After he impressed Quincey Jones in the finals of the competition for young pianists on Monterey Jazz Festival, Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez (1985) immediately got the offer that is not to be refused – to come to the United States and begin the collaboration with the famous producer. Following the successful debut on the leading international festivals, under Jones’s tutelage, he signed the contract with the label Mack Avenue, which so far released his three albums. In the domain of jazz piano, Alfredo is a great follower of a virtuoso expression of Chucho Valdes and Michel Camilo. Alfredo Rodriguez with his Trio will be guest of 32nd Belgrade Jazz Festival, on October 26th (9PM) at Belgrade Youth Center (Dom omladine Beograda)
Alfredo Rodriguez: My father is a famous singer and composer from Cuba, so I grew up listening to a lot of his music, which is influenced by Cuba and various styles from around the world. I was always involved in music and would go with my father to his rehearsals, so I imitated what he and his band were doing. Some of his band mates told him that I had an aptitude to be a musician, so my dad brought me to The Classical School of Music in Havana at age 7. Then, I got into jazz around the age of 12 because of improve; it captured me from the beginning when I first got Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert CD from my uncle. After I heard the CD, it changed my life because it opened my eyes to a whole new world of style. I was excited by the fact that you could sit at the piano and play anything that comes to your mind. I used to solely play classical, but after that moment, my whole outlook on music completely changed.
In 2006 you were selected as one of the twelve pianists from around the world to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival, where music producer Quincy Jones noticed you and offered to work with him. How this collaboration shaped your creative work? Have you thought about in which direction your artistic development would have been moving, if that had not happened then?
Alfredo Rodriguez: Quincy Jones has been a big part of my career and he has greatly influenced my musical career and me. I am happy to be on his side and learn from a person I admire so much. I just feel very honored to have a mentor like Quincy Jones and to know that he has a positive opinion of me. It’s so important for people to have mentors and guides to help point you in the right direction, so I just feel fortunate to be a part of Quincy Jones Productions and to be with Quincy. I would still be doing music even if I hadn’t met him, but it would be in a much different capacity. I’m honored to be with him and wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Ten years later, this summer, you performed at Montreux Jazz Festival – what is the feeling now to play at the same place again as a musician with an impressive career in jazz?
Alfredo Rodriguez: It was so great to be back to where it all began. It was crazy to play at the same place that my international career started exactly ten years ago. I remember going to Montreux for the first time and having the opportunity to play my original music for Quincy and so many other musicians I had admired over the years. It was a very special moment that I’ll never forget, so coming back was a great reminder of all that’s happened since then. It marked the 10-‐year anniversary of my international career, genuine friendship, and the creation of music together. It’s always so important to reflect where we came from, and to see how far I’ve come in these past years was a truly humbling experience.
In 2007, you founded the Alfredo Rodriguez Trio – can you name, from personal perspective, the greatest achievements with this band so far?
Alfredo Rodriguez: We actually started when we were back in high school in Cuba, so we’ve been playing together for many years. I honestly can say that our greatest achievement is being able to do what we love for a living. Not everyone can say that they love their job, let alone get to travel while they do it. It makes us all so happy and in my opinion, that’s what everyone should be looking to achieve. Never stop discovering what makes you happy.
You left Cuba in 2009 and moved to United States to continue your development as a musician – how much your life and artistic career have changed since then?
Alfredo Rodriguez: My future dreams and goals are to keep learning as much as I can. I am composing new music for a new upcoming album, practicing a lot and am learning as much as I can along the way. I’m always exploring more and more what it means to be a global musician. Once I got to LA, my eyes were opened to many different cultures and realized that people in the U.S. have family from all over the world. Since my family is all from Cuba, I never had the opportunity to travel and meet other cultures. Now, I’m always trying to develop and become a better musician daily. My goal is to continuously improve all of the time because the world is so big and there’s so much to learn from it. I like to think of it as my music is growing up just as I am also growing up as a human being.
In March this year, you released your third album “Tocororo” – please, tell us more about it.
Alfredo Rodriguez: The Tocororo is the national bird of Cuba, and if caged, the bird dies of sadness, reflecting not only the desire for freedom, but the necessity of it. Just as the Tocororo needs room to fly, my music needed the platform and opportunity to be heard by more people than would otherwise have been touched if I stayed in Cuba. Because of its many restrictions, Cuba was my cage and it didn’t allow me to spread my wings and do what I love on a larger scale. So this album is a personification of the people of Cuba as well as a representation of freedom, travel and cross-‐pollination of cultures. The thing that really appeals to me is the fact that we all just happen to be born in different countries and from different cultures but we are all coming from the same place; human beings are all connected in some way or another so I reflect that in my music. My collaborations are my way of fighting for unity. I’m open to learning from cultures and anything in life so I love to bring everything together to create an outward expression of unity. It’s all about learning from different people and cultures.
You performed at many jazz festivals around the world, and soon you will perform in Serbia, at the opening of 32nd Belgrade Jazz Festival, under the slogan “Planet Jazz” – how do you see jazz music around the Globe nowadays?
Alfredo Rodriguez: I see jazz around the globe as one amazing community. I think now, more than ever before, we have the ability to connect with each other from any part of the world. I absolutely love traveling and having the opportunity to meet new people; being able to share our personalities and music is a beautiful thing. You can learn from and bring what you know into this gigantic melting pot that is jazz.
Are you familiar with some jazz (or other) musicians from Serbia? What do you know about our country?
Alfredo Rodriguez: To be honest, I’ve never been, so I don’t know much about Serbia’s music scene and I can’t think of any musicians, but I’m so excited to meet you all and learn about your culture!
What program are you preparing for the audience at Belgrade Jazz Festival?
Alfredo Rodriguez: Drummer, Michael Olivera, Guitarist/Bassist, Munir Hossn and I are going to be playing music from my most recent album, Tocororo. It’s going to be a lot of fun! Whenever we play together it’s like jamming with my brothers; we get so into it and also bring music from Cuba that I grew up listening to. We’ve been playing with each other for many, many years and we love performing in the moment so it’ll be a mix of what we’ve done in the past and some spontaneity!
Besides music, what are you occupations in life? Do you have any hobbies?
Alfredo Rodriguez: To be honest, I guess playing soccer is my main hobby. I love playing sports in general but I just like to play soccer. I think that sports, like music, are very influenced by movement. Any athlete needs to work on movement so I like to see how people create those movements, which help me to create music as a result. I just like sports, reading, and I don’t know, everything!
