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| Photo courtesy of Rita |
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Photo courtesy of Peter Maiden |
Benny Velarde
On a wintry Wednesday night in San Francisco, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins is swaddled in a blanket of fog. Perched on the hotel’s 25th floor, The Top of the Mark is an elegant cocktail lounge with a 360 degree panoramic view of the city and has long been a favorite wateringhole for both visitors and Bay Area locals. Strolling into the massive lobby, I was nearly blinded by the dazzling crystal chandelier and ornate gold brocade covered walls. The lobby is completely deserted except for a pair of stylish, thirty-ish couples milling in front of the elevators. The women, tall, rakishly thin blonds, in skin tight,black dresses while their escorts smoothed the hems of their black guayaberas. No gold , nose rings or tattoos in this crew. As we crowd into oak paneled elevator, chamber music rolls into the chamber. Finally the elevator doors slide open at the 19 th floor—home of the Top of the Mark bar and the trumpets and trombones blast over us. No doubt about it,--veteran bandleader Benny Velarde and his Supercombo had hit their groove, dishing out saucy cha cha chas and mambos.
Benny ( Bayardo) Velarde was born November 29, 1929, in a modest home in Panama City, Panama. As a youngster, Benny was captivated by the glamorous world of Latin music. By the time he was 9 or 10 years old, Velarde was already sneaking into the nightclubs to catch a glimpse of electrifying Cuban bands such as Sonora Matancera and Orquesta Casino de Playa with legendary vocalist, Miguelito Valdes( originator of the song “Babalu” made famous in the U.S. by Desi Arnaz).
“During the early 40’s, the Canal Zone was part of the United States. It was a military base for the Army and the Navy. The city had plenty of action for the soldiers on their days off. A lot of Cuban musicians played in Panama because there was lots of money and plenty of gigs there because of the war. The nightlife was really exciting. The clubs had plenty of good music and burlesque shows. They opened around midnight and went until 6 in the morning.”
In the wake of a messy divorce and mounting family turmoil, Benny with his mother and brother, packed up, left Panama and headed for the United States. Though he longed to play saxophone, Benny could not pay for instruments or music lessons since his mother struggled to earn enoughy to buy food. Undaunted, Benny decided to teach himself bongos, congas and later timbales by listening to phonograph records. Nestled in his bedroom, Benny spent countless hours absorbing the music of legendary performers like Tito Puente, Machito, Joe Cuba and Joe Loco. Pretty soon Benny started playing with a Latino students band at Mission High School. In 1950 Benny got his first crack at the Big Time when Alonzo Polio, a Salvadorean pianist and band leader, urged Benny to join his combo. Even though Benny was an amateur and barely 20 years old , he joined the Musicians Union and he began playing with the Alonzo Polio quartet. The quartet appeared regularly at the Jai Alai club, a popular North Beach Spanish restaurant and nightclub.
After he left Polio’s combo, Benny hooked up with Carlos Federico, an Oakland based Panamanian pianist and bandleader. For several years Benny played mambos with Carlos Federico’s band, at Sunday afternoon called Tardeandas and Mexican music ensembles lead by Salvador Guerrero and Professor Eddie Cano.
Benny credits Manny Duran with giving him the “break” of his life and propelling him into the next phase of his career. Manny Duran ,a gifted pianist, assembled one of San Francisco’s first Latin music groups, "The Mambo Devils" in the early 1950s. His group regularly played at Ciro’s, a San Francisco nightclub(located on Geary near Jones St), for many years. In 1952 Benny joined Cal Tjader who was developing his unique approach to Latin jazz. Over coffee at a Mission Street restaurant, Benny said,
At that time Cal was still playing with George Shearing but he had recently gotten into the “Latin” music thing. When he was in New York Cal, saw Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito at the Palladium. So he got bitten by the Latin music bug and when he came back, he wanted to form a Latin jazz quintet. After the audition, I started playing congas for him. After awhile I played bongos and timbales. That’s how the Cal Tjader Quintet was formed.”
When Benny Velarde joined Cal Tjader, Latin Jazz was gaining momentum as a fresh musical entitity on the West Coast. In the 1940’s Latin Jazz exploded on the musical landscape of New York scene thanks to the electrifying recordings and performances of pioneers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Mario Bauza .
“On the East Coast, they were playing music that was called “AfroCuban Jazz”. It was heavily influenced by Chano Pozo who played with Dizzy Gillespie and Mario Bauza. On the West Coast we were playing what was called “Latin Jazz”which meant Jazz standards with Latin percussion. In addition our piano player Manny Duran, of Mexican heritage, had a feeling for Latin syncopation. I think that was the biggest difference between the two styles. Another difference was that on the East Coast, the music was played by Big Bands like those led by Dizzy Gillespie and Machito. But on the West Coast the music was played by smaller combos.”
Benny performed and recorded with Cal Tjader from 1952-1957 at numerous clubs the West Coast clubs and at Birdland, New York City’s premier jazz club. In 1957 Tjader dismantled the combo and Manny took over as leader and debuted the group at the Copacabana, a popular North Beach nightspot. Benny took over as leader in 1959. Benny recalled,
"In 1960 I started my own band, called Benny Velarde Y Su Pachangeras, because the dance “The Panchanga” which as popular at that time. Panchanga music, filled with violins, flures and singers, originated in New York around 1961 among Cuban players. The dance involved a lot of hopping and jumping from side to side. The Panchanga became a big dance hit. When my band played the pachanga, we substituted the vibraphone for the flute and everybody loved the new sound. The music has a very lively uptempo feeling.
Our group played a song called “Yolanda’s Pachanga.” Yolanda was actually my ex-wife and I wrote the song for her when we got married. When I met her, Yolanda was a dancer and she and her sister were called “The Cuban Lollypops.” They were originally from Havana. They used to dance with my band when we played at an after hours club called ‘Streets of Paris’. There they were—these two pretty Cuban girls. Yolanda and I fell in love. We went back to Cuba, got married and came back to the U.S. I first recorded the song in 1962 for my first album “Aye, Que Rico.” That album also has one of my other tunes “Baile Mi Guaguanco.” I wrote that song because I fell in love with Cuba when I went there in 1957. Havana was a great city. There was music everywhere, beautiful girls all over town. So I really fell in love with Cuba and the Cuban people.
In 1969, Benny Velarde Y Su Supercombo emerged and has played at festivals and clubs for nearly 40 years even after Benny fought off throat cancer ( resulting in the removal of his vocal cords). Current members of the Supercombo include Patrick Moorehead( piano), Jorge Pomar( Bass), Ross Wilson(musical director and trombonist), Marty Werner trombone), Carlos Ariza ( congas), Monche Estevez (vocals) and Orestes Vilato(bongo, campana). 2002 marked the release of Benny's CD entitled “Viva Vellarde”. His latest recording evolved unexpectedly.
My last recording had been in 1972. But when we played at the Sacramento Jazz Festival in 2000, everybody was coming up to us asking “Where is your CD?” Luckily Ross, the trumpet player in my band works at Disher Music and Sound (a Berkeley recording studio) convinced the owner to record my CD. The guys in the band wanted to record this CD as a tribute to me and I am glad that I am still around to enjoy this.
"I am lucky that I have lived by making music for so many years. Music is something that you have to feel in your blood. It is something that you have to love, like the way you love a woman. At the same time, you have to respect the music. If you really feel deeply about music, then you will be able to play for a long time. That is the way I have lived my life.”
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