2008 Madison World Music Festival
Irrepressible jazz
Irrepressible jazz
Maraca hasn’t played in Madison since 2003 when he played at the Barrymore Theater. When the U.S. placed harsh new restrictions on Cuba, it made it
almost impossible for Cuban musicians to get visas to perform in the U.S. So Maraca has a Cuban band that he tours with in Europe, Latin America and
Canada and a U.S. band that he uses when touring the United States.
It was difficult for Maraca when he was nominated for a Best Salsa Album Grammy in 2003. “My visa was so delayed that I couldn’t get to the ceremony
in Madison Square Garden,” Maraca said. “Two weeks after the ceremony, I was given the visa. Obviously the U.S. interest section in Havana didn’t want me
to attend the ceremony. Everything changed.”
Maraca is very disturbed by these restrictions to the interchange of jazz artists and other performing artists. It is the continuous evolution and fusion of
different elements into jazz that give it its life and energy. The restrictions hurt everyone involved.
“The musical interchange is important,” Maraca emphasized. “It affected everyone. It affected American music itself. For example when Chano Pozo,
the Cuban conga player who was the pioneer of Latin jazz in the U.S., met Dizzy Gillespie, they both created the beginning of Latin jazz. And the famous
song Manteca, the most famous song of jazz all over the world, would not have happened if they would have experienced an embargo between Cuba and
the U.S. So this exchange — this fusion — between the two musical traditions, the American and the Cuban, has been historical. And now it isn’t possible
anymore. This is a cultural tragedy provoked by politics.”
But while the politics has stifled the music, Maraca feels that the music is more powerful than politics. “Sometimes we can have people who are
political enemies, coming together and meeting at a show and experiencing the emotions and exchanging the emotion with us,” Maraca explained. “And
what might be forbidden to say in politics you might be able to say it with music. And what one feels and what the musicians can communicate to the
audience, sometimes you can just communicate with politicians. But there are also musicians who are also specialized in doing political music. That is not
true in my case. I am not interested in doing politics in my music.”
And in Maraca’s eyes, the music is almost something otherworldly. “It’s still the music of our world, of course,” Maraca said. “It’s not extraterrestrial. And it
is a world full of wars, a lot of ambitions, but also good things including love. We think we are here to bring love to people. And we hope people will lose their
stress when they listen to us. This is an ‘anti-stress’ music that we bring with us. Or we might provoke a stress with the music, a positive one, of course. Maybe
we will invoke positive cholesterol and good pressure and good feelings for everyone. We like to see people dancing and being happy with our music.”
There will be new music when Maraca appears at the Wisconsin Union. He has just released a new CD, “… Lo Que Quiero Es Fiesta!!!”. However, there
will also be some of the old standards that people heard back in 2003. “Yes my music has been evolving and I made some investigation that included all the
fusions and all the genres of my music,” Maraca said. “It is being updated in many aspects. It’s like the antivirus of computers. You have to update them if you
want them to be effective.”
Maraca urged Madisonians to come here the music and dance. “We always bring something new,” Maraca said. “We are always young in our music.”
Maraca like his music, is irrepressible.
almost impossible for Cuban musicians to get visas to perform in the U.S. So Maraca has a Cuban band that he tours with in Europe, Latin America and
Canada and a U.S. band that he uses when touring the United States.
It was difficult for Maraca when he was nominated for a Best Salsa Album Grammy in 2003. “My visa was so delayed that I couldn’t get to the ceremony
in Madison Square Garden,” Maraca said. “Two weeks after the ceremony, I was given the visa. Obviously the U.S. interest section in Havana didn’t want me
to attend the ceremony. Everything changed.”
Maraca is very disturbed by these restrictions to the interchange of jazz artists and other performing artists. It is the continuous evolution and fusion of
different elements into jazz that give it its life and energy. The restrictions hurt everyone involved.
“The musical interchange is important,” Maraca emphasized. “It affected everyone. It affected American music itself. For example when Chano Pozo,
the Cuban conga player who was the pioneer of Latin jazz in the U.S., met Dizzy Gillespie, they both created the beginning of Latin jazz. And the famous
song Manteca, the most famous song of jazz all over the world, would not have happened if they would have experienced an embargo between Cuba and
the U.S. So this exchange — this fusion — between the two musical traditions, the American and the Cuban, has been historical. And now it isn’t possible
anymore. This is a cultural tragedy provoked by politics.”
