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Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits:
Heart and Soul by David Landrecht The Latin jazz scene is alive and thriving. This was evident on April 16th 2004 at the Latin Meets Jazz event at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where the non-profit educational organization, Strings for Schools, dedicated to educating young people in classical, jazz and popular music, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a concert by Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits performed with special guests Paquito D’Rivera and Giovanni Hidalgo. I met with percussionist Marlon Simon, an award winning musician and educator who has developed Jazz workshops for Strings for Schools, at his home studio one week after the benefit concert. As I was looking over my questions there was a rumbling of thunder in the distance and then a long reflective pause. Marlon broke the ice, “Sometimes the silence sounds so good. The space, the silence is a great sound.” We listened to the silence before breaking into the interview.Tell me a little about the place you were born? “I was born in a very small town called Cardon in the western part of Venezuela. A remote town, the only thing we have there is two oil refineries. My father was an oil refinery employee for 25 years. We didn’t even have a music school. My father used to play guitar and sing boleros and that’s how we started getting involved with the music because he would sing love songs with the guitar. Along with my four brothers we lived there for most of our lives.” When did you discover you were interested in music? “I had been playing music since I was 9 years old. Playing timbales and drums by ear. When I was around 15 years old I was on a trip with my father to a nearby town. I saw a set of Timbales in the window of a store and I told my father ‘I have to have that’. It took some time but I finally convinced him to buy it and I have been playing ever since. “Something interesting that I would like to tell you is that my first serious drum lesson, the first time I had a drum teacher was when I was 27, and that was at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I never took a music lesson until I became 27. Before that I played everything by ear. For the first time they showed me how to hold the sticks and what a quarter note meant.” What was it like to have to go back to the basics? Did it hold you back from creatively expressing yourself? “It pulled me back a little but not that much because my will was very strong. I was so hungry to learn this. I had to learn all of my scales on the vibraphone and I hated it, but I did everything I could to pass the proficiency tests. I studied hard at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and then continued on to The New School in New York City where I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz and Contemporary Music.” Tell me about your involvement as an educator in the community. “In 1989 I got one of my first jobs in Philadelphia with Asociacion de Musicos Latino Americanos (AMLA) as a music instructor. AMLA needed a method for people who couldn’t read… most of the Latino’s there could play and some of the things they played were wrong theoretically because they couldn’t read. It was the first book published at AMLA to teach the community up there to read music and to actually play the things right. So it became a very popular method for everybody it was like a bible people would say ‘Look at the book! Look at the book!’ [When Marlon’s student visa ran out he was searching for an opportunity to obtain a working visa in order to stay in the Philadelphia region. This AMLA project came up and he was selected to write the method book entitled Studies of Latin Rhythms: A Method for the Percussionist. Part 1: Afro Cuban and Derived Styles through Music Notation.] “In the year 2000 violinist John Blake approached me and asked me to develop a series of Latin Jazz workshops for Strings for Schools. Since then I have continued to spread this knowledge through residency programs and workshops in schools in the greater northeast and abroad.” Marlon has been recognized with several awards for his efforts. In 2000, he received the New Jersey State Council of the Arts Distinguished Teaching Artist award in recognition of a history of commitment and excellence in the Arts and Education. In 2001 he was honored with The New Jersey Governor's award in Arts and Education, and in 2003 Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits presented two international concerts representing the excellence of artistry developed in the U.S., sponsored by the fund for the U.S. artist and the State Department. In an upcoming project Marlon will be creating a new arrangement of his song “Erika,” which is dedicated to his departed daughter. This version of the song will feature the addition of traditional Santeria Bata toques transcribed for a string quartet. Marlon Simon recently released his latest CD titled Live in LaPaz Bolivia on the Intrigue Record Label. His previous recordings include The Music of Marlon Simon on the K-Jazz label, and Rumba a la Patato for Ubiquity Records. |
Marlon Simon is an inspired musician and educator. » Listen to MARLON SIMON on Batanga's JAZZ station » Subscribe to Club Batanga to watch videos and more! "I had been playing music since I was 9 years old. Playing timbales and drums by ear. " -- Marlon Simon |
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