PORT TOWNSEND — The May Candlelight Concert Series will present an evening of “Latin Latitudes” at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The concert at Trinity United Methodist Church, 609 Taylor St., will feature two prominent Latin America and Caribbean sound musical artists, Mojito, with Michael & Vickie Townsend and Miguelito, plus The Port Townsend Steel Bands conducted by Angie Tabor.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Admission will be by a suggested $10 donation (children admitted free) to benefit local Port Townsend charitable organizations and Trinity’s music and historic Victorian restoration programs.
Refreshments will be served following the performance.
PT Steel Band to open
Opening the concert, the PT Steel Band will perform several steelpan Caribbean music selections, including: “Linstead Market,” “Come Back Liza,” “Sugar Bum Bum,” “Three Little Birds,” “Rant & Rave,” “One Stop” and “Day-O.”
The Port Townsend Steel Bands include community-based beginning and intermediate Caribbean steel bands.
Tabor said, “Our mission is to learn Caribbean rhythms and songs in a fun, relaxed environment while making new friends and sharing the enchanting sounds of the steelpans with our community.”
The Steelpan Band’s director, Angie Tabor, is a performing musician and educator in Port Townsend.
She can be seen playing steelpans and singing throughout the Puget Sound area in her band Caribe and performing on drums with a variety of local bands and musicians.
Launched in 2017
In 2017, she launched the Port Townsend Steel Bands to further share her love of Caribbean steelpans.
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Tabor was a teaching artist for Centrum Foundation’s Youth Programs.
She teaches percussion at Swan School and maintains a studio of private students. She holds a master’s degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Northern Colorado.
Following the Caribbean sounds of the steelpans, the main musical event will feature Vickie Townsend, Michael Townsend and Miguelito performing a program of Latin favorites.
Mojito will share the power of clave rhythm through the music of Bo Diddley, the Buena Vista Social Club and Arsenio Rodriguez.
These three artists have united to form Mojito, a group celebrating Latin American music and Afro-Cuban rhythms, taking listeners around the Caribbean, visiting Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, and farther south to Colombia and Brazil.
Michael Townsend said: “One good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain!”
He has played for more than a decade in the barrooms and dancehalls of Montana.
The next step to Seattle provided him with opportunities to study jazz and African styles.
Since moving to the local area 30 years ago, Michael Townsend has played with dance bands, Bertram Levy’s tango ensembles and participated in many productions at the Key City Public Theatre.
Vickie Townsend’s grandma won a prize at the grocery store and bought her a huge accordion and lessons.
After rock ’n’ roll made the accordion hopelessly square, she went on to learn flute, guitar, ukulele and percussion.
Eventually, she came to love the bluesy sound of the button squeeze box, particularly Cajun and Cumbia styles.
Miguelito studied Latin percussion with master drummer Mike Pacheco in Los Angeles.
With these skills he was soon in demand for gigs up and down the West Coast, including five years with the Elisabeth Waldo Music & Dance Ensemble.
Miguelito, while managing his graphic design business, has played throughout Washington and Alaska, providing the conga beat for groups like African Rain and Salsa Borealis.
For more information, call 360-774-1644 or email rdanpurnell@msn.com.
The PT Steel Band are, in the front from left, Ruth Asare, Zadie Mae Carben, Sage Brotherton, David Schroeder, Jediah Sanders and Heather Sanders; in the middle, from left, Moe Gardner and John Sanders; in the back, from left, Jasper Dances, Solenne Walker and Declan Wescot.
