Love Songs by the Light of the Moon

En español | Latin jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera  says he can barely imagine listening to boleros at noon.

Sure, you can play a record any time of day, the 10-time Grammy Award–winning saxophone and clarinet virtuoso admits, but it’s under the stars, with moonlight reflecting off the waves and palm trees, that this soft romantic ballad can best evoke the magic that held Latin Americans spellbound for generations. “It's like bossa nova and filin,” says D'Rivera, referring to the samba-style sounds of Brazil and a style of Cuban music with roots in American blues and jazz. “It’s music for the night, to be enjoyed near water.”

See also: Latin jazz legend releases retrospective DVD.

It’s also music that could be in for a resurgence across the United States. A group of renowned artists has dusted off some of the most cherished ballads of the bolero era and blended their passionate rhythms with the progressive sounds of jazz for the Bolero Project, a fan-funded venture spearheaded by pianist Edward Simon and singer/percussionist Leonardo Granados as a tribute from the new generation of musicians to their parents.

D’Rivera is among them. Best known for his acclaimed ensembles of Latin jazz, D’Rivera accepted Simon's invitation to participate as a guest artist in the Bolero Project. As D'Rivera's former pianist, the two not only share a close working relationship, but D'Rivera has a long-standing affinity for the genre.

“I'm a bolero man,” says D'Rivera, who grew up and learned to play music in Cuba, bolero central during the genre’s heyday. “I love the sound of the old trios, with two people playing the guitars and maybe one playing the maracas; the sound of such groups as Los Panchos, Los Tres Caballeros, and Los Tres Ases.”

That sound—slow-tempoed and often accompanied with poetic lyrics voicing the longing, the bliss, and the torments of love—was part of the Latin American psyche for many decades, explains Simon.

“The bolero is Latin America’s romantic song. It was a genre that played a highly important role in our parents’ generation,” says Simon. “Today’s generations don’t seem to be aware of what the bolero is all about, and that's why we're rescuing it by giving it a more modern vision.”

This rejuvenated vision incorporates jazz in compositions that substitute guitar sounds for that of the piano, sax, trumpet, flute, and percussion. The result is a CD, to be released in June, followed by a brief U.S. tour, with destinations still to be determined. Other artists participating in the project include Granados’ brother Marco, who plays the flute; percussionist Pernell Saturnino; vocalist Brenda Feliciano; and trumpeter Diego Urcola.

Despite the alterations, the selected ballads will be quite recognizable. “The lyrics will be left intact,” says Simon. “What is going to change is the color, the surroundings in which the boleros will be displayed, the harmonies, and the concept. Jazz is a very open type of music that provides a great deal of space [for other types of genres to be blended in], so the ballads won’t be altered much. Jazz will only enhance their beauty a bit.”

Next: Restoring some of the old ballads. >>