#225 Eliel Lazo- Percussionist, Songwriter, Producer, & More!
This episode is sponsored by Dream Cymbals.
Eliel Lazo began playing at an early age, egged on by his enthusiastic family. He studied at Oscar Valdes’ school of percussion (former singer and percussionist, of Irakere band). In 2003, at the age of 19, Eliel won the prestigious PERCUBA International Percussion Prize. Eliel Lazo first visited Denmark in 2004 on an invitation from the Danish Radio Big Band. Other invitations followed. Soon Denmark became a stable base on his travels around the world, and in 2007 he made Copenhagen his home. He has played with musicians such as Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdes, Changuito, Tata Guines, Herbie Hancock, Bob Mintzer, Oscar Valdes, Carlos del Puerto, Airto Moreira. He has also played with Cuban bands Diakara, Klimax and Habana Ensemble. He have worked with the Danish Radio Big Band, The Savage Rose, The Antonellie Orchestra, Blanco Y Negro, Mikkel Nordsoe Band, Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Tip Toe Big Band. Also WDR Bigband from Germany and BBC Bigband from The UK. In 2004 Eliel Lazo recorded his first album ''Art Ensemble of Habana'' with Commodo Depots records from Japan. Then he released his first recording with Stunt records ''Blanco Y Negro'' which was recorded in Cuba. His 3rd album ''El Conguero'' also with Stunt records, was awarded with The Danish Music award best album of the year in the world music category. You can find Eliel's playing on Mikkel Nordsoe ''7 Steps to Heaven'' and ''Diving in space for 3 dacades'' - Hanne Boel ''The Shining of sings'' - the Danish Radio Big Band ''Cuban Flavor'' and ''Spirituasl'', where Eliel is featured as percussionist and vocalist. His playing is also featured on CUBADISCO award winning CD, ''Andante'' of Cesar Lopez Y Habana Ensemble and Kylie Minogue ''Kiss me once''. He performs in the American movie about Cuban music ''Music Under the Radar''. He has taught at conservatories in Cuba, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden. Eliel's last CD is call ''Eliel lazo and the Cuban funk Machine'' featuring American tenor saxophonist Bob Mintzer and a line up of Cuban, Danish and Swedish musicians that make this album very unique. This CD is a tribute to the 70s funk and Cuban Songo. The inspiration is coming from bands such as Irakere, the Head hunters, The Meters and specially Los Van Van. The CD was nominated to the 2015 Cuban Grammys CUBADISCO and is nominated to 2 Danish Grammys (Danish Music Awards) World and Jazz. This CD is dedicated to master Jose Luis Quintana ''Changuito'' and Juan Formell (august 2, 1942 - may 1st, 2014)
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to three friends of the show. Paulo Stagnaro of Conga Chops. Over the last decade, with a myriad of performances across the globe, several studio projects as a sideman, television appearances, and contributions in Jazz, Pop, Latin, and World music, Two-time Grammy-Award Winning percussionist Paulo Stagnaro has established himself as an innovative voice in today’s generation of creative young artists. Hailed by jazz legend Ralph Peterson as “a young master percussionist,” Stagnaro has been a force on the ever-evolving New York music scene since moving to Brooklyn, NY in 2012.
Paulo has toured, performed and/or recorded with NEA Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera, Grammy-Winner Angelique Kidjo, Jazz Legend Dave Liebman, Danilo Perez, Issac Delgado, Rosa Passos, and formed part of the all-star rhythm section for Sting’s 25th Anniversary Rainforest Fundraiser at Carnegie Hall featuring James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Stephen Stills.
He has been a part of international Superstar Ricky Martin’s touring band since 2014, garnering his second Grammy Award in 2015 for “A Quien Quiera Escuchar.”
Happy Birthday to Eric Renick. He is the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Principal Percussionist since 2010, Eric Renick began his musical studies at the age of 12. A native of Indianapolis, he received his Bachelor’s degree from Butler University, where he studied with Jon Crabiel. While at Butler, Mr Renick also won first place in the University’s Concerto Competition. He gained a Master’s degree and artist certificate from Chicago’s Roosevelt and DePaul universities under the guidance of Ted Atktatz, Eric Milstein and Ed Harrison. While in Chicago he performed with the Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony’s MusicNow Series, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, as well as co-founding the Chicago Arts Orchestra.
