Born: December 29, 1930 Primary Instrument: Sax, tenor
”Tommy Rodriguez is one of the pioneer Jazz Musicians in Mexico and he outstands as one of the most important Sax-Players of the 20th century in our country Mexico”.....CONACULTA (Mexico`s National Bureau of Culture & Arts”).
Texts from the liner notes of researcher Luc Delannoy, author of the book CALIENTE Una Historia de Jazz Latino published by Fondo de Cultura Económica in 2001:
At age 70, legendary saxophonist and flutist Tommy Rodr-guez shows once again he is a pioneer. In October 2001 he invited his 10-year-old big band - 19 musicians and a vocalist - to gather in a local studio. Together, in one single day, they recorded one of the most original albums in Mexico in the last few years. New jazz recordings by big bands are rare in Mexico; therefore this album should be welcomed with pride by the jazz community.
The Tommy's Super Big Band recreates the golden era of swing, but a swing with a twist. A twist of electronic music in two of the ten compositions included in the album! It is not only historically important, but it offers a wealth of great music.
Rodr-guez was already a pioneer more than forty years ago when he opened with fellow trumpeter Chilo Morán a jazz club named The Jazz Bar in Mexico City. This was the place where most of the local and American jazz musicians met and jammed until the wee hours. They were all making history.
Born December 29, 1930 in Tuxpan, Veracruz, Tommy is an autodidact. He learnt clarinet when he was 13 year old and started playing with local marimba bands. He discovered Cuban music by listening to a radio station based in Tampico that rebroadcasted radio shows from Havana.
A year later he received a grant from local communities (the towns of Poza Rica and Papantla) to study music at the Escuela Libre de Música in Mexico City. He became a professional at age 15 playing alto sax with bands in Xochimilco where he met the Sax Player Cuco Valtierra . Cuco encouraged him to switch to the tenor. Three years later he was playing at the Bremen Cabaret in Mexico City.
In 1951 after a brief stay in Veracruz where he performed with the Armando López Orchestra, Tommy moved back to Mexico City and with the help of drummer Leo Acosta (later internationally knowns as the Drummer that replaced Buddy Rich in the Harry James BigBand), was hired in the Ismael D-az Orchestra. In the band he met for the first time , Mario Patron a young piano virtuoso of 16, and trumpeter César Molina. They all became close friends. At the same period Rodr-guez performed with the Juan Garcia Esquivel Orchestra, Pablo Beltrán Ru-z Orchestra and the Everett Hogland Orchestra.
A couple of years later he was working in nightclubs in Ciudad Juarez and in El Paso, Texas, where he had the opportunity to meet Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Charlie Parker, Lester Young & Illinois Jacquet Jacquet, along with Chuck Berry and Ben Webster, became a big influence on Rodr-guez's life and music.
He also met for the first time some legendary Mexican jazz musicians like drummer Tino Contreras and Hector Hallal El Arabe, saxophonist who played a prominent role in the Mexican jazz history after becoming arranger for Luis Arcaraz and Chico Ofarill. In those clubs he participated in jam sessions with Tino, El Árabe, Lester Young and Illinois Jacquet.
Back in Mexico City, in 1955, when Tommy joined the Luis Arcaraz Orchestra, the band was nominated by Down Beat Magazine as “one of the four best bands in the world! Among the musicians in that orchestra were Tino Contreras, Héctor Hallal, Mario Patrón and bassist V-ctor Ru-z Passos. The band later toured Cuba & South America.
A significant step in Tommy's career was the recording in 1954 of the albums JAZZ EN MEXICO. The three volumes, ones of the best jazz albums ever recorded in Mexico (Internationally re-launched in January 2005 by FRESH SOUND RECORDS as JAZZ IN MEXICO: THE LEGENDARY 1954 SESSIONS, VOL. 1 & VOL. 2), include performances by the Mario Patrón Trio and Quartet, the Héctor Hallal Quartet, and the All Stars Band with Tommy, Héctor Hallal, Román López, Pepe Sol-s, Tino Contreras, Mario Patrón, V-ctor Ru-z Passos.
Jazz was at its peak in Mexico when Tommy and founded in December 6 of 1956 the famous Jazz Bar. Located right under the nightclub Astoria at Nuevo León 16 in the Condesa neighborhood,it quickly became a favorite hang out for writers, politicians, musicians and jazz fans. “I was just coming back from a tour with Luis Arcaraz and I had a large amount of money I wanted to invest” recalls Rodr-guez. “Chilo, who unfortunately passed away on 1999, also had some money after abandoning a project he had with a dance band.” With Tommy and Chilo the house band included Pablito Jaimes on piano, Fernando El Jarocho Sandoval on bass and Luis El Patito Vargas on drums.
The popularity of this Jazz Band was reflected by the Mexican film Industry of that time in camera appearances & performances in Films like: “Locos Peligrosos” de 1957 con Germán Valdéz “Tintan”, Luis Aguilar & Yolanda Varela Directed by Fernando Cortés or “Los 3 Bohemios” with Pedro Vargas Agust-n Lara, Luis Aguilar & Eulalio Gonzalez “El Piporro” de 1956 Directed by Luis Morayta.In the Jazz Bar were also the tropical band Mangue and a dance act led by El Gran Fellove, the great Cuban scat pioneer.
