Miracosta Latin Jazz Orchestra Plays Tonight At Anthology

Yesterday, we at KPBS pulled off quite a feat.  We did an hour long interview and performance show with the 22-piece Miracosta Latin Jazz Orchestra, which we filmed in our TV studios for your viewing pleasure on Culture Lust.  22 PIECES.   22 people with 22 instruments.  And, here's the clincher, we did it all LIVE ON THE RADIO.... AT 10am!  HUGE.  Like, HUGE.  As someone who has booked a lot of bands, do you have any idea how difficult it is to get musicians up before 12 noon?  Now imagine getting 22 musicians here at 7:30am. 

To my great surprise, these musicians arrived early!  They were wonderful to work with and the show went off without a hitch.  You can hear the These Days interview here.   The orchestra is composed of talented student and community musicians, all under the guidance of orchestra director Mario Gonzalez.  Mario has an interesting background:  he runs a local and very successful music prodution studio called G Studios. He's also had a long career as a studio musician playing with big time acts, and he currently plays trumpet in Sheila E's band.  Don't sleep on Sheila E now, she's still out there.  She called out golddiggers way before Kanye West did and here's the proof, in all its 80's glory.   Love the hair... love the shoulder pads.  I know some of you rocked the shoulder pads back in the day.  It's ok, I did too.  80's nostalgia aside, Sheila E is a seriously talented percussionist and Prince knew what he was doing when he helped launch her career.

But back to latin jazz, you can watch the video of the Miracosta Latin Jazz Orchestra below.  You can also go see them perform live tonight at Anthology in Little Italy.  It's always a treat to see a big band perform live and they play interesting pieces from composers like Oscar Hernandez.  This orchestra is a hidden treasure right here in our sunny California midst... go check 'em out. 

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