Roberto Carcassés

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Roberto "Robertico" Julio Carcassés Colón (born May 19, 1972 in Havana ) is a Cuban jazz pianist and film composer . The leader of the group Interactivo is considered one of the most prominent musicians and arrangers in Cuba at the moment. In September 2013, he received a comprehensive performance ban in Cuba, which was lifted four days later.

Live and act

Carcassés is the son of Afrojazz pioneer Bobby Carcassés . He played the piano at a young age and studied percussion at the Escuela Nacional de Arte until 1991 , where he received piano lessons as a basis for understanding composition. From 1992 to 1995 he toured Latin America and Europe as a pianist with Santiago Feliú. In 1994 he performed for the first time at the Havana Jazz Plaza Festival founded by his father . Between 1998 and 1999 he toured the United States with the Afro-Cuban jazz ensemble Columna B , with whom he recorded the album Twisted Noon . Then he returned to Cuba, where he recorded his album Invitation (2000) with "El Indio" and saxophonists César López and Alfred Thompson from Irakere . In the same year he worked as a producer and arranger on albums such as Air of Havana by Selma Reis and Trampas Del Tiempo by Gema Y Pavel.

In 2001, Carcassé brought together talents of different styles such as Telmary Díaz, Francis del Río, Yusa and William Vivanco and played with them in his group Interactivo , which later successfully went on tour. The band's first album, Goza Pepillo , won the 2006 Cubadisco Awards for Best Album. He has performed at international festivals such as the Istanbul International Jazz Festival (2003), the Festival de Jazz de San Sebastián and Jazz à Vienne . He also worked with musicians such as Chucho Valdés , Changuito , Wynton Marsalis , George Benson and Gonzalo Rubalcaba . He can be heard on albums by Yosvany Terry & Columna B and Rebeca Vallejo.

Carcassé also wrote film music , for example for the feature film Violetas (México), but also songs for the films Cuarteto de La Habana (Spain) and New Rose Hotel (USA).

In a live concert broadcast on Cuban television with his band Interactivo on September 12, 2013, he changed the text of a song and sang: "Free access to information so that I can form my own opinion"; He also called for the president to be elected directly, but also for an end to Cuba's political blockade. On the following day, the cultural authorities issued a comprehensive and unlimited ban on him from appearing. The regime-critical Havana Times , which operates from Nicaragua, ran the headline "Cuban bandleader commits musical suicide". After numerous protests, also by national and international artists who tended to be more pro-government, such as the songwriter Silvio Rodríguez or the Puerto Rican hip-hop band Calle 13 , the government lifted the ban on September 17, 2013.

Discographic notes

  • Jazz Timbero (1998, with his father, Bobby Carcassés)
  • Matizar (2009)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roberto Carcassés at Allmusic (English)
  2. ^ A b Cuba imposes a ban on jazz musicians , Die Welt , September 18, 2013
  3. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, September 20, 2013)
  4. ↑ El régimen sanciona 'indefinidamente' a Robertico Carcassés, in: Diario de Cuba of September 15, 2013, accessed on December 22, 2014 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Silvio Rodríguez: Puntualizando , Segunda Cita, personal blog of Silvio Rodríguez from September 17, 2013
  6. ↑ Creemos en la Revolución pero no creemos en la CENSURA! No le cancelen mas conciertos a Roberto Carcassés en Cuba! , Tweet from Residente / Calle13 of September 16, 2013
  7. ↑ Carta abierta al Gobierno de la hermana República de Cuba , Open letter from Visitante / Calle 13 to the Cuban government of September 16, 2013
  8. ^ Circles Robinson: Punishment on Cuban Musician Lifted , Havana Times, September 17, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Carcassés, Roberto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carcassés Colón, Roberto Julio (full name); Robertico (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban jazz pianist and film composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Havana