Latin jazz, New York style

Middletown — A concert of Real New York-style Latin jazz will be performed by La Familia Sextet and Willie Martinez at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22, in the Orange Hall Theater, located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview Avenues on the campus of Orange County Community College in Middletown. In addition, a master class featuring Martinez, Misha Tsiganov, Jennifer Vincent, and Renato Thoms will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Orange Hall’s Room 23. This class is free and open to the public. Willie Martinez performs regularly with his group, La Familia Sextet, an ensemble that plays his original compositions and arrangements. The sextet includes Willie Martinez on drums and vocals, Thoms on congas and percussion, Tsiganov on piano, Vincent on bass, Jason Marshall on baritone sax, and J. Walter Hawkes on trombone. The ensemble marries Afro-Caribbean rhythms and harmonies with the improvisational nature of jazz. The baritone sax and trombone frontline is unusual, and combines with an infectious rhythm section. Tickets are available at the George F. Shepard Student Center, Student Activities Department, from Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Shepard Center is located on South Street at the corner of East Conkling Avenue. For more information, call 341-4891 or e-mail cultural@sunyorange.edu. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens/alumni/faculty/staff, free for all students, group rates.