In 2007 Eric Renick was awarded a Fellowship with the New World Symphony (NWS), where he performed under the batons of Michael Tilson Thomas, Osmo Vänskä, Marin Alsop, Robert Spano, John Adams and Vladimir Ashkenazy, among others; performed as part of NWS’s Percussion Consort and participated in digital media collaborations. Mr Renick has also performed with the St. Louis, Kansas City, and New Mexico symphonies, Grant Park, Breckenridge and Spoleto (USA) festival orchestras, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Malaysia Philharmonic orchestras.
Eric Renick is a regular collaborator with cross-genre musicians as well as film scoring. He also performs in the Antipodes Percussion Project, an ensemble focused on using percussion chamber music to educate young musicians. Mr Renick is an Artist Teacher at the University of Auckland.
Lastly, Happy Birthday to Drew McKeon. Drew is an NYC-based session drummer/multi-instrumentalist who has toured and performed with Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, Hall & Oates and Daryl Hall (solo), Grammy Award winner, Michael Bolton, Oscar winning duo, Pasek&Paul, Jimmy Buffett, Peter Cetera, Richard Marx, Julian Lennon, Todd Rundgren, Living Colour, Ben E. King, Dave Mason, Ron Pope, Bill Champlin, Shelea Frazier, Sam Moore, Antonique Smith, Hundred Hounds, The Broadway Boys, Darian Cunning, Harbor Party, Natalie Weiss, Carrie Manolakos, Chad Hollister Band, Jeff Tuohy and many others.
He currently serves as musical director for The Voice Season 10 winner, Alisan Porter, as well as Amanda Brown (Alicia Keys, Adele) and tours the world playing drums while conducting the orchestra for Michael Bolton in support of his latest release- “A Symphony of Hits”.
Gig Alerts
Music festivals are slowly on the comeback. And, as the music industry reels from the serious hit it took this past year, lineups are filling up quickly with artists who are eager to get back on stage.
Still, many major festivals like Coachella have cancelled their 2021 plans, while others like Lollapalooza have yet to announce any dates—and the vast majority of festivals are very much “subject to change” based upon public health concerns. -Article and Festival List
Educational Spotlights
Team Building For Independent Artists: The Top People Needed to Succeed. Independent artists’ definition does not translate to taking up every responsibility all by yourself. A time will come when you’ll need to leverage other people’s skills, network, and experience to exponent your career. These people may already be in your network, and they may even be entirely new. Team building for independent artists should be on your focus once you record considerable growth. -Article
Michel Valbrun is a C.P.A., tax strategist, and Award-Winning Author. He helps businesses maximize profits, accelerate growth, and implement their best practices while using the C.P.A success system.
Humphrey Yang has built multiple businesses and is passionate about personal finance, investing, among other things! Check out his YouTube Channel or Instagram Page.
Product Reviews
Friend of the show, Alan Evans, has released his second break-beats album called “Taking A Break, Vol. 2”. You can get THAT AND Vol. 1 BOTH FROM HERE.
Friend of the show Ryan Gruss, has a new venture called Yurt Rock. Founded deep in the hills of Laurel Canyon by Ryan (The Loop Loft + Native Instruments), Yurt Rock is the number one destination for musical creation. Step inside.
Yurt Rock's subscription plan gives you instant access to the entire archive featuring the world's leading musicians, including the new release of Clyde Stubblefield! In addition to the loop and sample archive, you'll receive a new release every Friday just for being a member. Cancel anytime.
Iconic Recording
This week’s iconic recording is ¿Qué tiene Van Van? by Juan Formell y Los Van Van. This is a Songo from the Los Van Van anthology (Vol. 2). Damon and Eliel talk about Songo in the interview. Songo is a genre of popular Cuban music, created by the group Los Van Van in the early 1970s. Songo incorporated rhythmic elements from folkloric rumba into popular dance music, and was a significant departure from the son montuno/mambo-based structure which had dominated popular music in Cuba since the 1940s.
