Juan Carlos Quintero
Those well versed in Latin American culture know that Medellín, Colombia is called “La ciudad de la eterna primavera (the city of eternal spring),” a reflection of the vast Andean Valley’s culture, art, flowers, music and people. Both musically and spiritually, the heart, soul and guitar of Juan Carlos Quintero's have, over the course of four popular Latin jazz recordings, reflected the colorful sounds and diverse rhythms of his cherished birthplace. His label, Moondo Records Inc., celebrates ICQ’s ongoing love affair with his heritage with three exciting releases- Medellín, a re-mastered version of his self-titled debut (released in February ‘03) and Los Primos (’03) a dynamic, acoustic-based extension of the diverse Latin grooves of his popular 2001 recording Los Musicos featuring the live energy and excitement of his longtime performance band. A best of project, Las Cumbias…Las Guitarras in 2006 captured the best of the cumbias while including three fresh compositions recorded for the release
The newly repackaged version of Medellín features a re-recorded acoustic version of “Anoche” as a bonus track, and the song’s popularity in the World/Jazz radio format has not only reaffirmed Quintero’s popularity in the Latin Jazz world, but has also provided a solid groundswell of anticipation for Los Primos, his third Moondo recording and fifth overall. On Los Musicos, he dug deep into the South American styles he performed on his 1997 release The Way Home, adding inspiring melodic and rhythmic twist to traditional cumbia, bolero, samba, cha cha cha, rumba and meringue. Los Primos
Offers a similarly enticing mix of these patterns (plus “El Bambuquero,” featuring the “bambuco” pattern, derived from a form a song and dance in 6/8 and ¾ meter from the Colombian Andes) with all acoustic instruments played by Quintero and his band mates of two years.
All of these “primos” (translated directly as “cousins,” but also extending to the concept of deep musical brotherhood) hail from a different country on the Latin American landscape. Drummer and percussionist Aaron Serfaty, a veteran of Arturo Sandoval’s band, and pianist Otmaro Ruiz (John Mclaughlin, Dianne Reeves) are from Venezuela; upright bassist Elkiseo Borrero, who has played with Strunz & Farah, comes from Puerto Rico; percussionist Neil Benitez (from the band Sonora Pinamita) and bassist/co-producer Guillermo Guzman are fellow Colombians; and percussionist Ramon Yslas, well known to smooth jazz fans from his stint with The Rippingstons, and accordionist Jorge Villareal, are of Mexican descent. Rhythm guitarist Jimmy Mahlis is from Greece.
“The music on Los Primos is a continuation of Los Musicos in every way, but we explore the rhythms of Colombia in an even deeper, more authentic and organic way,” says Quintero, who spent a few years as an army brat in Brussels before his family settled in New Jersey. “ This time, we’re really stressing the nature of the rhythms, with a little more vulnerability and live feel than before. It was also fun to use a lot of native instruments, like Neil’s guache (shakers), congas and coca, which looks like a pineapple!
“The concept of Los Musicoswas about the camaraderie of the musicians and Los Primos extends that to the sense of unity and family here with guys I’ve played with for a long time,” he adds. “We connect musically, creatively, spiritually and become very much like brothers. The most important thing is still melody, and I let that dictate how complex and harmonies would be. The music is instrumental but is bilingual in a sense that it reflects my heritage combined with the way I see the world as one who has grown up in the culture of America.”
Packaging wise, one of the most prominent features of these two JCQ projects is the unique, somewhat abstract cover art- a white hat with a brown brim on Médellin, a bold painting of round figures with small hats and ponchos on Los Musicos, and a series of men and women in business suits on Los Primos. This artwork, by a fellow Colombian named Guilloume, extends to the inner booklet and is a trademark extension of the Quintero musical experience. Having discovered Guilloume’s art, JC tracked the artist down in New Mexico in hopes of collaborating - turns out that Guilloume was a fan of the guitarist and was excited to contribute to the overall creative presentation.
Los Primos gets moving with the rolling acoustic melody of cumbia-based title track (a reflection of the blessings of having so many cousins, musical and otherwise) before erupting in the free spirited, spontaneously created rumba ”Juntos,” which has a live Buena Vista Social Club vibe. “El ultimo Baile” is a romantic, sounds cape laden guajira (slow cha cha cha) featuring a gentle harmony beneath a seductive melody, while he bambuca “ El Bambuquero” reveals he blend of African and Spanish influence often found throughout South America; bambuca is often considered the national music of “Feria de las flores,” a cumbia which pays homage to Columbia’s annual Fair of Flowers. The more Brazilian flavored “Bosamba” pays homage to JCQ’s jazz influences, from George Benson and Earl Klugh to Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass.
