The Dominican Jazz Project at Troy University, Crosby Theater

The Dominican Jazz Project began when Dominican jazz artist, Guillo Carias, invited American jazz pianist, Stephen Anderson, to perform with him at the 2014 Jazzomania Jazz Festival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, that was hosted by the Quisqueya 96.1 FM jazz radio program. Following the concert, drummer, Guy Frómeta, invited Anderson to return to Santo Domingo to perform with his group for the Casa de Teatro Jazz Festival a few months later. Frómeta’s group was joined by one of the nation’s finest tenor saxophonists, Sandy Gabriel. Their collective friendship grew further with that experience, and following the festival, they determined to record together. ...

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The Dominican Jazz Project began when Dominican jazz artist, Guillo Carias, invited American jazz pianist, Stephen Anderson, to perform with him at the 2014 Jazzomania Jazz Festival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, that was hosted by the Quisqueya 96.1 FM jazz radio program. Following the concert, drummer, Guy Frómeta, invited Anderson to return to Santo Domingo to perform with his group for the Casa de Teatro Jazz Festival a few months later. Frómeta’s group was joined by one of the nation’s finest tenor saxophonists, Sandy Gabriel. Their collective friendship grew further with that experience, and following the festival, they determined to record together.

What intrigued Anderson when he visited the Dominican Republic is that while Dominican musicians are very much at home playing Afro-Cuban/clave-based music, their traditional music also has a variety of other lesser known grooves that are not commonly played in Latin jazz today outside of the Dominican Republic. Consequently, the Dominican Jazz Project recording demonstrates a powerful fusion of native Dominican grooves, like the Mangulina, Pambiche, Ga-Ga, and the Palo together with creative jazz compositions that draw on jazz harmonies. The cast of players includes the finest jazz artists in the Dominican Republic—Gabriel, winner of the National Music Award 2003, Jazz Line, Frómeta, longtime drummer for Grammy® winning International Latin pop star, Juan Luis Guerra, as well as Guillo Carias, David Almengod, and singer/songwriter, Carlos Luís, together with American jazz artists, Stephen Anderson (Summit Records®) and Jeffry Eckels.

MUSICIANS:

Sandy Gabriel - saxophones
Guillo Carias - clavietta
Carlos Luís - vocals, guitar
Stephen Anderson - piano
Jeffry Eckels - bass
Guy Frómeta - drums
David Almengod - percussion

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