Jul 12

Jul 12 Conjúnto

I was running late. There were no buses on the board, so I flagged a cab. First thing the driver said, "Boy is it hot." "Yep, but I bet you complain about the cold in January." I had that same conversation with another photographer when I arrived at the MCA. Yet, with James Sanders and Conjúnto as the featured performers tonight at the MCA's Tuesdays on the Terrace, the heat and high humidity felt great. Latin music, with those slinky and slippery rhythms, proved to be the perfect antidote to the heat. I didn't have my notebook, so I don't have the set list, but the band started with Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, one of my favorites. Sanders proved to be real treat. I have always been a fan of jazz violin, and there certainly were traces of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli. Clearly the spirit of Dizzy, Mongo Sanatamaria, and Tito Puente.

With Sanders were Kevin O'Connell on piano, Steve Eisen on tenor sax and flute, Joshua Ramos on bass, Joe Rendon on congas, and Jean-Christophe Leroy on drums. The band was tight, the audience was appreciative, and both sides of the coin had a great time.

In the house as a listener was the internationally recognized photographer Dawoud Bey, as well as my neighbors Jim and Joan Watson. I had a particularly nice chat with a Andrea, a photographer who was using a classic Hasselblad 35mm fixed lens film camera. As is typical of photographers and record collectors, we had a little debate over the merits of analog over digital. She was just like my late friend Steve Fine--analog to the end, but she wasn't nearly as obstinate.