On the Town: The stars align for salsa at Burroughs

Last week’s heat spell was nothing more than a mere memory as the mix of cool jazz and hot salsa blended together and rendered a perfect late-summer evening as John Burroughs High School’s Instrumental Music Assn. presented its annual “Salsa Under the Stars” fundraiser this past Saturday evening.

Staged in the school’s quad, the event gave students, parents and supporters the opportunity to spread out their blankets and enjoy picnics or dinner provided by Tacos Maximo, brush up on their salsa skills by taking a dance lesson from master instructor Janette Valenzuela, who is world-renowned as an innovator and creator of L.A. style salsa, and then use those freshly learned or enhanced skills to dance to the music of the John Burroughs High School Jazz Ensemble.

Sponsored by former Burbank Mayor Marsha Ramos and the Arturo Sandoval Institute, the evening raised funds needed to keep the school’s music program afloat.

Influenced early in his career by be-bop giants Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie, Cuban jazz great Arturo Sandoval played a vital role in shaping the face of both modern Latin music and mainstream jazz.

This year, Sandoval will once again lend his support to Burroughs students by participating in an ongoing mentoring program.

This year’s evening of salsa was presented by the JBHS Instrumental Music Assn., the fundraising arm of the school’s musical programs. Among those whose work and commitment made the evening possible were the association’s president, Robert Jung, and supporters Michelle Turner, Frank and Maria DiLiberto, Suzanne Ryan, Bruce Minnier and Paulina Arango.

“Keeping the arts and music alive in every school is vitally important. But in Burbank it goes to another level because many of the students that attend school here will have the opportunity to become the professional musicians of tomorrow,” Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake) told the assemblage before the evening of spicy salsa standards and swinging, syncopated sambas began.

The evening’s main event saw the Burroughs Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of the school’s new music director, Taylor Arakelian, perform evening sets of swinging standards and lively sambas.

Along with featured musicians, saxophonist Taylor Blake and trumpeter Nathan Bradley (who was celebrating his 18th birthday), the ensemble that performed at Saturday’s concert was comprised of Justin Beverly, Hanna Jung, Jacob Pleites-Morataya, Nina Cavalheiro, Gianni Spiga, Max Dearth, Joey DiLiberto, Miles Gonzales, Katelyn Harms. CJ Bejasa, Christian Dorado, Daniel Fierro, Dominic Aguas, Griffin Armstorff, Sara Jung, Jordan Rios, Diego Sanchez, Kobi Abcede, Gabe Trevizo and Josh Turner.

For more information about the John Burroughs instrumental program and future events, visit https://www.jbhsima.org.

--

DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.