GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- “For me, I think that Afro-Cuban [jazz] means expression. It’s a style of music that really delves into expressing yourself and your voice through music,” said bassist Diego Rumer. Rumer joined last year on a whim to try something other than a concert band requirement. This is his third semester playing.
Audience members cheered and clapped after each song, snapped to the tunes or rose from their seats to dance to the beat.
Most of the group was new, according to Calloway as he tried to introduce the whole ensemble, except for students Ahkeel Mestayer and Juan Carlos Saldaña. Mestayer played for Calloway’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble years before he even attended SF State. He has been a student of Calloway’s since he was about 10, starting from when he was a part of Calloway’s free band, the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble.