance, Moises Cruz and Ronald Martinez, Lehman’s guitarists, played with an enthusiasm that electrified the crowd. The audience’s excited applause during the solos added to the energy in the room. “To perform with musicians like these is an experience,” says Ronald after the festival. To him, the festival felt like a different atmosphere altogether.
The Lehman College Jazz Ensemble set the spark that would stay aflame the entire night of performances. Victor Rendón, the organizer of the event, conducted the ensembles and even took to the drums himself to play ‘’Funky Frijoles’’, a song that took inspiration from Moacir Santos’ Amphibious. Santos was a Brazilian jazz composer as well as an educator. He produced music for Brazilian films and taught many young musicians who went on to expand the genre. A Lehman professor, Victor calls Lehman his home base as the festival continues to attract visitors from the Bronx and New York City. Students get to see and even experience a live musical performance which is often inaccessible due to high prices and other factors.
