World Music Encounters: Javier Chaparro & Salúd
Sunday, Feb. 2, 5-7 p.m., Historic Church
The group will play Latin jazz from South America, with stylings ranging from Antonio Carlos Jobim to Yo Yo Ma. Chaparro, born in Peru, is a virtuoso violinist who has been the Concert Master for the Brazos Valley Symphony for 33 years. While he plays classical violin, his strongest influence is the legendary French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. The band also features guitarist Mitch Watkins, an alum of Leonard Cohen, Lyle Lovett, and Bob Schneider.
You may have heard Javier Chaparro and not realized it. The virtuoso violinist has been performing around Austin for more than 40 years with his genre-bending mélange of Latin, jazz and gypsy music. His band started a residency at Las Palomas Restaurant in Westlake, then moved to Azul Tequila and, finally, Z Tejas on West Sixth Street (since bulldozed).
Chaparro draws inspiration for his original songs from throughout Latin America, including his native Peru, as well as jazz, Americana and classical. For more than 33 years, he has played first violin and served as Concertmaster with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra in College Station. As a guest artist, he has performed solo and chamber music recitals in the United States, South America, and Europe. Though trained at the National Conservatory in Lima, Chaparro says his strongest artistic influence remains the legendary French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli.
In 2012, Javier and his band, Salúd, went into Blue Rock Artist Ranch & Studio in Wimberley where they recorded their album, Tuyo, for Fable Records. These days, Salúd performs primarily at house concerts and festivals, such as the Kerrville Folk Festival. They have been on the state touring roster for the Texas Commission on the Arts. The individual band members are acclaimed musicians with their own projects.
Guitarist Mitch Watkins belonged to the seminal Austin jazz group, Passenger, in the 1970s and went on to collaborate with Leonard Cohen, Joe Ely, and Jerry Jeff Walker, among many others. Laura Mordecai learned the drums in her father’s Dixieland jazz band and has gone on to play percussion at the Kennedy Center, the Grand Ole Opry and the Kerrville Folk Festival. Bassist John Fremgen performs with local jazz musicians and teaches jazz at UT. They will be joined onstage at St. David’s by revered Austin percussionist James Fenner.
In the clip below, see a performance of Luna Roja by Javier Chaparro y Salúd (Laura Mordecai, Mitch Watkins, Paul Glasse, John Fremgen) at a private concert on May 12, 2019.
World Music Encounters is a groundbreaking, nonprofit music series in the heart of downtown Austin featuring local and regional musicians who hail from the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa. General seating is $25 per person; premium tickets, $35; student tickets, $15. Garage parking is free and families are welcome. Presented by St. David's Episcopal Church, the series aims to connect the community to, and through, global music and conversations. We offer this series as a gift to the community as well as an opportunity to expand our cultural understanding and global consciousness.
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