Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco: Home
Music Director, John Calloway
Co-Director, Sylvia Ramirez
Managing Director, Arturo Riera
Meet the LJYE
The Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble (LJYE) of San Francisco is a performing group of talented musicians ages ten to 18. They perform Latin jazz classics and original compositions at a level that has landed them gigs at the San Jose Jazz Festival, the KCSM Jazz Festival, KGO Radio, Yerba Buena Gardens, SF Museum of Modern Art, Paramount's Great America and the world-renown jazz club, Yoshi’s. The LJYE has shared the stage with legendary performers such as the great Cuban bassist, Cachao; piano virtuoso Chuchito Valdes; Latin jazz heavyweights Poncho Sanchez and Clare Fischer; and the Grammy Award-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
The LJYE mission is to preserve the traditions of Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban music by teaching it to youth and to create role models for aspiring student musicians.
The LJYE was chosen as one of the top youth bands in Northern California in the 2004 YouthQuake competition and won First Place (Youth Music) in Carnaval San Francisco in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. They are Artists-in-Residence at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens Festival for 2005-2007.
LJYE Performs for the Recording Academy 2005
Photography: Trish Leeper WireImage
The LJYE Story
When music director John Calloway talks about his students in the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble he doesn't use the word "kids." He prefers to call them "musicians."
"Even though part of the draw for the group is that they are young people, I don't see them differently from the professional musicians I work with," said Calloway. "They are talented artists who just need to rack up more experience. I have no doubt they will some day be the 'names' you hear about on the Latin music scene."
Calloway created the group with Arturo Riera and Sylvia Ramirez, whose son Daniel Riera played flute in the original group. The LJYE made it's debut on September 15, 2001, just days after the national tragedy of September 11th. Although it was the saddest of times, the decision was made to continue with their show at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco at "A Tribute to Cal Tjader," where they opened for Poncho Sanchez. The youth's exuberant performance embodied hope for the future and reverence for the past. These two sentiments provided much needed comfort to all who saw them perform that night. At that moment the LJYE was born and it has remained in the embrace of Bay Area Latin jazz enthusiasts.
Many of the LJYE members are on the road to becoming professional musicians having displayed the passion, talent and dedication needed to make it in the performing world. Several students have won prestigious national awards including Downbeat Student Awards; ASCAP Young Composer Awards; and National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts Awards.
The group is financially self-sustaining and receives no outside funding. Managing Director Riera keeps the band busy with paid performances at festivals and community events. The group also performs “pro bono” at various community benefits.
In the fall of 2006 the directors started a new component to the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble called the LJYE Workshop. The Workshop is a program which prepares young musicians for the advanced performances required in the Ensemble. The training focuses on students with proficiency on their instrument and provides them with invaluable performance experience. Calloway, Ramirez and Riera are committed to teaching Latin jazz and not solely focusing on performing.
Although based in the City, the Ensemble and Workshop are open to any youth in the Bay Area by audition. Membership in the group fluctuates as the students "age" and leave for college, so Calloway is always looking for talented young people interested in performing Latin music.
Creating the Ensemble with Riera and Ramirez has been a dream come true for Calloway, whose love of the music is outweighed only by his love of teaching. "Working with the group has allowed me to pass along the music, just as it was passed on to me. The music these students play is timeless. It's our contribution to keeping this art form alive in the years to come."
LJYE Opens for Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, 2005
Photography: Larry Gibbs