Doug Little

Doug Little is a busy veteran performer, composer and educator. Transplanted from San Francisco, Little graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul and founded the popular 1990s band, the Motion Poets. Currently he leads the Doug Little Quartet, Tres Mundos, Charanga Tropicale and Seven Steps to Havana, and hosts Latin Jazz Night each Tuesday at Picosa in Minneapolis. His bands have released well regarded recordings (Subtle Differences and The Phoenix with his quartet; Cuban Voyage with sax quartet and Cuban percussion; and self title releases from Seven Steps and Charanga). The winner of a number of grants and scholarships, including support from the McKnight and Bush Foundations, Little has also found time to teach master classes and participate in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Artist in the School Program. Since 1996, Doug has directed the Twin Cities Jazz Workshop, a summer program for middle and high school students. 

Given the breadth and depth of his experience, which includes studies at the National School of Arts in Havana, La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and travel and study throughout Brazil via a Jerome Foundation grant, it was inevitable that Little would develop global music projects. When Seven Steps to Havana debuted four years ago, it was nothing short of nuclear fission.

Seven Steps to Havana

Cuban native Viviana Pintado has rich and powerful vocals, and her keyboard comping and soloing reveal a dynamic and emotional range often missing in the heavy percussive style of modern Cuban pianists. Trumpeter Bill Simenson has performed with the Wolverines Classic Jazz Orchestra, Latin Sounds Orchestra, and at Mixed Blood and Guthrie Theaters, as well as with other groups and his own ensembles. He’s currently on the West Bank School of Music faculty. Wisconsin native, trombonist Mark Miller is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and former cohort of Doug Little with the Motion Poets. Based in New York since 1999, he’s toured with Swing and Moving Out. Ethiopian-born bassist Yohannes Tona studied at Berkelee in Boston before moving to the Twin Cities, where he is involved in gospel as well as jazz. His soul/fusion band performed at the 2005 and 2006 Hot Summer Jazz Festivals with its own brand of Afro-Funk. Brazilian conguero/ percussionist Eliezer Freitas Santos grew up in Brasil’s Bahia region, the son of folkloric priests. After living in Buenos Aires for 14 years, he moved to Minneapolis where he has wowed audiences with his fast hands and dynamic pacesetting. With Little and Pintado, he plays in the trio Tres Mundos. A native of Mexico City, drummer Mariano Flores built his reputation in the clubs of Mexico’s east coast, and gained experience playing with Cuban musicians before relocating to the U.S. Pintado, Freitas and Flores perform with Little as part of Charanga Tropicale.

Javier Santiago will be at the keyboards on August 14th. The former Minneapolis South High student comes by his musical bent honestly, the son of drummer Mac Santiago and Latin percussion master, grandfather Luis Santiago; his mom Lori is a vocalist. With a group called "Second Nature," he recorded his first CD in 2004, was a member of the Minnesota Youth Jazz Band and the first edition of the Dakota Combo under the direction of Kelly Rossum, and played with the teen bands The Eggz and The Bridge. A former student of local pianist Tanner Taylor, Javier won scholarships in the 2006 and Schubert Club/Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education Jazz Piano Competition. For two years following high school graduation, Javier attended the prestigious Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific, selected as the one pianist to learn and tour with this ensemble. He heads to the New School in Manhattan to complete his college studies this fall. 

And it is Doug Little’s band, although he is a very generous leader who caters to the talents of his colleagues. Playing tenor, alto, flute, and bass clarinet, as well as some hand percussion, he covers the full range of whatever horn, from lyrical to playful to aggressive, seamlessly sliding from comp to solo and back; his bass clarinet is elegantly mournful and haunting. 

August Gigs

The individual credentials and talents notwithstanding, it is the ensemble as a whole that will ignite the stage in Minneapolis, St Paul and Madison.  These musicians merge their efforts to create a highly energetic, creative and joyful big band sound with only seven voices. From mambo to cha-cha, Seven Steps to Havana will take your ears from the Midwest to Cuba, proving that seven is indeed a very lucky number. 

Seven Steps to Havana plays at the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis on Friday, August 14th at 8 pm (www.dakotacooks.com); at the Artists Quarter at 408 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul on Saturday, August 15th at 9 pm (www.artistsquarter.com);  for Jazz at Five, 100 block of State Street in downtown Madison, WI on Wednesday, August 19th at 5 pm (www.jazzat5.org). For more information about Doug Little, visit www.douglittlemusic.com or www.sevenstepstohavana.com