The Latin Jazz Ensemble of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) performed an array of tunes during an intimate concert at the Glenhyrst Art Gallery Coach House on Saturday, May 3, 2025.
Bandleader Rubén Vázquez, an accomplished piano player who currently sits on the faculty at the Oscar Peterson School of Music and Humber College, was performing with eight of his students from the RCM.
“These are my students; I’ve had this class for about 20 or 25 years at the RCM now, and I would like to introduce the amazing people who are playing with me here this evening,” said Vázquez. “On guitar, Greg Papinko; on bass, Colin Flint; on drums, David Grad; Aldo de Jong on clarinet; Lyanne Schlichter on flute; Adam Aucoin on trumpet; and our great percussionists, Julian Alvarado on the bongos, and Joyce Humbert on the Congas.”
Throughout the evening, the nine-piece ensemble delivered a dynamic mix of cha-cha-cha, bossa nova, Latin funk, and Latin jazz standards.
With pieces like Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” Consuelo Velázquez’ “Bésame Mucho,” Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va,” Pablo B. Ruiz’ “Sway,” Victor Daniel’s “La Vida es un Carnaval,” and Chuck Rio’s “Tequila,” the set had plenty of upbeat numbers for the audience to enjoy and move along to.
As well, the repertoire featured an original composition by Aucoin called, “Arabian Skies.” He also arranged Clifford Brown’s “Sandu” with a funk twist.
During intermission, Derek Bond, one of the 20 or so people in attendance for the evening, said he was enjoying the performance.
“It’s wonderful because traditional Latin jazz music is not performed a whole lot, and it’s very, very difficult to do well. The rhythms are very complex; you’ve got all kinds of calling rhythms and cross rhythms, and you have to consider what the bass will be doing and what the piano will be doing against what’s happening with the other instrumentalists as well,” he said. “They really have a nice variety of repertoire; they did some standards that many people who listen to jazz would know, and some newer stuff as well. It was also nice to see that the trumpet player had an original composition in there too.”
Later, as the ensemble wrapped up with Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man,” it was Brantford resident Maria LeBlanc, who was first to call for an encore.
Afterwards, she said the performance was “fabulous.”
“My favourite was of course, “Tequila,” she said, with a laugh. “We didn’t know all of the pieces but they were just terrific. I’ve been to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto to see a couple of different things, but to get a taste of that here in Brantford was really wonderful. Where else would you get nine people playing live music in a tiny venue like this? I’m surprised they weren’t sold out.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
