Eric Jackson, Stephen J. Charbonneau and Steve Schwartz of Boston’s venerable jazz station WGBH have launched a new weblog. It concentrates on music and musicians in the Boston area. Many of the best jazz players show up there, several live in the city or nearby and the WGBH blog has news about them. Schwartz recently went to the Regattabar in Cambridge to hear Kenny Barron’s trio. He found Barron and Ray Drummond, but drummer Ben Riley was missing, replaced by young Francisco Mela. That worried Schwartz.
My apprehension was short lived. Mela, from Cuba and a former Bostonian (he came here to go to school, graduated and moved to New York but continues to teach at Berklee College of Music) was totally up for the task. This gig was the first time he had played with Kenny and Ray. It was as if he was born to be there.
He told me afterwards that Kenny heard him at a jazz festival in France, came up to him after and began talking to him. Kenny said he would call Francisco about gigs. Francisco told Kenny, “Maestro, please don’t tell me you are going to call me if you are not going to call me!â€
Kenny took him by the shoulder and said, “Francisco, I’m going to call you!†Two days later the phone rang and this gig was a result of that conversation.
To read the whole thing, go here. I’m adding the GBH blog to the Other Places list in the right column. Please go there now and then, but don’t forget to return to Rifftides. Bring a friend. There’s lots of room.