Elio Villafranca at Distler Performance Hall, Granoff Music Center

Soon after the legendary New Orleans pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton infused the roots of jazz with his so-called “Spanish Tinge” during the early 1900s, syncopated rhythmic patterns from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora began to play an important role in the entire foundation of jazz music. The incorporation of Afro-Caribbean rhythms began to show up in the work of jazz legends from Duke Ellington (working with Puerto Rican trombonist and composer Juan Tizol) to Dizzy Gillespie (in collaboration with the Cuban percussionist and composer Chano Pozo).

Acclaimed jazz pianist and Cuba native Elio Villafranca created his ensemble, the Jass Syncopators, to explore the Afro-Caribbean rhythms that influenced the earliest jazz musicians in their approach to their music while building upon his previous compositional work. His seventh studio album, Caribbean Tinge, is the continuation of Duke Ellington’s syncopated approach to jazz music and Jelly Roll Morton’s “Spanish Tinge” concept, but applied to a more contemporary musical idiom. Fusing distinct Afro-Caribbean musical traditions from four islands—Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba—with 21st century jazz by connecting the performing musicians with different traditions of folkloric dancing and drumming, the Jass Syncopators presents an authentic cultural experience that explores the full spectrum of Caribbean music in connection with jazz. Villafranca hopes this music will transport the musicians and audience to the different homelands where these diverse rhythms originated as he shares the many musical treasures he has inherited and loves from the Caribbean and Cuba, where he began his musical career....

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Soon after the legendary New Orleans pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton infused the roots of jazz with his so-called “Spanish Tinge” during the early 1900s, syncopated rhythmic patterns from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora began to play an important role in the entire foundation of jazz music. The incorporation of Afro-Caribbean rhythms began to show up in the work of jazz legends from Duke Ellington (working with Puerto Rican trombonist and composer Juan Tizol) to Dizzy Gillespie (in collaboration with the Cuban percussionist and composer Chano Pozo).

Acclaimed jazz pianist and Cuba native Elio Villafranca created his ensemble, the Jass Syncopators, to explore the Afro-Caribbean rhythms that influenced the earliest jazz musicians in their approach to their music while building upon his previous compositional work. His seventh studio album, Caribbean Tinge, is the continuation of Duke Ellington’s syncopated approach to jazz music and Jelly Roll Morton’s “Spanish Tinge” concept, but applied to a more contemporary musical idiom. Fusing distinct Afro-Caribbean musical traditions from four islands—Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba—with 21st century jazz by connecting the performing musicians with different traditions of folkloric dancing and drumming, the Jass Syncopators presents an authentic cultural experience that explores the full spectrum of Caribbean music in connection with jazz. Villafranca hopes this music will transport the musicians and audience to the different homelands where these diverse rhythms originated as he shares the many musical treasures he has inherited and loves from the Caribbean and Cuba, where he began his musical career.

The Jass Syncopators line-up includes:
Steve Turre, trombone
Vincent Herring, alto sax
Gregg August, bass
Joel de Jesus, drums
Nelson Mateo Gonzales, barril
Julia Loiza-Gutierrez Rivera, dancer
Elio Villafranca, piano

Tickets are free with a Tufts ID card (limit two per ID) and $10 for general admission. Call 617.627.3679 for tickets.

This concert has been possible by the Granoff Music Fund

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