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Portraits in Jazz: For Mel Villena, the swing’s the thing
Mel Villena
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December 28, 2024January 8, 2025Music

Portraits in Jazz: For Mel Villena, the swing’s the thing

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(Tenth of a series) To be around Mel Villena—musical director, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and raconteur nonpareil—is to check your worries at the door. No day is too dreary that he cannot save the rest of it from crumbling, unmendable, at your feet. At least that’s what it feels like every time he’s at the baton...