Tumi Cuban and Latin American Music

Jazz Timbero is an apt description of not only this album but of all of Bobby Carcassés's work. Whereas in the past he has been popularly known as the perfect "showman" and entertainer, Bobby is now considered the ultimate guru of Afro Cuban jazz, offering inspiration to the up and coming generation of new Cuban jazz musicians as many of the best new talents have started their careers playing with Bobby's orquestra.

He was born on August 29th 1938 in Kingston Jamaica , where his Cuban grandfather worked as a diplomat. Upon moving to Villa Clara in Cuba at the age of four, Bobby grew up surrounded by Cuban rhythms, listening to Beny Moré, Conjunto Casino and Roberto Faz. He also acquired a love for an eclectic spectrum of music from the opera star Enrico Carusso and Mexico's enigmatic Jorge Negrete to the Jazz supremos Sarah Vaghan, Buddy Rich and Stan Getz among others. By the 1950s he was involved with some of the best vocal quartets in Cuba and whilst playing for many years at the Tropicana, the very centre of Cuban jazz at the time, he began to experiment with bebop and scat vocals. In the '60s he travelled to Europe, spending a year in Paris where he played with the legendary Kenny Clarke and Bud Powell, amongst others.

Upon returning to Cuba he worked in the Teatro Musical where he met three of the future founders of legendary Irakere: Chucho Valdés, Carlos Emilio Morales and Paquito D'Rivera. Over the next 10 years he played in the best night clubs in Havana as well as acting in Cuban cinema, TV and essentially starting to form his own jazz group.

In 1980 he organised the first Jazz Plaza Festival in Havana, involving the great stars of Jazz such as Dizzie Gillespie, Ronnie Scott, Charlie Haden, Airto Moreira, Tania María, Steve Coleman and many others. Year after year his own group were the focal point in these festivals. He travelled to Canada, England, France and the USA where he performed with Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Patato Váldes and many other greats from the Latin Jazz scene.

Jazz Timbero is both a projection of Bobby's musical personality and a complex historical record of the different elements of Cuban music, combined along the way with jazz, blues and world music. The power of Bobby's dynamic personality shows in his versatility. Beginning as a rumbero he had to master the three elements of guaguanco: song; dance and percussion, whilst his involvement in jazz taught him to play countless instruments - piano, bass, fliscorno or fugelhorn, as well as writing his own pieces. The result of a lifetime involvement in sport and yoga are shown in the bizarre combination of raw energy and spiritual equilibrium; his greatest sporting achievement is that of national high jump champion in 1969. He is also a lo er of painting, drawing and literature and has exhibited his own work on many occasions.

The word Timba has numerous meanings in Cuba; from a fiesta to a way of saying if something is right or not: "La timba está buena, o está mala". It was originally used to refer to a meeting dedicated to "al juego ilícito" (an illegal game). Cuban salsa has been christened as timba by both the musicians themselves and the listening public. This new music renews our rhythms and when mixed with jazz produces something quite unique.

The degree of respect Bobby has by his contemporaries is shown by the list of great musicians who took part in this recording: The world famous Chucho Valdés director of Irakere and the great percussionist José Luis Quintana (Changuito) - master of the pailas, congas and batería, who revolutionised Cuban rhythm in Juan Formel's group Los Van Van. Other soloists include César López (alto sax and ex-member of Irakere), the brilliant trumpeter Mario "El Indio" Félix, the more introspective and lyrical Julito Padrón (Afrojazz), the versatile Javier Salva (soprano and baritone sax), Elmer Ferrer and Norberto Rodríguez (guitarists) and the pianists and composers Olivio Pino (AfroJazz) and Roberto Julio Carcassés (director of the group "Columna B" and Bobby's son).

But without a doubt, the connecting thread of this recording is Bobby's voice with his electrifying use of guaguancó, rumbero improvisations and scat vocals. Bobby is surrounded by a tradition of Caribbean singers who, within a son, guaracha or bolero format integrating other influences such as mambo or guaguancó. The most famous example is Beny Moré, but Bobby also remembers Fransisco Fellove in the song Mango Mangüé. Towards the end of the '40s Fellove created a style of singing known as scat which Bobby has developed to an astounding degree. Although not commonly practised in Cuba, this album features two scat singers: Lázaro Morua (with a heavy soul influence) in "Quiero que Comprendas" and William Torres.

Jazz Timbero is a declaration of principles: a tribute to Cuban rhythms and music and above all to the people of New York who have kept these elements alive and thriving throughout the world. Jazz Timbero offers us music to renew our vitality, our smile and brings us a deeply emotive and sweet Caribbean flavour. Under the direction of the great Bobby Carcassés, it maintains an equilibrium of diverse tensions thanks to the concentration and relaxation offered by the artist's practice of yoga, an exciting fusion of music through his extensive knowledge of music and a distinct sound formed by many years of performing, touring and producing live and recorded works. Bobby is an ancestral musician whose roots could be in Nigeria, Dahomey or Andalucia, but who in fact comes from a long line starting from Havana to New York, possibly passing through Tibet along the way.

Bobby and Mo Fini (Tumi Music Founder and Director) at this years Cubadisco Music nominations ceremony. His album 'Jazz Timbero' on Tumi Music was nominated in 5 different categories including, Best Production and Best Record.

Dec	FEB	Apr
	04
2003	2005	2006