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Papo Vazquez

Trombonist, composer and arranger Papo Vázquez is celebrating 40 years into a career spanning the jazz, Latin, Afro-Caribbean and classical music and recording worlds.

Recent honors include an invitation by “The Presidents Own” US Marine Band to lead and direct the band on its first Afro Caribbean Jazz performance in the long history of this band, in Washington, DC.

In May 2013, was commissioned by Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Symphony Space to compose new music for “Nueva Musica” concert series, in New York.

In 2011, was presented with a Latino Masters Award by the Pregones Theater under The National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces: Presenting program.

In 2010, was commissioned by Mr. Wynton Marsalis to compose a work inspired by Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, he conducted and performed with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Orchestra on The Jazz and Art concert.

In 2008, won a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album for Papo Vázquez’ Mighty Pirates 2008 recording Marooned/Aíslado.

In 2007, was commisioned by The Bronx River Arts Center to compose a new piece titled River Rising for their 20th anniversary.

Beginnings

Vázquez was born in 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After spending his early years in Puerto Rico, he grew up in the heart of North Philadelphia's Puerto Rican community. He bought his first trombone from a friend for $5 and joined the elementary school band.

At the age of 14, an uncle recommended him to a local salsa band, where he met trumpet player Jimmy Purvis. Purvis inspired Papo’s lifelong passion for jazz by giving him two records: J.J. Johnson's Blue Trombone and John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard. By 15, Vázquez was performing with local Latin bands in Philadelphia and accompanying visiting artists such as Eddie Palmieri. At only 17, he moved to New York and was hired to play for trumpet player Chocolate Armentero's. Soon after began playing and recording with top artists in the salsa scene like The Fania All-Stars, Ray Barretto, Willie Colón, Grupo Folklorico Nuyorquino, Eddie Palmieri, Larry Harlow, and Hector La Voe. Vázquez also became a key player in New York’s burgeoning Latin jazz scene of the late 1970's, performing with Jerry Gonzalez, Hilton Ruiz, and more. He began studying with Slide Hampton, eventually recording and performing for Slide Hampton's World of Trombones.

Vázquez went on to perform with jazz luminaries Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Foster, Mel Lewis, Mario Rivera, Hilton Ruiz and Milton Cardona, and to tour Europe with the Ray Charles Orchestra. By the age of 22, Vázquez had traveled the globe.

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3
Live Review

Papo Vazquez: San Francisco, CA, March 22, 2013

Read "Papo Vazquez: San Francisco, CA, March 22, 2013" reviewed by Ken Vermes


Papo Vazquez's Pirates and Troubadours SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA March 22, 2013On Friday, March 22, 2013, jazz lovers at the new SFJAZZ Center were in for a very special experience. As part of the series of concerts curated by a jazz artist, conguero John Santos unleashed what can only described as a force of nature. By the conclusion of trombonist Papo Vazquez's performance, the crowd was dancing in the aisles, crying in ...

1
Album Review

Papo Vazquez: Oasis

Read "Oasis" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Trombonist/composer Papo Vazquez brings in his Mighty Pirates Troubadours for another musical adventure full of scintillating melodies, energetic rhythms and heady grooves all of which make for a wonderful album. Not content to stay within one genre, Vazquez blends and mixes them with the skill of a wizard. The styles slide into place easily and compactly, propelled by as accomplished a bunch of musicians as any band leader would love to have.Vazquez not only has a fertile imagination ...

5
Live Review

Papo Vasquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours: Detroit, MI, September 1, 2012

Read "Papo Vasquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours: Detroit, MI, September 1, 2012" reviewed by Steve Bryant


Papo Vasquez Mighty Pirates TroubadoursDetroit Jazz FestivalDetroit, MISeptember 1, 2012When a musician decides to play Latin,, it is easy for him to get pigeonholed into the Salsa circuit with a little instrumental mambo disguised as Latin jazz thrown in. This isn't the case for trombonist Papo Vasquez who, for the last 20 years produced some of the most creatively eclectic and innovative music in the Afro-Latin Jazz genre. For one, the Puerto Rican Vasquez grew ...