Louis Armstrong visited Mexico several times at the end of the 50s (1956, 57, 58) and he used to perform at the Club Social Ritz downtown Mexico City. José Pepe León, the owner of the place introduced him to Tommy Rodr-guez, V-ctor Ru-z Passos and Mario Patrón.Tommy befriend , they hanged out and jammed together. Unfortunately no jam session was ever recorded!
There were other famous bars in the capital, among them the Terraza Casino and the Riguz. The Terraza Casino founded by José Pepe León regularly welcomed americans jazzmen like drummer , saxophonist Charlie Ventura, trombonist and singer Frank Rosolino, clarinetist Benny Goodman.A big band led by Leo Acosta was the house band, and Tommy Rodr-guez was the lead saxophonist.
The Riguz, located on Insurgentes Sur Avenue was opened and in November 1959. It was another favorite hangout for musicians and several of them like Tino Contreras and Chilo Morán ended up managing the place. After-hours jam sessions at the Jazz Bar and The Riguz offered opportunities for many big bands musicians to play in smaller groups. Many other musicians like Shorty Rogers, Stan Kenton, Zoot Sims; Harry James visited Mexico at the same period. They all hanged out in the clubs and jammed with Tommy Rodr-guez and his friends.
Unfortunately after a member of the Mayor family was killed one night in a bar incident a new law forced all the city bars and nightclubs to close at 1:00 am. It was the beginning of the end. Musicians had to move to theaters and festivals all around the country to perform their art. Fortunately the popularity of jazz remained high for a few more years and many records were produced for the local labels such as Musart and Orfeón.
A few months after the opening of the Jazz Bar, the alchemist of Latin jazz, Cuban arranger and composer Arturo Chico O'Farrill moved to Mexico City. One of the first places he visited was the Jazz Bar. O'Farrill befriended Tommy and he asked his help in selecting musicians to form a big band. For several years Rodr-guez remained O'Farrill lead saxophone and Chico became his mentor. When O'Farrill and Tino Contreras performed respectively in October 1962 and August 1963 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the temple of classical music, Tommy Rodr-guez was solist in both bands. Chico introduced his famous Aztec Suite with Chilo Morán as soloist; a suite he had written for Art Farmer Contreras performed Orfeo en los Tambores accompanied by the Ballet de Cámara del Palacio. Tommy will return to Bellas Artes in the 70s with a symphony orchestra and director Luis Herrera De La Fuente.
Pianist Clare Fischer toured Mexico in 1967; he used to jam at the Chips Jazz Club where he met Tommy Rodr-guez, pianist Chucho Zarsoza, and drummer Félix Agüeros. One night Fischer invited an executive from RCA V-ctor Mexicana and convinced him to record part of the band. Several other musicians came along in the studio: Chilo Morán, bassist V-ctor Ru-z Passos, saxophonists Fernando El Gato D-az, Juan Ravelo, trombonist Jesús Aguirre and trumpeter Nacho Rosales. The title of the album was simply Jazz and it has become a classic.
Tommy Rodr-guez is also known for his work in the recording studios. In the 70s, when recording or performing in Mexico, international pop stars like The Carpenters, Tom Jones, Diana Ross, Mike Connors or Sammy Davis Jr., Barry White, Ray Conniff, The Jackson Five always looked up for Tommy.
Sax Sexteto de Cámara founded by Rodr-guez in 1977 was his most original Jazz project of the decade. Integrated by two tenors, two altos, one baritone and one bass baritone, the band performed classical compositions and jazz standards like Lover Man or Night in Tunisia. The orchestra disbanded in 1983 without recording.
In the 80's Rodr-guez participated in two important recordings as arranger and soloist: Jazz Mariachi and La Sinfonia del Quinto Sol both albums with Tino Contreras. The first one was a tentative to fusion a jazz rhythm section with a full mariachi orchestra while the second one, an idea of painter Estrella Newman, was a tribute to the traditions of the Aztecs.
During more than 25 years Tommy recorded soundtracks for Mexican movies with Film Music composer & arrangers such as Sergio Guerrero, Ruben Fuentes, Manuel Esperón y Raúl Lavista in others, as example “Un Callejon sin salida” of 1959 with Javier Sol-s, Alberto Vazquez, Emilio “El Indio” Fernandez & Evangelina Elizondo directed by Rafael Valedon, and making cameo appearances plus music performances in another number of movies as, “La Rebelión de los Adolecentes” of 1957 with Olivia Michel directed by Pedro Calderon, where he appeared with Mario Patrón, Tino Contreras & César Molina, or “El Señor Doctor” by director Miguel Delgado of 1965, in which he made a cameo appearance with Leo Acosta and Cantinflas
In addition to its contributions to the History of the Jazz in Mexico, and his contribution to the development of the great Orchestras during its golden time in Mexico, leaving a legacy and permanent sonorous testimony in infinity of records of all sort and music for the cinema, theater and Mexican television, he remains effective in the beginning of this century as a Director and Lead-solist of one of the main Orchestras of Mexico: TOMMY’S SUPER BIG BAND, very identified in recent years in forums of dance, radio, Mexican television and recently in Jazz Concerts.
