We sat down with Musical Director of the St John of God Health Care Tuesday Night Orchestra, Marty Pervan, to find out a little more about the Mambolicious Program.
‘Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente’ features one of Australia’s greatest trumpet players, Mat Jodrell, and pays homage to influential Latin jazz pioneer, Tito Puente. Performing in Margaret River on 30 June at Margaret River HEART, and then in Perth at Milk Bar on 1 July, these concerts are guaranteed to have your feet tapping and hips shaking.
Why are you excited to collaborate with Mat Jodrell and what are you hoping he’ll bring to the St John of God Tuesday Night Orchestra?
Given that Mat is a WAYJO alumnus, this collaboration is an opportunity to reconnect on both a personal and musical level. The wealth of knowledge and experience that comes with a musician that has lived and worked professionally as a first-call jazz and session trumpet player in places like New York is informative and inspirational for the band members. After leaving Perth, Mat attended the Julliard School of Music, and this also brings a unique set of experiences that bend members who are also tertiary music students will find enlightening. I am confident the anecdotal element of Mat’s communication and engagement with the band will be just as invaluable as his musical contribution.
What are you looking forward to on the regional tour to Margaret River?
There are no amount of rehearsals that can simulate the positive musical effect of a tour. The shared experiences and time spent together allow the musicians to connect in a way that is impossible to imitate. The shows, workshops and rehearsals will all be great musical experiences that will create lifelong memories for the band members (and probably the staff too).
What do you love about Tito Puente’s works?
Tito Puente was my first introduction to Son/montuno (Salsa), Mambo, Guaguanco and Cha Cha – it is something for which I have had a lifelong passion. I enjoy educating the band members about this genre of music and the various musical elements that make it unique. It is consistently exciting to play and listen to. This is always evident in the expressions of awe and joy on the faces of the band as they are performing.
Is there anything else you can tell us about the Mambolicious program?
We will be performing some of Tito Puente’s most popular tunes that most audiences have heard of as well as a selection of other music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, and New York.
“I will be immensely surprised if any of the audience isn’t up and dancing early in the performance.”
Other artists that we will be performing the music of include Cubanismo, the Afro-Cuban All Stars, the Buena Vista Social Club, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Poncho Sanchez, Matt Harris, and Mike Tomaro.
Experience Mambolicious: Jodrell Screams Puente
7:30pm, Friday 30 June | Margaret River HEART | TICKETS
7:30pm, Saturday 1 July | Milk Bar, Inglewood | TICKETS
