After earning his doctorate degree from USC in 2007, the trumpeter was named Associate Director of the Jazz Studies Program at New York University and has been a resident of New York City ever since. He currently teaches jazz theory, world music focused on the music of coastal Perú, and a music business course, as well as directing two student bands that play Afro- Peruvian jazz music.
The Afro-Peruvian Sextet divides its time between performing in the United States and Perú. Alegría, Leguía, Lobatón, guitarist Yuri Juárez, and drummer Hugo Alcázar are Peruvian. Bassist John Benitez was born in Puerto Rico and has long been one of the most in-demand jazz musicians in New York City. When Alcázar — who incorporates a cajón into his trap drum kit and, according to Alegría, “singlehandedly created the whole language for the drums in this style”— is unable to travel to the U.S. due to family obligations, North Carolina–born drummer Shirazette Tinnin takes his place in the band.
Besides performing and teaching Afro-Peruvian jazz music, the trumpeter has worked to expand the appeal of Afro-Peruvian jazz through a program called Tour Perú. Once per year, fans of the band are invited to accompany the Sextet on the road in Perú, thereby gaining a unique perspective and insight into jazz, culture, and food in the southern hemisphere. Two such tours are scheduled for 2013. Participants of the tour effectively become an intrinsic part of the band’s “ecosystem,” participating in everything from show production to marketing.
Listen Here
Watch Here and Here
DOUBLE BILL
with Kellylee Evans
Tuesday, June 25 - 7:30PM
Esplanade Theatre - $35 + Esplanade S/C
Tickets available at the Esplanade and Tixx Central.