“My music is mine” were the opening words to Melvis Santa’s musical selections.
On March 6th in the Green Lounge of Woodlands Hall 1, the Social and Environmental Justice Institute, Art Lab, MIC and OWWR hosted a live concert. Musician Melvis Santa presented “Jazz Orishas: A Fusion of Afro-Cuban Spirituality and Jazz.”
This event was held in commemoration of the exhibition, “The Nuevo Muntu and Los Sonidos de la Nueva Atlántida” at the Art Lab of SEJI, co-curated by Zaika dos Santos and Dr. Reynaldo Anderson. The exhibition aims to bring together members of the Black Speculative Arts Movement in Latin America. The concert reflected the sounds of cumbia, samba, kawina and North American jazz, blending together each genre’s cultural echo throughout the diaspora. Santa, along with her bandmates Rashaan Carter, Marcus Gilmore, Vinicius Gomes, and Josh Evans, gave a soulful performance that accentuated the message of their music.
Melvis Santa is a Grammy-nominated vocalist, instrumentalist, composer, and multi-disciplinary artist from Havana, Cuba. She is also an art advocate and educator, and has taught Afro-Cuban music and dance workshops at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, NYU, CUNY Graduate Center, Yale University, and Tulane University of New Orleans, amongst others.
Her journey as a performer began when she was just four years old, and at age seven, she began playing classical piano. At age fourteen, Santa formed the women-led collective, Sexto Sentido, which was revered as “the best Cuban vocal quartet of the past 30 years” by jazz icon Chucho Valdés. She went on to become one of the lead vocalists of Cuban Timba-Funk fusion band Interactivo, led by Roberto Carcassés. That would propel her to pursue a solo career, forming the band she leads today.
When asked about the inspiration of her music, she emphasized the impact of her rich cultural heritage on her art and performance. “The times that we’re in, it’s really a conversation between that tradition, preserving that tradition, but also making our mark.”
She reflected on the intentionality behind her music, stating, “I let the music speak for itself, but intentionally, I do want to tell a story. For so many years, there was a lot of restrictions, especially being a woman, a black woman from Latin America, there is so much that we care about, but this is a different time. The music is the perfect moment to express and to say, at least our perspective, that we are heard.”
“We all have so much to share, so much to talk, so much to bring to the table that it’s redefining how we approach music. It’s through sound, but it’s also through storytelling.” She added. She highlights how the music is a reflection of the Yoruba tradition and Afro-cubanism, which incorporates lots of percussion and trumpets, particularly over the album’s poetry selections.
Her latest album, Jazz Orishas is a multidimensional exploration of “rebirth and call”, inspired by the intuitive nature of women, as described on the album’s Bandcamp. Each track is originally composed and written by Santa, seamlessly blending jazz poetry with layers of vocals and piano. The album released on May 31st, 2024, is currently available on all streaming platforms.
