Jazz Workshops for Underprivileged Children to be Given in Cabarete

Cuban bass player Ramón Vazquez will offer a workshop together with various professors from the University of Music in Puerto Rico to public school children and teenagers from the north coast, as part of the ninth edition of the Dominican Jazz Festival which will take place between November 7-9 in Cabarete Beach, Puerto Plata.

Cuban bass player Ramón Vazquez will offer a workshop together with various professors from the University of Music in Puerto Rico to public school children and teenagers from the north coast…

Ramón Vazquez, a renowned musician and graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachussets has made records with such greats as Tito Puente, Chick Corea, Paquito D`Rivera, Giovanni Hidalgo and others. He will work with children from low income families in Puerto Plata with the goal of inculcating them with a love of music and art.

The workshop “Introduction to Jazz for Young People,” will take place this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. on the beach which will later be converted into a stage for Sandy Gabriel, Giovanni Hidalgo, Eric Figueroa, Tito de Gracia, Piro Rodríguez and Eddy “Guagua” Rivera.

Lorenzo Sancasani, coordinator of the Jazz Festival, said that 300 children and teens had already signed up for the workshops and that they intended to provide everything necessary for the children to have a wonderful experience on the beach.

Bassist Ramón Vazquez, resident of Puerto Rico, said, “For me and for many of my colleagues, we derive great satisfaction in taking music to young people and to those children who have few opportunities like these.”

At midday, after Ramón and the Puerto Rican professors finish their meeting, the children will be treated to a three-band concert given by young jazz musicians who form “Fusion Jazz Group, “Novel” and “Soulibre”

The first group to take the stage will be “Fusion Jazz Group” made up of Abel González on bass, David Holguín on guitar and Francis Alcántara on drums.

They will be followed by “Novel” with Dionisio de Moya on guitar, Otoniel Vargas on drums, Kilvin Peña on bass and Nathanael González on keyboards.

Finally “Soulibre” will close the workshop with Van Avakian singing and playing drums, Sina Sadeghi on keyboards and singing, Kelvin Encarnación de los Santos on bass, Benaias Martínez Artiles on guitar, Víctor Otoniel on percussion and Roberto de Jesús Santana who will play clarinet and sax.

The Dominican Republic Jazz Festival 08 is being held with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Millennium Resort and Spa, Ochoa Hardware, Sea Horse Ranch, Aerodom, Europcar, Viva Resorts, Cabarete Palm Beach Condos, Coca Cola, Empaq, Villa Taina, Tropical Clubs, Dasani, Velero Beach Resort, Heineken, La Campagna, Adeca, Ashoresoca, Agualina, Servi Cab and Pomodoro.