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Melvis Santa Afro-Cuban Jazz For The Ancestors

Melvis Santa (Zuza Gasiorowska)
Melvis Santa (Zuza Gasiorowska)

Melvis Santa is a Grammy-nominated Afro-Cuban jazz singer, pianist, batá drummer, educator, and actress; from Havana, Cuba; based in New York City.

Already a famous jazz singer in Cuba, Melvis has been backing jazz legends in New York for a decade. She is one of the keys to New York City’s incredible Afro-Cuban jazz community. Santa is also an accomplished educator. If you have a chance to study with her, do it. Some of her students have themselves become famous artists.

Melvis is now raising her own voice as the leader of Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas. Extending the road opened by the ancestors, Santa continues to reveal herself as a true force of nature at the intersection of jazz and Cuban Yoruba traditions. ¡Ashé!

Melvis Santa in New York City

NOVEMBER

Dizzy’s Club

Melvis Santa joins the Josh Evans Big Band at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center at Columbus Circle, Manhattan; on Monday, November 4, 2024 at 7pm & 10pm. 🇨🇺

National Jazz Museum in Harlem

Melvis Santa and Rafael Monteagudo Duo play Afro Cuban jazz at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Manhattan; on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024, from 7-9pm. FREE. 🇨🇺

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

Melvis Santa joins the House Party Brooklyn Conservatory of Music fundraiser in Park Slope, Brooklyn; on Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 7pm 9pm. From $500. @bkcm.org 🇨🇺

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Melvis Santa joins Liany Mateo for jazz at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, Manhattan; on Sunday, November 10, 2024. 🇨🇺

Lunático

Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas play jazz for the ancestors; at LunÀtico lounge in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 7pm & 10:15pm. Suggested donation $10 🇨🇺

Blue Note

Melvis Santa joins Kenny Garrett at the Blue Note jazz club in Greenwich Village, Manhattan; on Thursday-Sunday, November 21-24, 2024 at 8pm & 10pm. From $38. 🇨🇺

OCTOBER

Zinc Bar

Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas sing Afro-Cuban jazz for the Ancestors; in residence at Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village, Manhattan; on Tuesdays: September 17 and 24, and October 1, 2024, at 7pm & 9pm. $35. ¡Ashé! 🇨🇺

National Jazz Museum in Harlem

Ivanna Cuesta Quartet plays Dominican jazz in conversation with Rítmicas: Women in Jazz and Percussion curator Melvis Santa; at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Manhattan; on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 7pm. FREE with rsvp. @ivannacuesta91 🇩🇴

This was a great show. Ivanna told her story about being a little girl in the Dominican Republic who wanted to drum. Ivanna turned her mother’s kitchen tools into percussion instruments at home. When the church band asked for someone to play drums, she raised her hand. Drummers have to drum, period. Her family tried to discourage her at first, although they are really happy now. Cuesta is a Berklee graduate, so she is golden and already has a distinguished career. She didn’t speak English when she moved to Boston, so she learned by example. She learned musically. Ivanna played pieces from her new album “A Letter to the Earth” about how we are carelessly destroying our Mother. As soon as she sat down, she turned into water. She is so fluid. Her music is very cinematic. It takes you on a journey. She’d be a great film scorer.

Melvis is not just a great jazz artist, she’s good at drawing the best out of other artists. As she said, “Jazz speaks about the moment we are living.” We left feeling that we had discovered a sacred space for jazz, and gotten to know a little about two great artists.

National Jazz Museum in Harlem

Brenda Navarrete plays Afro Cuban jazz in conversation with Rítmicas: Women in Jazz and Percussion curator Melvis Santa; at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Manhattan; on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at 7pm. FREE. 🇨🇺

New York City Venues

Over the years, Melvis has played all over New York. These are some of the venues she has played lately.

Melvis Santa

Melvis Santa was born in Barrio de Colón in Central Havana, Cuba, where her talent showed early. She began studying theatre when she was just 4 years old. She graduated in Piano and Music Theory at the prestigious Amadeo Roldan Conservatory.

At 14, Melvis founded Sexto Sentido (Sixth Sense), a vocal collective that Cuban jazz legend Chucho Valdés called “the best Cuban vocal quartet of the past 30 years.” They won the Jo-Jazz (Cuban Youth Jazz competition) in 2001. In 2010, Melvis joined timba fusion band Interactivo as one of the lead vocalists.

“7 Days in Havana” Trailer

In 2011, she starred in the movie “7 Days in Havana” directed by Benicio del Toro, Julio Medem and others. It was selected for the Cannes Film Festival.

Melvis Santa “Siete Cuerdas” (Seven Strings)

Melvis went solo in 2012. Many jazz lovers know her debut album “Santa Habana.”

In New York, she plays with a Who’s Who of jazz and Latin jazz greats, both American and Cuban. Past projects include Melvis Santa & Ashedi, an Afro-Cuban roots music project, and Ellas-Son, an all-women ensemble that celebrates women in Cuban pop music.

Melvis has held residencies at the Jazz Museum in Harlem, Boulder University in Colorado, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and The Chicago Jazz Philharmonic.

She has taught at New York University (NYU), Yale University, CUNY Graduate Center, The Spence School private girls school in Manhattan, Tulane University of New Orleans, and others. She is not just a great performer, she can explain the history behind the traditions.

Melvis founded the Caribe Body Fitness dance program and the Afro Cuban Voice Therapy music program. Melvis is a natural healer. Healing is what Afro-Cuban drum, song, and dance traditions are all about.

Albums

  • “Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas” (2024)
  • “Odarra” (2018) earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Latin Jazz Album.”
  • “Santa Habana” (2012) was nominated for the Cubadisco Awards, a major Cuban festival and awards program that celebrates Cuban music.

Awards

  • Paul Simon Music Teachers Fellowship
  • Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Jazz Leaders Fellowship
  • NYC Women’s Fund (2023)

The Birth of Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas

Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas debuted at Aaron Davis Hall in Harlem, and Brooklyn’s BRIC JazzFest in 2022, at the Newport Jazz Festival in August 2023, and at the Women in Jazz Festival at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in March 2024 under the full moon. She’s been sponsored by both New York City and New York State. What a great beginning!

Their self-titled debut album is scheduled for independent release in June 2024. It’s the kind of music New York needs right now. The first single, “Arere: Fuerza Ancestral,” is out now on streaming platforms. We encourage you to follow Melvis as she releases her first album as a leader in New York City on Instagram @melvissanta

Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas are:

Information

We haven’t known Melvis for very long, but immediately felt that there is more to her than meets the eye. The more we know her, the more we respect her. We can’t wait to see what she does next. ¡Ashé!

Facebook @Melvis.Santa
Instagram @melvissanta
YouTube @melvissanta6592