Henry Brun and the Latin Playerz - La Prensa De San Antonio

julio 25, 2010
By Angela Covo
angela.covo@gmail.com
Grammy award-winning Latin
jazz bandleader and percussionist
Henry Brun will mark 20 years
making music with his band, The
Latin Playerz. The kick-off concert
to a tour that spans the globe is
happening right here in San Antonio,
at a benefit concert Aug. 14,
at the Charline McCombs Empire
Theatre.
San Antonio’s music ambassador
will return for a special
presentation during JazzSA’live,
followed by headliner performances
at the 50th Annual Texas
Jazz Festival and the 4th Annual
House of Jazz after a brief stint
in Puerto Rico. In October, Henry
Brun & the Latin Playerz will represent
San Antonio at the Taichung
Jazz Festival in Taiwan, followed
by performances in Kaohsiung,
and Tai Pei.
Brun, 50, is quick to point out
the band’s name has nothing to do
with being a ‘player.’ “‘Playerz’
with a ‘z’ refers to the fact that
these musicians, the players, play
jazz!” he told La Prensa.
The percussion maestro actually
started out as a child prodigy,
turning pro at the tender age of 11
in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Born and
raised in the Bronx, New York
until he was 8 years old, his mother
recognized a strong predilection
for music and insisted he take
piano lessons when he turned 6
years old. Later, when they moved
to Ponce in Puerto Rico, Brun
discovered the bongo and fell in
love. To this day, the bongo is his
favorite percussion instrument.
“The bongo is melodic, it carries
on a conversation,” Brun said. “It’s
the instrument that dances around
– it sings, it’s playful, it’s the happiest
instrument of all.”
Brun, affectionately known
as “Mr. Ritmo,” credits Willie
Valentine as the one who laid the
foundation on which he built his
career. “He made me,” Brun said.
The curious story of the intersection
of Brun and Valentine’s life is
the stuff of literary classics. Valentine
popped “out of nowhere”
into Brun’s life one fateful summer,
asking if he really wanted to
learn the craft of drumming. Just
11, Brun was enthralled, and they
spent 6 to 8 hours a day together,
mentor and pupil, for months.
One day, a band invited Willie
to fill in for a gig in Juana Diaz,
known also as “la ciudad de los
poetas.” He took Brun along to
play and the young musician even
accomplished his first solo, which
led to more gigs. Brun never saw
Valentine again after that night,
but remembers catching his tutor’s
eye during the performance and
getting the feeling that Valentine
was satisfied with what he saw
and had completed his mission.
Valentine disappeared, dropping
out of Brun’s life as mysteriously
as he had entered it.
“Now, I know he wasn’t a figment
of my imagination, because
everybody still knows him in the
neighborhood, but I never could
find him again – and believe me, I
tried,” Brun said.
Mystified but undeterred, Brun
continued to seek out formal music
training and studied at the Juan
Morel Campos Escuela Libre De
Música in Ponce, studying under
the tutelage of Moisés Ortiz and
Rafael Montero. As a young teenager,
he had the chance to play
with Danny Cruz, a very popular
Latin Pop group in Puerto Rico,
which led to more opportunities
performing with several nationally
recognized groups.
Still a teenager, in ‘79, Brun
joined the United States Air Force
and was instantly recruited to the
prestigious Air Force Band. The
opportunity to travel worldwide
broadened his horizons and exposed
him to ethnic rhythms.
He even enjoyed the honor of
performing with luminaries such
as the legendary trumpet player
Maynard Ferguson, Bob Hope,
Lucille Ball, Barbara Mandrell and
others. After more than a decade
of service, Brun decided to pursue
music as a full-time career. His
military connections brought him
to San Antonio, which has been his
center for the last 30 years.
“Over the past 30 years in San
Antonio, I have had the chance to
be part of the best feel-good concerts,”
Brun told La Prensa.