The rhythm of the gentle, loping “ Jazz in Espanol,” a Brazilian baiao, which evolved, from an intended bosa nova, sneaks in a blues influence here and there. “Mi Tierra” is percussion to create an intimate sound. The lush and exotic, smooth jazz flavored “alma Libre” sprung up in concert one night while the band was improvising on another cha cha cha from it’s repertoire. Los Primos wraps with the hypnotic “Musica Para El Mundo,” which features increasingly dense percussion based on the traditions of the Spanish 6/8 rhythm, a style usually associated with flamenco music, Quintero uses those rhythms as a foundation to build upon, blending jazz with the Spanish traditions.
Latin music was a very natural gravitation for Juan Carlos Quintero when he first picked up the guitar at age eight: “No matter what style I ever played in, I always came back to the Latin grooves. Latin music crosses so many boundaries and its ability to seduce at the same time as it celebrates life and my culture background has always amazed me. It’s got a strong natural appeal to me. A few years before I picked up the guitar, I remember being mesmerized by a high school band that played next door to my elementary school in Brussels. They were a cover band and I said, ‘who are the guys form the radio!’ I was hooked form then on.”
Quintero was particularly inspired by Spanish flavored masters like Cal Tjader, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Carlos Santana, but he felt ht Chick Corea best brought out the excitement of bridging Latin music and American jazz. Quintero took this lead both when he was attending Berklee College of Music in the early
80’s and when he launched his own solo career later in the decade. He studied composition at Boston’s New England Conservatory, and then moved to Los Angeles, where he plugged into the city’s studio scene with the help of this mentor Tommy Tedesco. While doing TV and soundtrack work by day, Quintero hooked up with some of his old Boston schoolmates and began gigging in Los Angeles and Orange County. Opening for longtime hero Gato Barbieri early on convinced him whatever struggle he faced was well worth it.
Achieving his goal of “speaking positively about my homeland and help others see it in a more positive light through my music,” Quintero became a staple of NAC, World & Jazz radio with tracks form his first tow albums, a self-titled effort in 1990 and Through The Winds in 1992 on Nova Records. He worked in A&R and produced a handful of projects for Nova then worked in artist’s relations for Latin Percussion Music Group, a noted manufacturer of percussion instruments; he functioned as liaison with the company’s most notable endorsers, including Latin legends Puente and Irakere and members of Santana.
Quintero was also featured on Jazz on the Latin Side Volume 1 (2000) and Volume 2 (2001), all-star live recordings (at B.B. King’s Blues Club, Los Angeles) for Ubiquity/Cubop Records alongside Alex Acuna, Poncho Sanchez, Justo Almario, Otmaro Ruiz, Francisco Aguabella and Luis Cone, to name a few.
Quintero in recent years has also developed a career as a college professor at College of the Canyons in Valencia, California as well as California State University teaching music and business. He’s also spent time new shaping the concept for Moondo Records, which began as a platform for his publishing catalog; he now owns the rights to his music. 2007 marks Moondo’s third year as a full fledged music label with distribution by Ryko/Warner Bros. Moondo Records has since expanded its artist roster with an exciting slate of releases displaying the inspiring, wide-ranging musical wanderlust that drives Quintero. Artists include Sambaguru featuring Katia Moraes (Brazil), Huaycaltia (Peru), Sahnas (Greece), Klebor Jorge (Brazil), Son De Madera (Mexico) and Guitarras De Pasión (1, 2 & 3), a compilation for Spanish nylon guitar pieces from through out Quintero’s career.
Following the success of Moondo Records, Juan Carlos recognized a value in supporting artists from other genres in music including his passion for blues, R & B, jazz and folk. The answer was to develop a new label, Tenure Records in partnership with Innerknot Inc. and Moondo Records Inc. – a label able to explore other sounds from other artists. Tenure’s release schedule in 2007 is off to a solid start with Christmas discs by guitarist, Luis Villegas and Juan Carlos Quintero along with Jazz/R & B vocalist, Lynne Fiddmont’s debut release followed by pianist, Marcos Ariel’s new disc from brazil.
Joining forces first with Ryko distribution and Innerknot Inc. has bolstered JCQ’s identity as a Latin instrumental artist who can play both world music and jazz festivals while nurturing the signature sounds of Moondo Records and Tenure Records.
“One of the greatest privileges is just being able to keep recording and playing my music for people while realizing my vision through music and business,” he says. “Having my records in stores is one thing but causing other deserving artists the same opportunity goes beyond the dream –It’s truly a blessing.
