Death of Panama trumpet legend on eve of Jazz festival
By Ken Grady
THE PANAMA Jazz Festival and the Danilo Perez Foundation announced this week the passing of Panama’s own trumpet legend, Reggie Boyce. Reggie was scheduled to appear on stage next month at the 13th Annual Panama Jazz Festival.
He will be missed. Fortunately, his legacy lives on.
I sat down with Reggie for a conversation earlier this year at his home in Panama City. Here is a reprint of my article re-counting his stellar career.
Just in case you didn’t know, Panamanian trumpet maestro, band leader and vocalist, Reggie Boyce, has been a permanent fixture on the Jazz scene in Panama for about 6 decades. Reggie was born in Colon in 1939, and he is an important link in Panama Jazz, past and present. He is truly a living legend, and still living in Panama.
Like many of Jazz’s greatest success stories, ie, Miles, ‘Trane, et al, Boyce was only a 19 when he was playing in many popular Jazz clubs and cabarets in Colon like, El Famoso Esquires, Claridge, and 61 Night Club. He occasionally sat in with local combos, while also playing at the Cesar Park, Miramar, and Bristol hotels on different nights of the week.
Growing up, Reggie was influenced by listening to greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman, Shirley Scott, Stanley Turrentine and others.
His father, Lionel Boyce, was also a trumpet player. In his youth Reggie asked his parents’ permission to leave the family church, so he could join a church that had a band. That is where he would later also study other genres like, Salsa, Cumbia, and Mereringe.
Boyce moved to New York in 1968 to attend the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. While he continued to play in and around Brooklyn, Reggie also taught music for a number of years in New York Public Schools. In 1982 Reggie graduated from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
Back in Panama in 1987, saxophonist & leader Bat Gordon hired Reggie Boyce. This move added a trumpet to the Bat Gordon Quartet. At some point Bat Gordon moved to New York and never returned. Bassist Jimmy Maxwell took over the group and changed the name to the Jimmy Maxwell Quartet, adding legendary Panamanian Jazz vocalist, Barbara Wilson.
The quartet began playing regularly from 1992 at the popular Las Bovedas in Casco Viejo, where you might bump into such notables as Sean Connery. But, in 1996 the band moved to the Cesar Park Hotel where cats like Victor Boa(p) and Fredrick Burham would join the group. The Cesar Park was also the venue for the recording of Reggie’s first release, Ode to Vihara. A tune named for Reggie’s daughter. In 1997 Jimmy Maxwell turned the band’s leadership over to Reggie. Now, with a new leader, a new singer, and a new venue, the band needed a new name. They chose, Jazz Effects. That was 18 years ago, with many talented players sitting in over time.
In 2004 the band signed an 8 year contract with the Crown Casino at the Sheraton Hotel adding Panamanian vocalist, Marta Stella Perez for a short stint. Then later releasing another cd in 2005 with Idania Dowman, a vocal favorite in her native Panama and around the world. Jazz Effects performed at 3 of the first 4 Panama Jazz Festivals.
The story of Jazz Effects longevity make the group an institution in Panama. It also makes its’ leader, Reggie Boyce a living legend because he has survived all the complexities of Jazz life. His name should be mentioned along with the greats in Panama Jazz history, like Luis Russell and Victor Boa.