There’s no question Brun is all
about the music, and his passion
is secondary only to his success in
the business. “I play what people
want to hear,” he said smiling, “a
mi manera – San Antonio music
with a side order of arroz con
gandules.”
When performing with his ensemble,
the Latin Playerz, the
music covers a cavalcade of Latin
styles, ranging from the slow
tempo of a Cuban cha-cha and the
more upbeat mambo, to the conga
and rumba, guanguancó, songo,
charanga, son montuno, timba and
merengue rhythms. His wife, Judi
Deleon, a lyricist and arranger, is
the star vocalist of the band, and
her velvety tones and incredible
sounds bring a delectable dimension
to the music. The band integrates
rhythm and blues, swing,
salsa and straight ahead Jazz with
a Latin beat that incorporates Afro-
Cuban influences in performances
throughout the USA and abroad.
“All I did was awaken the desire to
hear this music again,” Brun said.
Community service is a big
part of Brun’s life. He purposefully
gives back to his adopted
city as much as he has received in
all kinds of ways. He brings star
power to San Antonio in the form
of Tito Puente, Willie Colon and
Eddie Palmieri. He is a strong education
advocate and integral part
of the Texas Music Project, a program
developed to strengthen and
restore rigorous music education
in Texas schools and raise awareness
about the positive impact music
education has on students, and
to promote Texas music. Brun and
his band also actively participate in
the Texas Commission on the Arts
Touring Program.
Brun is devoted to the development
of future musical talent, and
he is equally dedicated to ensuring
fair treatment of Hispanic musicians
and education for underprivileged
children. He spearheaded
the Children’s Symposium that
takes place during San Antonio’s
annual Jazz’SAlive Jazz festival,
which brings clinicians of various
disciplines to free workshops for
children, exposing them to the
sounds that create Jazz percussion,
high brass, woodwinds and
vocals. Children can experience
and participate in the creation of
these sounds, opening a world of
possibilities by participating in the
program created and sponsored
by Brun and Deleon’s nonprofit,
the STARLITE Organization for
the Arts.
The musician also works hard to
keep the city in tune and in touch
with his weekly radio programs at
Trinity University’s KRTU 91.7
FM and Texas Public Radio (NPR)
89.1 FM. He uses the chance to
turn the audience on to Salsa and
Latin Jazz while nurturing the
cultural Afro-Caribbean element
existent in the city and educating
the locals on the richness and
legacy of this infectious music.
The Sunday show at KRTU is a
San Antonio staple and a tradition
for San Antonio listeners.
Brun plays active roles in city
planning, too, as a member of the
Cultural Advisory Board for the
Office of Cultural Affairs of the
City of San Antonio and a Commission
for the Convention and
Visitors Bureau. Both roles allow
him to be part of the team, which
is essential to the existence of cultural
arts organizations throughout
the city.
The star percussionist has more
than 653 recordings to his name,
including Grammy award winners
and Gold and Platinum albums;
7-E
Henry Brun and the Latin Playerz celebrate 20 years
Henry Brun boasts more than 653 recordings in his name, including
Grammy award winners. (Courtesy photo)
he has been featured on “Raza de
Campeones,” Jazz Central (Black
Entertainment Channel), and on
“Texas Saturday Night,” a documentary
about Texas music produced
by the British Broadcasting
Corporation. Brun’s performances
have been presented on Spanish
and English national and cable
networks.
The benefit concert tickets are
on sale now. Tickets for the anniversary
celebration cost $20, $33
or $45. VIP tickets are available
for $100 per person and include
backstage passes to meet the
band before the concert, a special
after-party at Le Midi and an
autographed copy of the band’s
20th anniversary CD. The band
will donate concert proceeds to the
ARTS San Antonio’s ARtsTEach
elementary school arts workshop
program.
For more information about
tickets for the upcoming show,
visit the theater Web site at http://
www.majesticempire.com. For
more information about Brun and
the Latin Playerz, go to http://
www.richportenterprises.com.