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Samuel Torres

When the imposing talents of one of today’s most versatile Latin jazz artists meld with the organic richness of some of the world’s greatest cultural melting pots, the results are guaranteed to be as fresh and virtuosic as they are revealing and magical.

Torres was born September 4, 1976 in Colombia’s bustling capital city of Bogotá and was nurtured in this culturally sophisticated metropolis where jazz and classical music share the stage with salsa and an infinite variety of Colombian folkloric idioms. His earliest exposure to music came at home, thanks to an extended family of musicians and ready access to a wealth of Colombian music genres, from the infectious rhythms of the cumbia and vallenato to styles which reflect a range of African, indigenous and European influences, including the porro, bambuco and pasillo.

A major inspiration was Edy Martínez, an uncle who had risen to fame in the New York City salsa scene in the early 1970s as a pianist and arranger in conga player Ray Barretto’s popular conjunto. Torres further cites Barretto as a primary influence and credits exposure to two seminal Barretto albums that featured his uncle, the early Latin jazz classic The Other Road and the salsa powerhouse Indestructible, as helping to spur his interest in becoming a musician.

By the age of 12, Torres was performing with various Bogotá ensembles, developing techniques that allowed him to quickly adapt to the demands of jazz, pop music and salsa. A classically trained percussionist, he earned a degree in Music Composition from Bogotá’s esteemed Universidad Javeriana. Before departing for the U.S. in 1999, the resourceful young artist had become an established figure on Colombia’s hectic music scene, backing leading Colombian performers while serving as an arranger and music director for his country’s highly regarded telenovelas (TV soap operas) and films.

Shortly after arriving in the U.S., his career took a dramatic turn when he was tapped by famed Cuban trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval to join his group. Torres spent four years touring the world and recording with the jazz great, polishing his ever-expanding talents while attracting the attention of a long list of renowned artists with whom he would eventually collaborate. Over time, he would perform and/or record with a veritable “who’s who" of the jazz, Latin pop and salsa world, including such luminaries as Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Chick Corea, Alejandro Sanz, Ricky Martin, Don Byron, Richard Bona, Lila Downs, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Angelique Kidjo, Marc Anthony, Rubén Blades, Fonseca, Andrés Cepeda, Thalía, and his country’s own international superstar, Shakira. His talents have also been featured in concerts with classical orchestras as Berlin Symphoniker, City of London Sinfonia, Boston Pops, Bogotá Philharmonic, Medellín Philharmonic, Delaware University Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Nashville Symphony.

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7
Album Review

Reggie Quinerly: The Thousandth Scholar

Read "The Thousandth Scholar" reviewed by Chris May


The Thousandth Scholar is Los Angeles-based drummer and composer Reggie Quinerly's fifth album, each out on his Redefinition label. Quinerly themes his albums. His debut was Music Inspired By Freedmantown (2012), a tribute to the Houston neighborhood where he was born and raised. It was followed by Invictus (2015), a salute to hard bop, Words In Love (2018), which dealt with vocals, and New York Nowhere (2021), a portrait of life in the city (Quinerly studied at the New School ...

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Album Review

Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Grit & Grace

Read "Grit & Grace" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Asked to name the traits women most need to succeed in today's business world, Forbes magazine in a 2019 article underlined two of them as “grit and grace." One woman who took the advice to heart is bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton. She came late to jazz but has since made it her domain of choice, founding the trombone-centric septet Bonegasm and recording three albums under its name, the most recent of which, Grit & Grace, endorses Forbes' position by using ...

10
Album Review

Jennifer Wharton's Bonegasm: Grit & Grace

Read "Grit & Grace" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Blessed be the 'bone of invention and intention that is Jennifer Wharton. A mere six years ago, the noted bass trombonist had the idea to form a slide-centric septet and commission new music to bring her oft-neglected and ballasting instrument to the fore. Driven to act on that concept, Wharton thought things through, put a plan in motion and willed Bonegasm into existence. That aptly-titled band recorded its eponymous debut in 2018, released that revelation of a record in 2019, ...

4
Album Review

Mary Foster Conklin: These Precious Days

Read "These Precious Days" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Mary Foster Conklin is a New York-based singer with an eclectic approach to the choices she makes in deciding upon a repetoire for her fifth release, These Precious Days. Unafraid to step outside the nine dots, she has focussed the project on lesser-known jazz and popular compositions by predominately female songwriters. Joining Conklin are a number of top shelf New York musicians including pianist and arranger John Di Martino, violinist Sara Caswell, bassist Ed Howard, drummer Vince Cherico, guitarist Guilherme ...

