Three Classically Trained Musicians Add New Twist to Familiar Songs

After meeting while performing together on a Klezmer recording, Jackie De Los Santos, Elena Correia and Teresa Flores became close friends.

The three, all classically trained and all now teaching music in South Florida, began meeting regularly for sangria and scrabble night and eventually decided to start playing music together.

With De Los Santos on bass, Correia on vocals and Flores on drums, the three musicians created J.E.T., a group that performs familiar tunes in an unfamiliar way.

"The first song that we played together was "Fly Me to the Moon" as a salsa," says Correia, who, like De Los Santos, trained at the renowned Juilliard School in Manhattan.

Now, after taking a three-year hiatus from playing together while each performed separately, the members of J.E.T. are coming together again on May 7 for "Sebastian Speaks," a concert to benefit Equine-Assisted Therapies of South Florida.

The concert, set for The Roberts Theater at Saint Andrews School in Boca Raton, is named after Correia's son Sebastian who rides at Equine-Assisted Therapies, a therapeutic horseback riding program for children and adults with special needs.

"I'm so grateful to EATSF," Correia says. "Every mom wants her child to have every opportunity just like any other child. For me to see Sebastian on a horse, just being who he is, allows him to feel free and me to feel so happy that he can do that."

Diagnosed with autism, Sebastian, 9, started riding at EATSF two years ago and Correia says that she has seen him grow more confident as a result.

"It has given him a safety net and an opportunity to connect with another being," she says.

Those who attend the concert, which begins at 4 p.m., will hear familiar songs with a bit of a Latin influence.

"It's like Doris Day meets the Buena Vista Social Club," De Los Santos says. "You'll hear music that will make you stop and say 'hey, wait, what?'"

Joining the three ladies for the performance will be pianist Gary Mayone, a South Florida musician who has played on more than 50 international albums with some of the top names in jazz including Herbie Hancock and Jaco Pastorius.

In addition to familiar tunes, J.E.T. will unveil four original pieces that will be included in an album the group plans to record this fall.

Ticket for the Sebastian Speaks concert are $30 and seating is on a first come, first served basis. There will be a silent auction at 2:30 p.m. prior to the concert and meet and greet with the musicians following the performance. Tickets can be purchased online at http://equineatsf.org/events/sebastian-speaks/.

To post a comment, you must register and login.