Music News
Just last month, an artist activist group demanded that Spotify pay artists one penny per-stream, a request that was flatly dismissed. Indeed, Spotify has actively committed to fighting the penny-per-play push coming from the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, who organized a protest outside Spotify’s offices in New York. Apple Music says it pays one penny per stream, which is 2-3 Times What Spotify Pays -Article
Give The Drummer Some is a documentary about the life and influence of Clyde Stubblefield, the former drummer for James Brown. A revolutionary breakbeat made him the most sampled drummer in the world, but a lack of credit for his work sentenced him to a life of obscurity and hardships.
To support our crowdfunding campaign visit: www.seedandspark.com/fund/givethedrummersome
Eliel Lazo Interview
The song leading into the interview is “Havana Chants” from the ‘Cuban Jazz Project’ album.
Eliel Lazo first visited Denmark in 2004 on an invitation from the Danish Radio Big Band.
Eliel studied at Oscar Valdes’ school of percussion (former singer and percussionist, of Irakere band).
Eliel’s brother ended up playing with Oscar Valdes’ band Diákara before moving to Denmark as well.
Eliel attended the Conservatorio Alejandro García Caturla in Cuba, starting on bass before later switching to percussion.
Eliel used to watch a show called Pasaporte where he first saw Tata Güines and Miguel “Anga” Diaz.
Eliel later checked out Jorge "El Nino" Alfonso with Irakere. He refers to the album called “The Best of Irakere” from 1979.
Damon talks about his introduction to folkloric Cuban rhythms. Thanks to percussionist Thomas Dyani, he was shown more in London from Cubans and Africans.
Eliel talks about Abakuá. Abakuá, also sometimes known as Nañigo, is an Afro-Cuban men's initiatory fraternity or secret society, which originated from fraternal associations in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. Abakuá has been described as "an Afro-Cuban version of Freemasonry". You can hear an example HERE.
Eliel talks about some of the connection of certain rhythms to religion. Santeria (Way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added. The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha. Santeria is a syncretic religion that grew out of the slave trade in Cuba. Santería's roots can be traced to the Lucumí religion, which was practiced by the Yoruba tribes of modern-day Benin and Nigeria. Slaves from West Africa were imported to Cuba in the 17th century, and they brought their religious tradition with them.
Eliel talks about learning some Abakuá rhythms from his teacher Oscar Valdes as well as his friend, percussionist, Yusnier Sanchez Bustamente (who used to sing with Osain del Monte).
Eliel recommends the group Ibiono to listen to if you are interested in checking out some Abakuá music. The Angel that Eliel was trying to remember is Angel Guerrero.
Eliel got to play with Tata Güines in the Habana Ensemble.
Eliel mentions getting to check out videos and recordings from a Japanese guy living in Cuba named Konosan.
Eliel talks about his weekend travels in Cuba to see and absorb all of the Rumba he could.
Eliel talks about his independence and how Changuito inspired some of that.
Eliel is a bandleader. One of the bands he talks about is the Cuban Funk Machine. Damon mentions some of the funk bands he heard as influences and Eliel mentions the main inspiration, Los Van Van. The song “A Ver Que Sale” is a direct influence. He talks about how the band evolved with the types of instruments used.
The other band Eliel leads is the Cuban Jazz Machine that started at the Jazzhus Montmartres.
After success with the “Cuban Nights”, the Cuban Jazz Report got together and did an album and a tour supporting that.
You can check out the Cuban Funk Machine and the Cuban Jazz Report on all platforms.
If you are interested in Songo, one album Eliel recommends is Juan Formell Y Los Van Van Collection, Vol 3. He also recommends the VHS tape (now on YouTube) “The History of Songo” by Changuito.
In addition to Changuito’s contributions to the creation and development of Songo, there was also help from Blas Egües. Blas Bernabe Egües Martinez was the first drummer in Los Van Van, but it was the band's second drummer, Jose Luis Quintana "Changuito", who developed Songo into the world-wide phenomenon it is today. Blas was also a timbale player for the band Orquesta Aragon De Cuba.
Eliel uses Gon Bops Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, Innovative Percussion Sticks and Mallets, Remo Drumheads, and Yamaha Drums.
Special shout-out to Eliel’s teacher Oscar Valdes, and his family for their support!
You can follow Eliel on his Website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
The song leading out of the interview is “Deja Vu” by Eliel Lazo and the Cuban Funk Machine. That band also has a NEW RELEASE.
