Sylvia Cuenca Organ Trio

Saturday, August 13, 2011 | Magnolia San Jose Rep Stage | 2pm

For the past twelve years, drummer Sylvia Cuenca has been active on the New York Jazz scene, notably with Jazz icons such as Clark Terry, Joe Henderson, Gary Bartz, George Cables, Jimmy Heath, Joshua Redman, and Nicholas Payton—all of whom can attest to her swinging prowess.

Originally from San Jose, California, Sylvia's interest in drumming began when she was twelve years old. Her father gave her guitar lessons, but she gravitated toward banging on pots and pans. At twenty-one, Cuenca moved to New York to pursue her career. Soon thereafter, she joined saxophonist Joe Henderson for a European tour and subsequently spent the next four years with him. For the past seventeen years, Cuenca has been the drummer for trumpet legend Clark Terry, appearing with is quintet annually at the Village Vanguard and the Blue Note in New York City, as well as on tours and clinics throughout the United States and Europe. Cuenca also leads her own groups in the New York City area.

Besides receiving Jazz performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1991, Cuenca was a semi-finalist in the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Drummer Competition. More recently, she was artist-in-residence at the Clark Terry Institute of Jazz at Westmar University in Lemars, Iowa and the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California.

Cuenca hopes to tour and record with her own group in the near future. In the meantime, her work with Terry and others provides valuable learning experience. Says Sylvia, "I want to grow and learn as much as I can from the masters of this music." Her latest album is EXIT 13 on Etoile Records.

sylviacuenca.com