Saoco Latin Big Band
What do you get when you mix more than 25 years of teaching experience with a keen interest in Latin American music, and add to that an insatiable appetite for experiencing music first hand?
Well, what you get is called Saoco Latin Big Band created and directed by Paul De Castro.
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"I just recently left academia to dedicate myself full-time to composing and arranging original music. Music based on my vast experience as a music professor, my knowledge of musical instruments (piano and corneta china) and my travels throughout the world.
The actual origins of Saoco Latin Big Band goes back in late 2023 when I was commissioned by the university I retired from to write a big band composition for a celebratory concert featuring several composers from that institution. After an initial reticence, I found the process a lot of fun and the end result, Chachachá Académico, was well received not only by the audience but also by the musicians performing it. This initial success motivated me to keep arranging and composing for big band and the end results was the Saoco Latin Big Band.​
Some of you might be familiar with my previous project Orquesta Dengue, and if you are, you might be glad to hear that some of those songs have been re-imagined for this new big band. Songs such as Hermeto and Azulejos have received the big band treatment and are even more impressive now than they have ever been. Also part of this project are new arrangements of some of my earlier compositions such as Homenaje, written in 1987, to honor my two favorite teachers while I was a student at PCC: jazz greats Bobby Bradford and Gary Foster.
I also have been busy composing exciting new music that uses rhythms such as festejo from Peru, and partido alto from Brazil as well as the expected mambos and Latin jazz.
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What do the critics say?
“De Castro displays an intimate familiarity with modern world of Cuban dance music, writing complex pieces that respect the aesthetics of the style at every turn. The strength of his approach lies in his consistent dedication to jazz though, as he thoughtfully finds ways to stay true to the jazz tradition…..Pianist Paul De Castro and his band …….tap
into timba, songo, jazz, and more…… delivering an exciting set of modern, intelligent, and hip music.”
Chip Boaz, The Latin Jazz Corner, USA
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“Paul de Castro truly loves and feels music and respects its roots. Not only is he a Music Professor, …..but he actually practices what he preaches”
Eric González, Herencia Latina, (Puerto Rico)
“De Castro takes us on a musical journey full of surprising sounds and colors within the boundaries of Latin jazz and Afro Cuban music.”
Rudy Mangual, Latin Beat Magazine (USA)
“De Castro brings together his musicians and compositions into an engaging musical statement both likeable and intricate, simultaneously danceable and intriguing. The powerful musical results present an inspiring message to the modern Latin Jazz world about the endless possibilities behind dance oriented Latin Jazz, hopefully starting a trend that many musicians will follow.”
Chip Boaz, The Latin Jazz Corner (USA)