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Album Review

Papo Vazquez and The Mighty Pirates: Marooned/Aislado: Live at the Painted Bride Art Center

Read "Marooned/Aislado: Live at the Painted Bride Art Center" reviewed by Elliott Simon


Few musicians in Latin jazz have more street cred than trombonist Papo Vazquez. A member of the seminal Fort Apache Band, he has been a part of this music's renaissance both in the US and in Puerto Rico for several decades. He has been at the forefront of producing an Afro-Puerto Rican jazz that leans on traditional styles such as bomba, with its infectious resonant percussion, and plena, which relies on the guiro and tambourine-like pandeiros for its sound. As ...

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Album Review

Papo Vazquez and The Mighty Pirates: Aislado: Live at the Painted Bride Art Center

Read "Aislado: Live at the Painted Bride Art Center" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Fate deals its own hand. Papo Vazquez and The Mighty Pirates were scheduled to perform at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia when an ice storm came by the previous day. And so, a two-hour drive from New York City turned into a five-hour ordeal. One would think that the strains of the journey would tell on the band. But that thought perishes from the moment the first note float in.

Trombonist Vazquez has the innate ability of letting ...

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Album Review

Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours: From The Badlands

Read "From The Badlands" reviewed by Chip Boaz


Poet Lola Rodriguez del Tio declared Puerto Rico and Cuba as “two wings of the same bird, yet many people lose sight of Puerto Rico's musical contributions. Numerous Latin jazz musicians hold Puerto Rican heritage, yet most songs mix jazz harmonies with Cuban rhythms. New York Puerto Rican musicians applied their identities to traditional dance music, but most listeners hear salsa's Cuban rhythms rather than a Puerto Rican identity. Young musicians wanting to learn “Latin music often overlook Bomba, Plena, ...

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Album Review

Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadors: From the Badlands

Read "From the Badlands" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Papo Vazquez wears his hats as composer, arranger and trombone player comfortably. As a composer he uses several genres including the aguinaldo, guaracha, bomba, mambo and jazz. His arrangements draw strong ensemble lines and then open the door to let the soloists ride into their improvisations. As a trombone player he has a vitality that lifts a tune and the ability to slip into a quickly created nook to add a delightful exclamation.

Vazquez'a music is earthy and powerful. He ...

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Performance / Tour

Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours at Brooklyn Public Library

Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours at Brooklyn Public Library

Source: Michael Ricci

Jazz trombonist Papo Vazquez's Afro-Caribbean ensemble, Pirates Troubadours, will be hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library at the Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture on Thursday, April 1 for a free concert from 7 to 8:30 PM. The Dweck Center's entrance is located at the Central Library on Eastern Parkway near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. This performance is part of the 11th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival. Papo Vazquez Pirates Troubadours are Willie Williams (sax), Zaccai Curtis ...

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Performance / Tour

Brooklyn Jazz Anniversary Concert

Brooklyn Jazz Anniversary Concert

Source: Michael Ricci

CENTRAL BROOKLYN JAZZ CONSORTIUM PRESENTS 10th ANNUAL CENTRAL BROOKLYN JAZZ ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CONCERT FEATURING PAPO VAZQUEZ PIRATES TOUBADOURS Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC) will host an early evening of great jazz by celebrating its 10th year of providing affordable cultural entertainment. This anniversary jubilee is open to all and will take place on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at Jazz966 located at 966 Fulton Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. The concert will feature performances by: Grammy nominated Papo ...

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Interview

Pirate Troubadour Roaming the Seas of Improvisation

Pirate Troubadour Roaming the Seas of Improvisation

Source: Michael Ricci

THERE was a time when Papo Vazquez, an Afro-Puerto Rican trombonist, did not understand jazz. Blame it on John Coltrane, whose classic 1961 album, “Live at the Village Vanguard,” landed in Mr. Vazquez’s record collection when he was 14. “That was the second jazz record I ever owned,” Mr. Vazquez, 51, said at his apartment here. The first was J. J. Johnson’s “Blue Trombone.” Jimmy Purvis, a trumpeter Mr. Vazquez met in the North Philadelphia neighborhood where he grew up, ...

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Primary Instrument

Trombone

Location

Philadelphia

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spirit Warrior

Picaro Records
2015

buy

Oasis

Picaro Records
2012

buy

Marooned/Aislado:...

Picaro Records
2008

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From the Badlands

Picaro Records
2007

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