CALJE at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage
17 February 2012

(Review and photos by Bill Tilford, all rights reserved)

CALJE  (The Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble) gave a spirited two and a half hour performance by the 17-piece big band unit  at the MAC which included material from last year's CD Blueprints, some of the songs normally performed by the dance band unit and a newly-commissioned work, 45 Degrees, which was written in honor of Dizzy Gillespie.  The tribute to Dizzy was in four movements and included a liberal dose of  Cubop which briefly quoted some standards like Tin Tin Deo and Manteca as well as the AfroCuban 6/8 work reminiscent of his big band work with Chano Pozo.  The audience was very much into the evening's performance, clapping along and chanting along at various points in the show.   Coleader Darwin Noguera returned from New York for this performance and conducted parts of  the tribute to Dizzy as well as played piano thoughout the night. 

True to its name, CALJE performed material based on Argentine, Brazilian and Colombian rhythms along with the expected Afrocuban and Boricua moods.  Indeed, one of the highlights of the program was a Colombian 6/8 currulao sequence.   Another was an extended version of their previously-recorded Miles Smiles, a pieces that swings in 7/4.  

CALJE's big band unit is a world class Latin Jazz orchestra that deserves more performance bookings  than it gets in the course of a typical year.   The smaller units of the group are also very much worth listening to, but we would encourage venues in other cities that can handle big bands to take a serious look at the full orchestra.  

We need to add a special acknowledgement of  the McAninch Arts Center.   Over the years, we have had the misfortune of witnessing the butchery of several fine big bands through various combinations of poor acoustics and incompetent sound board work by the inhouse staff of various venues.   There wasn't any of that here.   The acoustics at the MAC seemed  ideally suited for this music, and the in-house sound staff captured the proper sound of the band flawlessly.    Touring bands take note:  this facility should be on your radar as a possible option if the metro Chicago area is on your itinerary.   The College of DuPage is also very supportive of this music with its radio station WDCB as well.   

CALJE's website is http://www.calje.org