Marcus Persiani at The Chicago Fest - (C) 1980s
Marcus Persiani on the Grand Piano
Marcus Persiani CD - Uptown Suite
Marcus Persaini (C) 1980s
Imagine yourself caught up in the swing of the salsa band. The fast paced music brings everyone to their feet. Soneros tell their story through their song and the horn section responds with jazzy rifts. Suddenly the tune quiets down as the percussion section continues marking time. The piano solo begins. At first, he leads you through the swing of the tune and then the journey begins. Before you know it you are being led through a mixture of traditional Cuban and Jazz rifts so mesmerizing you don’t want it to stop. The pianist, Marcus Persiani, without saying a word just made his presence known. This is a flashback of the days in Chicago when live salsa dominated the Latin Club scene. We often wonder where these stars are today. Here’s the update:
As previously mentioned in this blog, Marcus Persiani first came to the Chicago Latin scene during the early 1980s when he came to sit in at the rehearsal of a then popular Latin Band (La Sonora Tropical) in Chicago. At the time, Marcus Persiani was finishing up his studies at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and was already an accomplished jazz musician. The band, who like many others utilized various pianists based on availability, was quick to offer Persiani the steady job after hearing the strong jazz influence in his solos. Before time, Marcus Persiani mastered the Cuban Mambo and Son Montuno styles that are part of his playing arsenal today and became one of the best Salsa pianists in Chicago. As we mentioned before, there were many musicians who played an important role in the development of Chicago Salsa. The list would not be accurate if Marcus Persiani was not included. As with many accomplished musicians, steady work is key to survival and as the Salsa scene began to decline so did job opportunities. Marcus Persiani, as did many others, eventually moved on to New York where he continues to mark his influence in the jazz scene today. He has established himself as a master jazz and Latin musician in New York City. There is no reason to question his success for salsa still runs through his veins. Good Luck Marcus.
Marcus Persiani has recently released his new CD,”Uptown Suite.” Follow Marcus Persiani on his Facebook page. Go to the attached link.
3 comments:
There was a big salsa era in Chicago led by Carlos Caribe Ruiz who prepared many youth bands during the 1970's, from a storefront at Clairemont and North Ave.Before that he had worked with the Puerto Rican Congress from the Lincoln Park neighborhood at Larrabee and North Ave.They,the Caballeros de San Juan and Damas de Maria and other organizations established the first official Puerto Rican parade in 1965.Today both Puerto Rican barrios of Wicker Park and Lincoln Park have been gentrified and destroyed by the Mayor Daley dynasty.Lets not let them take away this history of Puerto Ricans and salsa.
That's the beauty of history. You can't take it away. It happened and cannot be denied. We need however to keep it alive. It is now up to the young cats to keep expanding on it and up to us to teach them about their music and culture. Even today with all the different genres they listen to they are still buying salsa. Thanks for the comment.
need a bongocero or congero ?
gilles premel
www.myspace.com/gillespremel
Post a Comment