Tode Es photo by Daniel Sheehan (L-R): Tim Miller, Rebecca García, John Lilley, Dan Hensley, Tor Dietrichson, Daniel Miller, and Stephen Yamada-Heidner
BY PAUL RAUCH
The early rhythmic roots of jazz are difficult to pin down precisely, but they certainly are related to early habanera-tresillo, often referred to as the New Orleans clave. With a backbeat added to the mix, the tango rhythms revolutionized by Machito in the 1940s may have been the public-at-large introduction to jazz music based on an Afro-Cuban motif, or music referred to specifically as “Latin jazz.” Yet more than two decades prior to Machito, Jelly Roll Morton and Buddy Bolden were utilizing habanera-tresillo in their compositions, referring to it as the “Spanish tinge.” This drives home the point that it was present in jazz from the conception of the music, it has always been there. What we now identify as Latin jazz in terms of form is not only an evolutionary branch of the American jazz lexicon, but a verifiable part of its very roots, of its actual birth.
The Seattle jazz scene has always had a bit of a fascination with Latin jazz and has been blessed with prominent resident practitioners of the music, whether it be Afro-Cuban or Brazilian adaptations. Local jazz icon Jay Thomas, then just a youngster, had a spin in Machito’s band in 1968. Brilliant Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto, the curator of the legacy of Brazilian music legend Hermeto Pascoal, moved here in the early ‘90s, with two suitcases in hand–one with his possessions and one filled with sheet music that defined Pascoal’s legacy. More recently, Barcelona-born pianist Marina Albero arrived in 2014, bearing an approach featuring Afro-Cuban elements acquired dancing with friends while studying classical piano in Cuba as a teenager. Both entered a Latin jazz community that included Mexico City-born pianist Julio Jauregui, drummer/percussionist Jeff Busch and a plethora of Latin-style percussionists, among many others.
Thus, the stage was set when bassist John Lilley set out to form a Latin jazz trio to perform at small gatherings. The San Diego native was drawn to the music by a roommate from El Salvador who turned him on to bassist Israel López Valdés, better known as Cachao. He would soon find out that there were other musical partners to engage, and the band now known as Todo Es was born.
The band started as an instrumental ensemble relying on the prowess of its jazz engaged members. “It’s in the improvisation, we have a lot of great soloists in the band,” says Lilley, explaining the band’s relationship to the jazz canon. This would be especially true with the band’s current lineup which includes trumpeter Dan Hensley, mallet artist Stephen Yamada-Heidner, and guitarist Daniel Miller. The addition of Tim Miller on drum set and veteran hand percussionist Tor Dietrichson created a fuller, deeper sound that provided the unit with a more powerful presence.
It wasn’t until 2013 that the band truly found its footing, with the addition of vocalist Rebecca García. With the band’s sound now bearing the marks of Cal Tjader, Charlie Byrd and their respective forays into Afro-Cuban and Brazilian samba and bossa nova, Todo Es now had a wide variety of colors on their palette to choose from.
García’s smooth delivery added a real authenticity to the music and stretched out the instrumental lineup to achieve more balance in their performances. Like the aforementioned Albero, García was drawn to the clave from dancing with friends. Salsa dancing allowed her to discover the possibility of her music engaging Latin rhythms–to visualize it clearly. “I had moved back from Wenatchee and was doing a singer-songwriter sort of thing, but I really wanted to do Latin jazz,” she remembers. The West Seattle native wasn’t finding an entry portal into the music, however, until her newfound passion for dancing. She wasn’t drawn to the allure of the striking visuals projected by the dancers she engaged, but more to the feel and the vibe of the music. “It never went away, but it did go to sleep for a while until I got into salsa dancing in my twenties. I dove into the Cuban stuff. The dancers I gravitated towards were the ones that were dancing with their eyes closed, because I just wanted to feel it. Music has always been a way to share who I am. I’ve always been an introvert [but] music allows me to express myself fully. Being able to write and put my voice into the music I create is super important,” she says.
García is a visual artist as well, an accomplished painter. Perhaps that explains the texture and full-bodied sound her vocals and her compositions employ. Clearly, the strength of the band is in the fact that everybody contributes, each with a very different piece of the puzzle in hand. The vibraphone and steel drum work of Yamada-Heidner adds that tinge of Tjader’s ravaging foray into Afro-Cuban sounds. Hensley brings a swinging trumpet element to the band. The overall percussion sound created by Miller and Dietrichson shakes loose the foundations of Latin rock music that rose to prominence in the early seventies (about the same time funk music was impacting the music of Brazil). Guitarist Miller has a deep connection with African forms, and in Seattle, can be seen performing as a bassist with reggae stalwart Clinton Fearon. Lilley, meanwhile, is the calm before the storm, the low end custodial force that ties it all together. “Everybody contributes by writing or by giving input into how we’re arranging things,” he offers.
Todo Es performs in a variety of settings, most recently at the Seattle Jazz Fellowship in Pioneer Square and the Sea Monster Lounge in Wallingford. Their latest recording, Elemento, is a good entry point to their music and is available on all platforms. While the music is very danceable and vibrant, the band’s Seattle Jazz Fellowship performance on a busy art walk Thursday in Pioneer Square showcased the music as suitable to listening environments as well. It should be noted that the audience that evening, while not dancing, was in a constant state of motion. This state of motion can be experienced at upcoming performances including August 24 at the Frederick Holmes Gallery as part of their Hot Jazz Series, and the Jackson Street Jazz Walk September 6-8.
Over the course of fifteen years, Todo Es has exceeded the expectations of its founder and bassist. Lilley started out to create a Latin trio to play small wine tastings and gatherings as such. What he ended up with was a strong and steady voice in the Latin jazz community and the Seattle jazz scene at large.