But while the politics has stifled the music, Maraca feels that the music is more powerful than politics. “Sometimes we can have people who are
political enemies, coming together and meeting at a show and experiencing the emotions and exchanging the emotion with us,” Maraca explained. “And
what might be forbidden to say in politics you might be able to say it with music. And what one feels and what the musicians can communicate to the
audience, sometimes you can just communicate with politicians. But there are also musicians who are also specialized in doing political music. That is not
true in my case. I am not interested in doing politics in my music.”
And in Maraca’s eyes, the music is almost something otherworldly. “It’s still the music of our world, of course,” Maraca said. “It’s not extraterrestrial. And it
is a world full of wars, a lot of ambitions, but also good things including love. We think we are here to bring love to people. And we hope people will lose their
stress when they listen to us. This is an ‘anti-stress’ music that we bring with us. Or we might provoke a stress with the music, a positive one, of course. Maybe
we will invoke positive cholesterol and good pressure and good feelings for everyone. We like to see people dancing and being happy with our music.”
There will be new music when Maraca appears at the Wisconsin Union. He has just released a new CD, “… Lo Que Quiero Es Fiesta!!!”. However, there
will also be some of the old standards that people heard back in 2003. “Yes my music has been evolving and I made some investigation that included all the
fusions and all the genres of my music,” Maraca said. “It is being updated in many aspects. It’s like the antivirus of computers. You have to update them if you
want them to be effective.”
Maraca urged Madisonians to come here the music and dance. “We always bring something new,” Maraca said. “We are always young in our music.”
Maraca like his music, is irrepressible.
By Jonathan Gramling
Cuba is a melting pot of music that serves up tasteful delicacies for the body and soul. “Cuban music is so
wide open to fusion,” said Orlando “Maraca” Valle through his interpreter, manager and wife Céline Chauveau. “It’
s like the jambalaya rice from New Orleans.” Maraca will be appearing at the Madison World Music Festival on
September 13 at the Wisconsin Union.
While Cuban music is a wonderful concoction that mixes the distinguishable sounds of horns, congas, flutes
and other instruments that blend together into a pulsing rhythm that truly moves the body and soul, it is a dish
that is only created in Cuba and then savored the world over.
“If you really want to sound Cuban, I really feel strongly that you must be born in Cuba,” Maraca said. “So I
am very close to my roots. And my race is a kind of mixture. In Cuba, there’s a lot of mixture between the African
people, the Spanish people and the Chinese.”
While he was first demure about describing his music saying “Who enjoys the bread is not the baker, but the
one who tastes it,” he later talked about what makes it click. “It’s a high-energy music, high-energy show because
we come from Cuba and people are very gifted,” Maraca said. “Their biorhythm is in it. And our music is actually
very typical for Cuba.”
Cuba is a melting pot of music that serves up tasteful delicacies for the body and soul. “Cuban music is so
wide open to fusion,” said Orlando “Maraca” Valle through his interpreter, manager and wife Céline Chauveau. “It’
s like the jambalaya rice from New Orleans.” Maraca will be appearing at the Madison World Music Festival on
September 13 at the Wisconsin Union.
While Cuban music is a wonderful concoction that mixes the distinguishable sounds of horns, congas, flutes
and other instruments that blend together into a pulsing rhythm that truly moves the body and soul, it is a dish
that is only created in Cuba and then savored the world over.
“If you really want to sound Cuban, I really feel strongly that you must be born in Cuba,” Maraca said. “So I
am very close to my roots. And my race is a kind of mixture. In Cuba, there’s a lot of mixture between the African
people, the Spanish people and the Chinese.”
While he was first demure about describing his music saying “Who enjoys the bread is not the baker, but the
one who tastes it,” he later talked about what makes it click. “It’s a high-energy music, high-energy show because
we come from Cuba and people are very gifted,” Maraca said. “Their biorhythm is in it. And our music is actually
very typical for Cuba.”
Maraca and his band will be playing at the
Wisconsin Union as a part of the World
Music Festival on September 13.
Wisconsin Union as a part of the World
Music Festival on September 13.