INTERVIEW: Journey with Tony Succar to find the ‘Roots of Latin Jazz’ on PBS
Photo: From left, Dr. Pablo Gil, Sheila E. and Tony Succar are featured on Great Performances: Roots of Latin Jazz. Photo courtesy of Leigh Kelly / Provided by PBS press site with permission.
Tonight, July 16, PBS will air a long-in-the-works TV special that explores the many facets of Latin jazz. Great Performances: Roots of Latin Jazz, hosted by Sheila E., features the Raíces Jazz Orchestra, led by two-time Latin Grammy-winning musician and composer Tony Succar, working alongside producer and educator Dr. Pablo Gil, according to press notes. The special is a co-production of Great Performances and Voces.
The music that is captured for the performance piece was filmed across five countries and explores the many styles of Latin jazz. There will be original pieces premiering on the TV special, alongside jazzy renditions of classic tunes, including Herbie Hancock’s “Eye of the Hurricane” and “Mas que Nada” by Jorge Ben.
“In essence, it’s a media special based on the music album that we produced for a big band called Raíces Jazz Orchestra,” Succar said in a recent phone interview. “This is our first album, and I basically partnered up with a great, great producer and musician-composer, his name is Pablo Gil. So we partnered up, and we produced this album. And after producing this album, we released it and everything, it was amazing. I spoke to one of my friends, his name is Donald Thoms, he’s an incredible film producer and TV show producer as well, and we had worked together on another PBS special project. Then when he heard the album, he had the vision that, wow, this would be a great PBS special.”
Succar said the evening of music will be entertaining and engaging, but also educational — mostly because the audience follows the band on a musical journey to many different cultures and countries.
“You can imagine yourself hopping on a plane and going to different countries and learning a little bit about the culture,” he said. “We brought big band music to each and every country basically, or you could look at it the other way, which is we took all these other music styles from other countries [and brought it to] the big band format. It was just a nice balance. I think people are definitely going to learn about the history, more than just learn it, they’re going to feel it.”
The mixture of songs on the setlist — representing both original compositions and established tunes with new arrangements — was a welcome challenge for the Raíces Jazz Orchestra. These rearranged classics are among some of Succar’s favorite tunes to play. “We wanted to definitely create a nice balance between each and every song so we that we could tell a story and make people get on this roller coaster vibe where we’re really, really up with high energy and then bring them a little bit down, more of a ballad vibe,” he said. “We keep it surprising every time.”
One highlight is Hancock’s “Eye of the Hurricane,” which Succar described as having high energy and amplified by bringing the composition into an Afro-Cuban jazz format. While he worked on the song, Succar was impressed by its melodies and harmonic structure.
“That sort of lends itself to the whole energy of Latin jazz, and if you analyze the history of Latin jazz, that’s really what it’s about, all these jazz musicians injecting all that harmony and throughline music and then vice versa as well,” Succar said. “It was definitely a challenge to make that piece work with such perfection in the flow area; however, it wasn’t too difficult to find out that it was going to work in the style because of how the melody and the cadence of the whole song was initially thought out. He’s incredible. Everything he writes is perfect.”
Succar is a native of Lima, Peru, who was raised in Miami. He earned his bachelor’s degree in jazz performance from Florida International University, followed shortly by his master’s degree. He has earned several Latin Grammy nominations, including for his 2019 album Más de Mi. This recording effort actually led to two wins: Producer of the Year and Best Salsa Album. He has worked with many talented musicians and composers throughout his career, including Tito Nieves, India, Jon Secada, Arturo Sandoval, Obie Bermudez and Judith Hill.
Succar’s career is one of deep collaboration and respect for musical diversity, and he would have it no other way.
“This band has musicians from all over the world,” he said. “Each musician brings not only a talent to the table, but just years of experience working with different bands, different styles, playing with different artists. So this is a collective, I would call it. We collaborate a lot with musicians in the studio, also in the rehearsal room, and we allow them to express themselves with complete freedom a lot of times. And this inspires a lot in composition, and we’re always tweaking.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Great Performances: Roots of Latin Jazz, featuring the Raíces Jazz Orchestra, Sheila E., Tony Succar and Dr. Pablo Gil, will air Friday, July 16. Check local listings. Click here for more information.
