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Arts Alive! podcast: Musician Alejandro Arenas
Look up the word “busy” in the dictionary, and you’ll see a photo of Alejandro Arenas.
Tampa Bay has an active jazz scene, because there’s a community of musicians who have both talent and drive. Arenas is a key member of this community, as a bass player, a composer and arranger and a collaborator. He is a man who never seems to run out of ideas.
Over the new few weeks, he has two new recordings dropping, including a new album from La Lucha, the swinging trio of which he is a founding member; and the second collection from prominent bay area trumpeter James Suggs, which he (Arenas) produced.
As for live gigs, hold on to your porkpie hat: Next Wednesday, Sept. 17 brings The Bacharach Book to freeFall Theatre for a night of music by the late, great pop master Burt Bacharach. The group includes Arenas on bass, Simon Lasky on piano and vocalist Allison Nash.
Two days later, on the 19th, Bryan J. Hughes & The Crew – including Arenas – bring The Latin Side of Jazz to the Palladium Theater.
On Sept. 27, Arenas, who is a Palladium Creative Fellow, will perform with a hand-picked band a program he has curated called MIXTURA – A Multicultural Journey in Sound, which he describes as “a musical journey reflecting his immigrant experience in the United States” (he spent his first 20 years in his native Columbia, and has been a United States citizen even longer.
On today’s podcast, we’ll take deep dives into each of these projects, and more.
Click on the arrow to listen to the interview.
