Francisco Mela

Francisco Mela is a favorite among jazz's elite instrumentalists, including McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano, Kenny Barron, Quincy Jones, John Scofield, Cooper-Moore, William Parker, Ingrid Laubrock, Gary Bartz, Bobby Watson, and Chucho Valdés. He moved to Boston in 2000 and quickly began thereafter at Berklee College of Music. Mela rapidly made a name for himself on the Boston scene, becoming the house drummer at the legendary Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club. It was at Wally’s that Mela began developing a concept for his own band, one that would feature the sounds of modern jazz with the traditional music he grew up with in Cuba.

Fellow Berklee faculty member and world-renowned saxophonist Joe Lovano, heard Mela and was immediately impressed, hiring him shortly after to play in his quartet. Since 2005, Mela has been an integral part of Lovano’s quartet and his new group, Us Five, a two-drummer quintet. Their 2009 Blue Note Records recording, titled Folk Art, was considered by many critics to be Lovano’s most adventurous to date. In 2009, his talent was tapped by jazz legend McCoy Tyner to join his trio. Said Tyner of his new young drummer, “Mela is just a fantastic player. He has his own style and his own sound, which is what I look for in a drummer.”

Mela has released five albums as a leader: Melao, Cirio, Tree of Life, Fe, and MPT Volume 1, affirming Mela’s unique niche in the melting pot that is now New York’s jazz and avant-garde scene.