You Only Write About What You Know

At the end of 2009, Albany’s weekly, Metroland, listed 43 live music performances that, according to its critics, were the best of the year (“The Year in Review,” December 31, 2009). The only one included that featured Latinos was the show by Los Lobos at the Egg in April. I found this strange and irritating.

In March 2009, the Egg presented the show Palladium Nights, featuring the music played during the 1950s at the famed Palladium Ballroom in New York City. A crowd of 750 nearly filled the Kitty Carlisle Hart Theater to listen to the music of Grammy-winning pianist Arturo O’Farrill and the AfroLatin Jazz Band with choreography by Ballet Hispanico. In April, Jazz/Latino presented a bio-performance by Grammy-nominated percussionist Bobby Sanabria at the University at Albany, highlighting the life and career of Tito Puente, and a concert at the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady (FUSS) by drummer, singer, and composer Willie Martínez and his La Familia Sextet. In May, Jazz/Latino hosted a performance by trombonist Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS band, also at FUSS. In August, the Albany Latin Fest Association held its 14th annual festival, including for the first time a Latin jazz ensemble, Chembo Corniel and Grupo Chaworo, plus the merengue band Doble Filo and the Puerto Rican salsa star Michael Stuart, accompanied by a killer band from Rochester. Finally, in December, Grupo Los Santos brought to Albany their blend of AfroCuban, jazz, and flamenco to the Dublin Underground, formerly known as Savannah’s.

These artists, with the exception of Doble Filo, have well-established careers, multiple recordings, and international reputations. All the shows were critically acclaimed. None were even reviewed by Metroland. So what gives? From the selections by Metroland’s critics in “The Year in Review,” I cannot help but infer that they review only what’s already prominent commercially and/or what is familiar to them. Thus, unless a Latino artist is well-known and successful in the commercial mainstream he/she will not command their unsolicited attention. It may also be that these critics do not review performances that highlight Latin music and culture because, with the exception of Latin rock, they are not familiar with or do not like other expressions of Latin music and culture such as Latin jazz.

For some time now I’ve been saying to myself that Metroland is not really the alternative newspaper of the Capital Region, as the weekly dubs itself. Instead, I think the paper is the outlet for what we could call the “alternative mainstream.” To put it differently, the paper reflects the mainstream within the mainstream. In a sense, when it comes to music, Metroland is rather conventional. It focuses on what most people in Albany and its environs like: folk and rock.

For the last three years I’ve been trying to get the paper to do a story on Jazz/Latino to no avail. I’ve asked the editor and publisher and also the arts editor. They have never said NO. They just don’t do it. The paper has never reviewed any one of the 24 events Jazz/Latino has sponsored in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy since 2007. I do get my shows included in the arts calendar but the calendar will include, in fine print because it is free, anything that is submitted on time. The only prominent coverage my concerts have had in Metroland has been through advertisements but that kind of “coverage” is easy to get as well—all it takes is ability to pay.

It would be nice if the paper tried a little harder to live up to its self-designation as the “region’s alternative newsweekly.” At this point the label is just a living fossil, a set phrase that maybe once described the paper. To be the real press alternative of the region, the paper would have to broaden its focus and recognize that there’s more to music than folk and rock. In those genres, Metroland’s coverage is broad; well-known as well as emerging artists are included. For Latino artists and non-Latinos that play Latin music or Latin jazz, there seems to be a different standard: only artists in the commercial mainstream need apply. Whether this is the case by commission or by omission hardly makes a difference. To correct this situation all the paper needs to do is recruit critics that know something about Latino music. I am certain that its general readership will be grateful.