OKAN
Fusing Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, resistance and love, OKAN takes their name from the word for heart in their Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. With vocals in Spanish, Yoruba and Spanglish, OKAN is led by the Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, both Grammy and Latin-Grammy nominees.
Having performed and recorded with Bomba Estereo, Lido Pimienta, The Halifax Symphony Orchestra, Hilario Duran and Dayme Arocena, OKAN’s recent release Okantomi was awarded the 2024 Juno Award (the band’s second Juno recognition) and included in NPR Alt Latino, Le Monde, and CBC Music’s “Best of 2023” lists, garnering critical praise from Songlines UK, Billboard, Pop Matters and JAZZIZ.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Patricia Dean was born on July 29th in Tampa, Florida and was surrounded by music while growing up. Her brother played bass and father played lead alto saxophonist in the big band of guitarist Bobby Sherwood, and was also a pianist, composer and clarinetist. Her greatest influence was singer/drummer Karen Carpenter.
She got her first drum set and began studying privately and really playing, at the age of 11. She played her first professional job with her father and brother when she was 14. Citing Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn, Nancy Wilson and Julie London as among her singing influences, and names Ed Thigpen, Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams and Sonny Payne for her drumming.
Through the years she has worked with Nat Adderley, Ira Sullivan, Whitey Mitchell, Bobby Militello and the late John LaPorta. Vocalist and drummer Patricia Dean continues to pursue her career in southwest Florida.
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ALLAN HARRIS
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Yve Evans was born in El Paso, Texas on July 20, 1950 into an Army family and was around music while growing up as her mother was a gospel singer. When she was three years old she made her first recording of The Lord’s Prayer acapella. In addition to the church music, she began singing and memorizing songs from the radio including all the cartoon favorites like the Mickey Mouse Club.
She learned to play the piano at the age of nine while rehabilitating from injuries she sustained after being struck by a car. The family followed her dad to Germany at age 12 and she began taking lessons from piano virtuoso Frau Anna Benkel, who introduced her to her love of classical piano. In 1964 Yve was hit by a truck and told she would never walk again or have children. The doctors were wrong and while bedridden at home she would still sit up to practive her piano lessons, take a correspondence course in behavioral psychology plus her regular homework.
Yve eventually walked again and began producing in addition to performing and pursuing the art of storytelling while living in Germany. She spent her summers from age13 to 16 playing in a big band, light opera productions and touring Germany with choral groups. At 16 after moving back to America a teacher attempted to discourage her to not rely on a career in music. She continued in the high school and University choral, mentored and encouraged by Carmen Dragon and Jester Harriston.
Evans cites Sarah Vaughn, Ernie Andrews, Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, June Christie, Della Reese, Bobby Darin and Rosemary Clooney as her main influences. As a pianist, she has leaned over the shoulders of, swapped chord changes with and stolen licks from Dorothy Donegan, Bill Evans, Erroll Garner, George Gafney, Carmen McCrae and Shirley Horn.
Vocalist and pianist Yve Evans, who has seven live recordings and is a Grammy nominated artist, continues to tell stories through her music, sing on the local jazz scene and perform around the world at festivals.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Omar Ruben Rada Silva was born July 16, 1943 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Little is known about his early life but his sound comes from his exposure to the music of his country, a chorus of tamboriles and Uruguayan barrel drums.
In 1965, he and Eduardo Mateo formed the band El Kinto Conjunto. This was the first group in Uruguay to create the beat genre in Spanish and to fuse rock with Latin American musical styles. In 1969 the success of his Candombe song Las Manzanas (The Apples) led to his first solo album and participation in the Festival of Popular Music in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A year later he formed the band Tótem.
In 1977, he traveled to the United States after an invitation by the Fattoruso Brothers to play with the group OPA. Over the next year, he performed with Tom Scott, Ray Barretto, Hermeto Pascoal, and Flora Purim.
Settling in Mexico for three years beginning in 1991, Rubén worked as a composer and arranger for local musicians such as Mijares, Eugenia León, Stephanie Salas, and Tania Libertad. In 1994 he shared the spotlight with Sting and UB40 at the Palacio de Deportes in Mexico City.
Rada’s renown led him to record on international labels and his songs have been played worldwide and have been recorded by Milton Nascimento, Herb Alpert, and Lani Hall. He was invited by Jon Anderson and Joan Manuel Serrat to appear on their albums Deseo and Utopía, respectively.
He has voiced the part of Lucius Best/Frozone in the 2004 Argentinian dubbing of The Incredibles. Ruben has directed radio and TV shows, and has starred in the television sitcom La Oveja Negra (The Black Sheep).In 2010, the third round of the series LifeLines in Berlin paid tribute to Rubén Rada. That same year he recorded a show in the Argentine program Encuentro en El Estudio, which is run by that country’s Ministry of Education.
Percussionist, composer, singer and television personality Ruben Rada, who has recorded more than thirty albums, continues to perform, compose and record.
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