In harmony with community

Weehawken musician creating center for others to learn, love arts

Weehawken resident and musician Giovanni Almonte has high hopes for his career, but they don’t revolve around the images of musicians on television reveling in money and fame.
Though a few years ago he might have had such aspirations, now Almonte – who has played with famed Latin music acts like Grammy Award-winning Alejandro Sanz and Brian Lynch of the funky, Latin alternative group Yerba Buena – would rather share his love of music with as many people as possible and inspire creativity in others.
“I don’t want to be famous, rich, or any of that,” said Almonte. “That’s not why I do music anymore. I just want to be able to keep writing and producing what I love. Whatever that means, whatever that manifests into.”

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“Music and art is a communal thing. You can do it yourself, but it’s not going to feel as good.” – Giovanni Almonte
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What that has most recently manifested into is Almonte’s new album, High Versus Low, an independent production and his first “professional” effort.
He worked with a band to create the bilingual project, which is a modern type of Latin World music – a blend of Afro-Cuban sounds and jazzy rock.

From sax to singer

Almonte’s love of music began at an early age when he would sing and listen to the radio “obsessively.”
He was raised with a natural love of Latin rhythms and musical talent ran in the family – his sister, Julia Acosta, a trumpet player, put together all of the horn arrangements on the album.
He joined the school band in junior high, but Almonte said he spent most of his time watching the band instead of actually playing, because he always got in trouble with the teacher.
Even still, Almonte said he would sleep with his sax and practice all the time, setting his sights on his next musical goals.
As a teenager, Almonte began listening to more aggressive music “in the spirit of teenage angst.”
He quickly started to hear his own rock music ideas in his head, so he taught himself how to play guitar and sought out singers for a band.
“I tried to sing, but I was terrible,” said Almonte. “I had to practice a lot to be able to sound decent, but I like the way I sound now because it’s distinct.”

Creating a community center

Born in Harlem and raised in Jersey City, Almonte returned to the New York metropolitan area a few years ago after traveling throughout the nation and the world.
He was looking for more than a place to lay his head.
“Music and art is a communal thing,” said Almonte. “You can do it yourself, but it’s not going to feel as good.”
A group of musicians he was involved with had the intention of creating a musicians’ community center. When his uncle’s home in Weehawken went up for sale, they decided it was the perfect place.
Almonte and three other musicians have been renovating the home for the last few months and hope that soon they will be able to open it as a place to hold music workshops on Saturdays and provide resources for children.
“We want to make this a house where we can make our own [music] but also where we can teach,” he said.

Promotional tour

Though he’s not much for the glitz of the music scene, Almonte is actually on his own promotional tour right now with appearances on popular Spanish language shows on channels like Univision and Telemundo.
Traveling from Miami to California, Almonte will be back in New York City on Aug. 12 for a performance at the Nuyorican Poets Café in the East Village and also at the end of September for his official CD release party at a location to be announced.
His album is currently available on iTunes, but if your pockets are bare, check out Almonte’s own website where the mp3 version of the album is being offered for free.
“We didn’t want cost to be an obstacle for getting into the music,” said Almonte. “It’s more important to get the music out there than to get the money back.”
For more information, visit www.giovannialmonte.com.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.

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