
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. |
Copyright
© 2001 Tumi Music Limited, http://www.tumimusic.com