menjunje

Sunday, September 24

TIME: 5:00-6:00pm

VENUE: west stage. midway plaisance at south ellis ave.

Eight Menjunje band members posing together against a red background, followed by a black and white image of a man playing a tambourine wearing a baseball cap and glasses, followed by a black and white image of a man playing a drum set wearing a hoodie.

ROY McGRATH / MENJUNJE

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico and educated in Boston, New Orleans, and Chicago, tenor saxophonist and multi-woodwind instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader Roy McGrath fuses these diverse influences in his work. In addition to leading and recording his own ensembles, McGrath is a member of several other ensembles and is an in-demand player, recording artist, and producer. He has led tours to Mexico, Singapore, Myanmar, South Korea, and China. As a composer and arranger, he is firmly in the jazz tradition, but his Caribbean heritage is an ever-present mindset, leading to wholly original works that are a true expression of who he is. 

McGrath’s latest project, Menjunje, is an Afro-Caribbean septet featuring musicians from Puerto Rico and Chicago and performing original compositions as well as arrangements from renowned Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, Antonio Caban Vale “El Topo.” Menjunje formed in early 2022 and played several clubs and concerts in the Chicago area, as well as the Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Latin Jazz Festival, Glenwood Arts Festival, CU Jazz Festival, Mayfest, and Mole de Mayo Festival. The Menjunje project is a product of working in conjunction with the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, the Puerto Rico Arts Alliance, the Walder Foundation, and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of Chicago. It features folkloric rhythms of Puerto Rico such as Bomba (Sica, Yuba, Cuembe), Plena, and Seis Araucano, as well as Cuban Guaguanco, Bolero, Chachacha, and Son. 

The musicians:

Musicians from Puerto Rico: Efrain Martinez, Eduardo Zayas. 

Musicians from the Chicago area: Constantine Alexander, Kitt Lyles, Javier Quintana-Ocasio, Victor “Junito” González, José A. Carrasquillo, Jonathan Wenzel, Joaquin Garcia.

Roy McGrath - saxophone

Constantine Alexander - trumpet

Joaquin Garcia - piano

Jonathon Wenzel - drums

Kitt Lyles - acoustic bass

Victor “Junito” González - conga, punteador, barril

Javier Quintana-Ocasio - barril, requinto, bongo, quinto, campana

José A. Carrasquillo - cuatro