Enrique Buenaventura Municipal Theater prepares tribute to master Jaime Henao

On March 17, several generations of musicians will pay tribute to him to recognize the work as artist and talent trainer of master Jaime Henao, pianist, arranger and music director of El Colectivo Escuela de Música.

The concert will be held at the Enrique Buenaventura Municipal Theater, in Cali, Valle del Cauca and will be presented musicians who have been linked in different ways in the 16th anniversary of El Colectivo.

Among the guest artists are: Punto Baré Big Band, Milton Salcedo, Desvirtual. Gustavo Adolfo Rengifo, Liliana Montes, Hugo Candelario, Areito Group, Holman Alvarez, Nestor Vivas, Julio Ramirez, Ary Alvarez, Quixotadas Quartet, Azul Jauz, Richard Narvaez, Pedro Acosta, Lucho Guevara, Bandola Group, Esteban Copete, Spiral 7, La Sonora Brava, Charanga and La Cuqui Band.

On seeing his former students pay tribute to him, Maestro Henao said in El Espectador that he felt “happy, satisfied and more eager to continue contributing to Cali. And I want my jazzy legacy to remain in this city.”

The musician has been the forerunner of recurrent spaces for music in Cali and has carried out important pedagogical work encouraging and promoting excellence and love for music in the region.

Thus, in 1995, the maestro promoted that the so-called jam sessions, sessions in which musicians to improvise, which had been done sporadically and spontaneously, should become recurrent spaces in some places in the capital of Vallecaucana.

Paving the way for places like La Garza, Imágenes, Artenativa, Blues Brothers and soon after Punto Baré to become a benchmark for young musicians from Cali who, generation after generation, have been interested in the study and practice of jazz/other musical genres.

Maestro Henao is also recognized for his pedagogical work, which led him to found in 2006 the El Colectivo Musical Foundation, an entity that generates the School of Music El Colectivo, the Utopia JazzFestival and the Sevijazz.

In addition, he was awarded the prize for best accompaniment and best arrangement at the Luis Carlos González National Bambuco Festival in 1998 and best musical arrangement at the Petronio Álvarez Pacific Music Festival 1999-2000.

Regarding his legacy, the teacher, in El Espectador, said that he believes that this is “having broadened the spectrum and level of interpretation of music, that is important to be able to teach, whether in Cali, Bogotá or the United States... or even to work with any artist. I think discipline is another lesson that I want to leave and many of my students have told me that after going to school they can perform in any setting.”

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