Papo Vazquez & Mighty Pirates Troubadours at Montgomery County Community College

An exciting brew of Latin jazz and Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms will take center stage at Montgomery County Community College as internationally known trombonist, composer and band leader Papo Vázquez performs with his orchestra, Mighty Pirates Troubadours, on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. in the Science Center Theater, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. Tickets cost $30. Visit www.mc3.edu/livelyarts or call 215-641-6518 for more information and tickets.

Heralded by The New York Times for its “jolting energy,” the group’s sound has been described as “high-powered, Afro-Puerto Rican small-group jazz…building jazz harmony on top of bomba rhythms.” The orchestra is led by Vázquez, whose remarkable career spans more than three dozen years. The Grammy-nominated artist, who grew up in Puerto Rico and North Philadelphia, discovered his talent with the trombone as a child and was playing professionally in New York by the age of 17....

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An exciting brew of Latin jazz and Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms will take center stage at Montgomery County Community College as internationally known trombonist, composer and band leader Papo Vázquez performs with his orchestra, Mighty Pirates Troubadours, on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. in the Science Center Theater, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. Tickets cost $30. Visit www.mc3.edu/livelyarts or call 215-641-6518 for more information and tickets.

Heralded by The New York Times for its “jolting energy,” the group’s sound has been described as “high-powered, Afro-Puerto Rican small-group jazz…building jazz harmony on top of bomba rhythms.” The orchestra is led by Vázquez, whose remarkable career spans more than three dozen years. The Grammy-nominated artist, who grew up in Puerto Rico and North Philadelphia, discovered his talent with the trombone as a child and was playing professionally in New York by the age of 17.

A co-founder of Jerry Gonzalez’s Fort Apache Band and of Puerto Rico’s popular Latin fusion band Batacumbele, Vázquez has traveled with Tito Puente’s Latin Jazz Ensemble as principal trombonist and toured Europe with the Ray Charles Orchestra and Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra.
He received composer commissions by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and was invited to direct the U.S. Marine Band in its first Afro-Caribbean jazz performance. His expert playing can be heard on several film soundtracks, including “The Mambo Kings” and Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues.”

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