How Ontario Jane Became Havana Juana - Artículo Breve

Latin Beat Magazine, April, 2000 by Luis Tamargo

There are only a handful of prominent female instrumentalists in the realm of Latin jazz, and most of them (i.e Tania Maria, Eliane Elias, Bellita, Rebeca Mauleón) happen to be pianists. Therefore, one could argue that the Toranto-born soprano saxophonist/flutist Jane Bunnett is an exception to the rule. She is also, of course, the most aplatanada(*) native of Canada that I have ever met (a fact which motivated Nat Chediak to comment not too long ago: "Instead of Jane, we should be calling her Juana."

Along with her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer, Bunnett formed the groundbreaking group Spirits of Havana (named after her landmark Denon debut) in the early 1990s. Needless to say, her subsequent recordings for Justin Time, World Pacific, Naxos and Blue Note have reflected her eye-opening musical experiences north and south of Key West. As Havana Juana explains it: "When you feel like you're discovering something in its pure form...it's really a beautiful thing." Such great passion for uncorrupted artistic traditions was felt throughout the following conversation...

Luis Tamargo: When did you first encounter Cuban music?

Jane Bunnett: It happened in 1982, when I was vacationing in Santiago (de Cuba). It was a rather explosive encounter.

LT: On the CD "The Cuban Piano Masters" (World Pacific, 1996), you plunged into uncharted musical territory by showcasing the inherent thirst for Cuban classical forms.

JB: What we tried to do was to expose the European aspect of Cuban music, the harmonic dimensions.

LT: "Inolvidable" is certainly the best tune included in your Blue Note CD "Chamalongo" (1998). It features the late vocalist Mercedita Valdés and it is, as far as I am concerned, one of the most gorgeous boleros ever recorded. What is the story behind it?

JB: This happened after Guillermo Barreto (Mercedita's husband) died. We were traveling by taxi through the streets of Havana and we heard a group rehearsing, so we immediately said, "Stop the car!" It turned out to be Richard Egües' brand new group, featuring Mercedita (his previous group had entirely defected in Mexico). Guillermo had died a couple of weeks before I heard Mercedita singing "Inolvidable" for the first time, at that particular rehearsal. She wept at the end and said, That was Guillermo's favorite piece." Almost everyone else cried as well, including Larry (Cramer) and I. We just knew what she was singing about. It was a very emotional moment.

LT: Mercedita was the victim of what Guillermo defined once as "geographic fatalism." Tragically, she never received the international recognition that she deserved as one of the greatest female Latin vocalists of all time.

JB: I feel very bitter about that. She really paid her dues and didn't get the respect she deserved. She was able to sing anything!

LT: I understand that you and your husband once raised $10,000 in Canada to send technicians to Cuba to repair dilapidated Soviet-era instruments.

JB: Yes, we do it every year. This year we went to a conservatory in Camagüey and another in Santiago. Their instruments are just falling apart! Fourteen or fifteen students share one flute, and the flute is not in very good condition... They don't even have the basic supplies that we take for granted. With the amount of money that we raise, we're able to buy new instruments and take technicians to repair the old ones.

LT: Your new recording "Ritmo and Soul" will be released by May of the year 2000.

JB: It will highlight a new singer with incredible gospel roots. He is a real choir boy (Laughter). He hooks up with the Cuban guys. The Cubans just love him. The new disc also features Pancho Quinto and three batá players, along with our regular ensemble (Spirits of Havana).

Discography:

1991, Spirits of Havana (Denon)

1993, The Cuban Piano Masters (World Pacific)

1995, Rendez-vous Brazil/Cuba (Justin Time)

1996, Havana Flute Summit (Naxos)

1996, Chamalongo (Blue Note)

* Aplatanado(a): a foreigner who has assimilated Cuban customs.