Alt.Latino: Melissa Aldana and Gonzalo Rubalcaba talk jazz

NPR Music

In this episode of Alt.Latino, Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana and Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba discuss their musical lineages and the de

Key takeaways

• Gonzalo Rubalcaba describes the piano as the heartbeat of Cuban jazz because it can simulate an entire orchestra through rhythm and harmony.
• Melissa Aldana grew up in a 'jazz bubble' in Chile, heavily influenced by her father and grandfather's professional careers.

Main topics

• Jazz history in Cuba
• Chilean jazz lineage

Notable quotes

Si no son hermanos, son primos, no?

Conclusion

The episode provides a profound look at how jazz transcends borders to

Transcript preview

Speaker 7 (0:01) This election season, you can streamline your news intake with Up First. Our team of reporters and editors works overnight, so you can start every morning with three stories you need to know. In short episodes, 12-14 minutes long, to save you time and your sanity. Follow Up First on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (0:26) From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. Okay, we're in the middle of Latin Music Month, which means we're featuring 10 artists from different countries, different cultures, different styles from throughout Latin America at the Tiny Desk. We call it El Tiny. And after the shows, what we've been doing is pulling a few of the artists aside to talk to them about their music, a little bit of history, and maybe even a little bit of life. This week, we're talking jazz. Surprise, surprise. With tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana and pianist Gonzalo Ruacaba. They came in to play some songs from their recently released album Feeling, a re-examination of a Cuban music style that was popular in the 1940s through the 1960s. Speaker 1 (1:27) Melissa Aldana is originally from Chile, which honestly we rarely chat about in jazz circles. It's always fascinating to me to hear how much impact jazz has had in Latin America for decades. And Gonzalo Rubacaba is an icon of Cuban piano. From his earliest days in Cuba back in the 1980s through his time here in the U.S., he has played with so many well-known jazz masters, he himself has become one of those A-list names. Speaker 1 (2:09) We started our conversation talking about Cuba's relationship with jazz. Gosello, let's start with you. Speaker 8 (2:14) Let's talk a little bit about the history of... Jazz and Cuba and the relationship. Si no son hermanos, son primos, no? What was your exposure to jazz? ¿Cuándo escuchaste por la primera vez? When did you first hear it? Speaker 3 (2:35) I was a little kid when I heard jazz music in Cuba. I think we have to say that Cuba has a large jazz tradition and has been involved in many different ways to vinculate jazz to our own style of music. Books said it comes from the beginning of the 20th century, but I think it's coming even before. Some of the Cuban composers of classical music, they were aware of jazz. and they include some codes coming from jazz music and their music. Harmonies, especially harmonies, and probably some melodies, a form of melodies that came from North America, because there was a very intense traffic or transit between Cuba and the United States at that time. Speaker 3 (3:37) My father had some very old recordings at home. I mean, Tommy, Dorsey, Bob Power, also Errol Gardner. Wow. Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Big Ben, Daisy Gillespie. And I heard that when I was probably five or four or five years old. It was not the only music that we used to hear at home. I think the most valuable guide that I have from my family was don't be close to any bad conception about music, but the only thing you have to find is a good level of art and music. It could be classical, it could be jazz, it could be Cuban, any kind. And this is exactly what happened at home. I was able to hear every kind of music, but jazz was really strong. Not only at home, but among the musicians that used to visit my family at home. So, Peruchin, Fran Emilio. Two very, very well-known pianists. Legendary. Exactly. Of course, Bebo Valdez, but also many others. Before the generation that came up in the 60s, the 50s, the 60s, like Chucho, Emiliano, there were many other pianists already with very deep relationship with jazz. Speaker 8 (5:09) My experience has been that most people, music fans, like if they're thinking about Cuba, they're thinking about drums, percussion, conga, batata, everything. But it's the pianist, man. It's the piano. Speaker 8 (5:25) the corazón, the heartbeat of Speaker 3 (5:27) the Cuban jazz scene, man. The piano resumes many aspects of the music, which is not only the melodic part, but also the harmony, but also the rhythm. So something that the instrument itself allows you to convince the people that they are listening the whole orchestra in one instrument, which is not true. But you can find a way to trick that to the people who listen to you playing, especially when you play piano solo. It is true. You can hear the tumbao, what we call tumbao or montuno, and that already contains all the possible elements that you can hear in a big band, in an orchestra coming out of a trumpet section, out of a saxophone section, or out of a rhythm section. So you are able to provoke that illusion that everything is in there. So probably that's the reason why you say that. Speaker 8 (6:30) It is classified as a percussion instrument in the orchestra. It is. Piano. Okay, I'm Speaker 1 (6:36) going Speaker 8 (6:36) to put you on the spot. Can you think of a pianist that you think represents what you're talking about, the rhythmic and the melodic sense? Someone from the past, one of the guys you mentioned, Peruchin, or can you think of a track we could play right Speaker 3 (6:53) now? I have to say my father was one of them that really was a big reference for me. And I think he had a lot coming from Peruchin, too. So Peruchin has that, I don't know how to translate that word in English. We used to say huaperia. Huaperia is an attitude. Attitude. But at the same time, he was really elegant. and his style, I mean, clean. He got everything, you know. He was able to play around the instrument, but at the same time, he was able to develop very deep harmonies. Yeah, Bereshin was probably one of the guys. There was a Guajira, and there was an amazing band behind him with Guillermo Barreto on percussion. I think it was Cachao on bass. Oh, my God. All-stars, man. Yeah, many of them. But really impressive, really impressive. He actually was also very into the concept to bring some American, American songs and play that in a very Cuban way. So that we're talking about the 40s, the 50s. Right. Those guys were already doing that. Mario Balsá did it before in the 30s. Yeah, in the 30s. Speaker 1 (9:09) Between Speaker 3 (9:09) the 30s and the 40s. So many people that we never mentioned that they create that basement to do what we're doing right now. Right. So we talked Speaker 8 (9:22) about the idea of, like I said, como dije, like if they weren't hermanos, they were primos, jazz and Cuban music for a long, long time. But Melissa, there is probably not as much of a connection or a tradition with jazz Speaker 5 (9:42) in Chile. But what's fascinating to me is that your dad was a musician. Right? A jazz musician. So that's Speaker 2 (9:49) how Speaker 5 (9:49) you heard it. Speaker 2 (9:50) What Speaker 5 (9:51) was that like? I mean, talk to us about that. Speaker 2 (9:54)