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Album Review

Joe McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band: The Pan American Nutcracker Suite

Read "The Pan American Nutcracker Suite" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Yes, Peter Tchaikovsky's timeless Nutcracker Suite is basically holiday music; and, yes, the 2022 holiday season is squarely in everyone's rear-view mirror. Even so, there is always room for a fresh approach to the annual festive staple, which is what drummer Joe McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band brings to The Pan American Nutcracker Suite. The Nutcracker has been rhythmically amended before, but never quite like this, as McCarthy and the band use the strong ...

9
Album Review

Joe McCarthy's Afro Bop Alliance Big Band: The Pan American Nutcracker Suite

Read "The Pan American Nutcracker Suite" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


"The Nutcracker" is a holiday staple and, as many musical and dance companies around the United States and Europe will tell you, thank Heaven for it. The musicians and performers may eventually lose their sanity from repeat performances, but the ballet is a money-maker as sure as holiday sales generate commercial profits for retailers. Besides, someone is inevitably hearing it for the first time, and children—even some adults—seem to enjoy it. This year, the season starts early with ...

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Album Review

Michael Eckroth Group: Plena

Read "Plena" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Michael Eckroth had clear goals in mind for this project--"to create music that was lyrical, modern, true to its Afro-Latin roots, but never purist in its approach"--and he's accomplished his mission with gusto. Through Plena, this Grammy-nominated pianist/composer delivers a program of original music that, while acknowledging folkloric traditions, doesn't buy into their formal strictures and structures. Instead, Eckroth deals in forward-thinking offshoots and branch realities that beautifully extend on--and past--those points. Essentially working with two different ...

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304

Recording

Samuel Torres - Yaounde (2010)

Samuel Torres - Yaounde (2010)

Source: Something Else!

By PicoSamuel Torres' life journey from a boy with dreams of being a full-time musician, to becoming a full-time musician, to becoming a successful one, takes another turn with the release last week of his second album, Yaounde. Born and raised by a hard working a supportive single mother in Bogot, Columbia, Torres' perseverance as a percussionist paid off as he became in demand in his native country, becoming proficient on styles ranging from jazz, salsa and pop ...

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Recording

Percussionist/Composer Samuel Torres to Release Yaounde Available March 23 @ samueltorres.com, cdbaby.com and iTunes

Percussionist/Composer Samuel Torres to Release Yaounde Available March 23 @ samueltorres.com, cdbaby.com and iTunes

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity

Percussionist/composer SAMUEL TORRES to Release YaoundeAvailable March 23 @ samueltorres.com, cdbaby.com and iTunes“ . . . at once intelligent, sophisticated and explosive." - JazzTimes“ . . . has written and recorded music for his project that is inventive, lyrical, and important work.  He is a special artist"- Jeff “Tain" Watts“[Samuel Torres'] playing is full of joy and that's what music is all about" - Richard Bona“ . . . a ...

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Performance / Tour

Samuel Torres Group "Live" @ The Triad, NYC - 9/12

Samuel Torres Group "Live" @ The Triad, NYC - 9/12

Source: All About Jazz

September 12th, 2005 - 9:00pm (1 set only) Samuel Torres Group w/... Yosvany Terry: Saxophones Manuel Valera: Piano Oscar Stagnaro: Bass Ernesto Simpson: Drums Samuel Torres: Percussion and Keyboards @ The Triad 158 West 72nd St, 2nd floor (between Columbus and Broadway Ave.), NYC 212-362-2590 Admission: $10 plus ...

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Event

Latinjazz performance with the Samuel Torres Latin American Jazz Ensemble

Latinjazz performance with the Samuel Torres Latin American Jazz Ensemble

Source: All About Jazz

Saturday April 24th, 2004 - New York, NY @ 8pm, $10 Samuel Torres Latin American Jazz Ensemble performance @ El Taller Latinoamericano Featuring: Samuel Torres - Percussion John Benitez - Bass Mike Rodriguez - Trumpet Hector Martignon - Piano Ernesto Simpson - Drums Julia Dollison - Vocals This six-piece contemporary ...

"... a keen-eared, light-handed percussionist [who] can draw a rainbow of intriguing sounds." The Washington Post.

" [Samuel Torres] playing is full of joy and that’s what music is all about.” Richard Bona.

"Skin Tones is at once intelligent, sophisticated and explosive." Jazz Times.

"... a skillful musician coming into his own." Latin Beat Magazine.

About Skin Tones "...a modern Classic for all jazz lovers " Jazz Review.

"[Samuel Torres].. has written and recorded music for his project that is inventive, lyrical, and important work. He is a special artist." Jeff "Tain" Watts

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Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Thousandth Scholar

Redefinition Music
2024

buy

These Precious Days

Mock Turtle Music
2023

buy

Grit & Grace

Sunnyside Records
2023

buy

The Pan American...

Angel Face Records
2022

buy

Plena

Truth Revolution Records
2021

buy

Triangle

Luba Mason Productions
2020

buy

Be Normal

From: Grit & Grace
By Samuel Torres

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