La Luna Nueva Festival — a festival of Hispanic arts and culture from around the world in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month — is held September 16th through October 1, 2011. Jessie Marquez returns for her third year to perform Friday, September 16th at 7:30. Mark Saltveit visited with Jessie recently to learn more about her background.

Jessie Marquez

Latin jazz and salsa star Jessie Marquez grew up immersed in Cuban culture, listening to stories about her family’s days on the island, but she wasn’t able to visit her father’s home until 1996.  She has been back frequently since, and expresses her experiences in a new show called “Postcards from Havana” as part of the Luna Nueva festival.

She told me that what started as a personal trip grew into a musical journey.

“The first time I went was to accompany my father.  We went to see where he had grown up.  He was very moved to see Havana again and I suddenly understood so much more about him, our family and even myself.  I made about 10 more trips after that.  My musical circle there expanded. I was offered opportunities to record, perform and learn from masters.”

Aside from music, she said that her time in Cuba had taught her a number of surprising “rules I try to live by and that help me have a healthy artistic life.” These include:

• Never let a drop of rain touch you before you sing.
• Wear perfume to protect you from evil eyes.
• Iron your clothes.  
• Make your nails look nice.  
• Always ask about other people’s families.  
• Let people know you wish them well. 
• Be gracious.  
• Understand that life is a struggle.  
• Enjoy. 

Marquez is best known as a jazz vocalist and composer who blends Cuban, Brazilian and pop sounds in her popular albums, but this show includes more of a narrative.  She explains:

“I like to give people a context for the music.  I think it can be more meaningful when you know something about the songs or the lives of the people who wrote the songs.  My experiences in Cuba were rich because I spent a lot of time traveling and performing with other artists during the annual Bolero Festival.  So, I met a lot of characters and heard a lot of stories.  Those experiences wove together with the music I heard and how I was developing musically.  It makes the music more meaningful to me and I like to share that with audiences.”

Listen to Jessie’ music and watch videos on her festival media page; purchase tickets online or by calling 503-236-7253.
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La Luna Nueva is sponsored by PGE Foundation and The Oregonian. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Festival events occur September 16 through October 1, 2011 at El Centro Milagro, 525 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 97214; a complete schedule is available here. Admission varies; many events are FREE. Purchase tickets at 503-236-7253 or www.milagro.org