Turiya Mareya Live at Herman’s

Mareya’s Music

Turiya Mareya Live at Herman’s

 

Latin Sizzle

Posted By: Rick Gibbs Monday Magazine 01/07/2009 8:00 AM

Pianist Turiya Mareya melts what’s left of the snow

The way Mexican jazz pianist Turiya Mareya tells the story, Victoria saxophonist Noah Becker wasn’t too keen to play with her when she first tried to hire him for a gig last year. “He was so mean and awful and just gave me the freeze,” says Mareya, laughing. Later, when she telephoned him to try again, the reason for the cold reception emerged: he thought she was a singer. Learning that she was a pianist, Becker suddenly warmed up. “Ever since then he’s been my best friend . . . I guess he just doesn’t like singers,” she says, with obvious delight and affection.

Becker can be forgiven for his false assumption, since female Latin jazz pianists are a rare breed. So rare, in fact, that the Tijuana-based Mareya first came to Canada in 2005 to find another one-Vancouver’s Kathy Kidd-who, unbeknownst to her, had died five years earlier. She did manage to meet Kidd’s husband, who connected her with other Canadian players, and she ended up living here for a time, working out of Toronto and Vancouver with a number of top Cuban musicians.

Mareya eventually returned to Mexico, and in the past year has been playing various festivals and jazz venues throughout the country, but she’s back on the Island for two months (she first came here about 18 months ago “on a whim”) and is looking forward to kicking off 2009 with a gig at Hermann’s, featuring not only Becker on saxophone but also Humberto Mendoza on congas, Sean Drabitt on bass and special guest Adonis Puentes on vocals and percussion.

She’s particularly pleased to be sharing the stage with Puentes and is delighted by his recent success in Los Angeles, where he has been appearing with his own band and the Los Angeles Latin Jazz All Stars. “I’m really proud of him-he’s just done great,” says Mareya, who has fond memories of playing here with the whole Puentes family.

Becker, who got his Cuban music chops working with Adonis and his brother Alexis (now performing as Alex Cuba), clearly thinks very highly of Mareya. “She’s a very spiritual, very focused musician . . . very much involved in Cuban music,” he says. “That’s her interest, that’s her dedication, so her music is specifically written with those kinds of musicians in mind.”

The Hermann’s gig will feature a lot of that original writing and will be “really Latin,” according to Mareya, because they won’t have a jazz drummer backing them as originally planned. But for those of us still thawing out after our recent Siberian holiday, that’s a good thing. In fact, turn it up-that Latin heat can’t come soon enough.

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Turiya Mareya Latin Jazz Ensemble
(with special guest Adonis Puentes)
8:30 pm Friday, January 9
Hermann’s Jazz Club, 753 View
Tickets $10 • 250-388-9166