Recently students from St. Benedict’s Prep School in Newark came into the WBGO Studios for a taping of a special performance by the school’s Latin Jazz Big Band. The students’ director, Jeremy Fletcher, who once studied under Bobby Sanabria, serves as the school’s Music Director and joined the band in performance at WBGO along with Annette A. Aguilar.
The current lineup of the Latin Jazz Band are as follows: Sam Campos (piano), Pedro Cena (alto saxophone 1), Daniel DaRocha (electric bass), Keisna Garib (trombone), Kaleb Hassell (drums), Javier Hernandez (baritone saxophone), Josh Laube (trumpet 1), Arlene Matos (percussion on "Tune Up" and "Cute)", Jonathan Morales (tenor saxophone), John Queiroz (alto saxophone 2) Pablo Rojas (trumpet 2), and Mark Surretsky (congas).
Jeremy Fletcher - director, arranger, electric guitar ("The In Crowd"), baritone sax ("Cute"). Annette A. Aguilar - guest soloist, timbales, guiro, bongo
As part of WBGO’s in studio session, they recorded “The In Crowd” by Billy Page, Miles Davis’ “Tune Up,” Neal Hefti’s “Cute,” and since the WBGO performance doubled as the band’s rehearsal for their holiday performance, they even threw in some Christmas cheer with Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time is Here."
Listen to WBGO three times daily Monday through Wednesday this week (11:55am, 6:55pm and 10:55pm) to hear their music, and more to come throughout April as we present performances from ensembles from the jazz programs of schools such as the Manhattan School or Music, Newark Arts High School, City University of New York, William Paterson University, and New York University still to come in celebration of music education for Jazz Appreciation Month.
Funding for this series was made possible by a generous grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Watch the St. Benedict’s Latin Jazz Big Band’s performance here:
Watch Dave Stryker and Montclair State University students perform at WBGO Studios here.
Watch the Rutgers University Afro-Caribbean Jazz Ensemble play in WBGO Studios here.