The brassy adventures of Luis Eric Gonzalez

Latin Beat Magazine, Oct, 2003 by Luis Tamargo

Since the mid-1990s, the L.A. Latin music scene has been strengthened with the arrival of multiple young (and not-so-young) Cuban players, including but not limited to various talented bassists (Carlitos del Puerto, Edgar Hernández, Rigoberto López), several gifted trap drummers/percussionists (Jimmy Branly, Coky García, Raúl Pineda) and the subject of the following interview: The imaginative 36-year old trumpeter/composer/arranger Luis Eric González, co-founder of the newly inaugurated Bayaló, a youthful timba-oriented band characterized by its heavy brass attack, multicultural sounds, and entirely original repertoire ...

LUIS TAMARGO: Where were you born?

LUIS ERIC GONZALEZ: In the city of Matanzas, under the sign of Libra, although my entire family hails from Bolondrón, the hometown of Barbarito Diez. My family moved to Havana when I was only a year old, so I was raised in the Cuban capital.

LT: Were you the first musician in your family?

LEG: Yes. I started out with the elementary school band, playing marches with the side drum, before I switched to the trumpet.

LT: Which trumpeters do you regard as your main formative influences?

LEG: Arturo Sandoval, Jorge Varona, Freddie Hubbard, Maynard Ferguson, and Félix Chapottín, the latter of whom bad a very distinctive improvising style. I attended Havana's Amadeo Roldán Conservatory for eight years (1980-1988). After I graduated from that school as a trumpet teacher, I was sent to work in that capacity to Santa Clara's Escuela de Artes. During my one-year tenure at said boarding school, I got to meet Santa Clara's top players, including the trumpeter Manuel Machado and the trap drummer/percussionist nicknamed El Peje. In fact, I had the opportunity to play with Santa Clara's Banda de Conciertos and with a very progressive group called Raices Nuevas, before I was drafted into the military service for three years. Afterwards, I returned to Havana, where I was featured on a few documentary soundtracks and joined Conjunto Rumbavana's four-trumpet section for a few months.

LT: What happened after Rumbavana?

LEG: I spent a couple of years with vocalist Xiomara Leugart's sextet, with whom I toured México and Spain. Xiomara had a very beautiful voice, and we were playing a sort of modern trova arranged by pianist Omar Sosa.

LT: What happened after Xiomara?

LEG: I worked with Paulito y su Elite for about a year and traveled to Spain with a group led by guitarist Octavio Cotán. I also performed with the vocal quartet Las D'Aida for about a month, back in 1993, when I had the honor of playing alongside the great timbalero Amadito Valdés.

LT: Like many other Cuban musicians throughout the world, you were eventually allowed to work abroad in an officially approved "velvet exile," as long as the Castroite regime received a significant portion of your earnings.

LEG: Exactly. Along with another trumpeter, a trombonist and a vocalist, I traveled to Colombia to join a group formerly associated with Albita. As a matter of fact, I arrived in Colombia on the same day that Pablo Escobar was killed: December 3, 1993. Sooner than later, I was recruited by Jairo Varela to work with his Grupo Niche, with whom I spent almost four years. There came a time, however, when I was ready to move on, to explore jazz and other kinds of music. In 1997, I came to the U.S., where I have performed and/or recorded with Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Cachao, Alex Acuña, Tolú, José Rizo's Jazz On The Latin Side All-Stars, Raúl Malo, Ricky Martin, Cuba L.A., Lou Bega, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves, Yari Moré, etc. I also played trumpet alongside Terrence Blanchard on the soundtrack of "Original Sin," a film protagonized by Antonio Banderas.

LT: Could you define the musical essence of Bayaló?

LEG: It's a mixture of everything imaginable--Cuban music, salsa, R&B, hip-hop, pop. I personally elaborated all of the arrangements with the intention of taking this music to new heights. We're trying to make music that will appeal to everyone, that everyone could identity with.

LT: I noticed that Bayaló's first self-produced recording features not one but three vocalists.

LEG: Yes. My partner Carlitos Bustamante (Bayaló's co-leader) raps, Carlos Guerrero (formerly with Grupo Niche) handles the soneos, and Lean Branly is mostly assigned to the R&B-style vocals, although there are some tunes in which all of them participate. Bayaló is also comprised of Rigoberto López (basa), Brian Velazco (piano), Jimmy Branly (timbal), Joey de León (tumbadoras), Fauricio Garzola (sax), Francisco Torres (trombone), Arturo Solar (trumpet), and Alejandro Blanco (guitar). In addition, our recording debut was reinforced with three special guests--tumbador Robert Quintero (of Timbalaye fame), pianist Alberto Salas, and vocalist Fernando Vargas.