Interacting with Roberto Carcaséss & Carlos Sarduy

Act One - Roberto Carcassés, The keys to the new Revolution

This summer I met in Barcelona with Roberto Carcassés (Havana, 1972), the talented Cuban pianist, composer, and band director. Roberto is an amazing musician who has worked for almost two decades as a “mecenas” in Cuban Music, sponsoring young musicians from Jazz and other popular music genres. His project Interactivo has transcended bounds to become part of Cuba’s contemporary music culture.

Carlos Sarduy, me and Roberto Carcassés, Barcelona 2019.
Photo by @Evel Gonzalez

Carlito's Way

Carlos Sarduy (Havana, 1985) is Barcelona-based, but he was born in Guanabacoa and raised in the Alamar neighbourhood of East Havana. The son of a trumpet player, he was already attached to a trumpet before mastering the balance to walk. At just four years old, he was training his lungs by blowing the trumpet.

At the age of 16 in 2001, Carlos Sarduy was already awarded the “JOJAZZ” Prize, an important Cuban music talent contest. Soon, the Master Pianist Chucho Valdés and other remarkable musicians laid eyes on him. He recorded his first solo album when he was just 20 years old. This was an achievement because in Cuba, (due to the economic situation) to pass all the filters for the approval of a solo record deal is hard, even for seasoned musicians. By 2016, Carlos Sarduy had won a Grammy for the album Irakere 40 with Chucho Valdés.

I first saw him playing live in 2018, as a guest of the Cuban Musician and Producer Alain Perez during his performance at the Sala Apolo in Barcelona.

Carlitos Sarduy is praised among fellow musicians for his charisma on stage and his versatility. His playing combines a melodic, sensitive discourse with a deep knowledge of his Afro-Cuban roots, maintaining a refined exploration of styles from the World Music scene. During his young career, he has worked with great artists, such as Chucho y Bebo Valdés, Esperanza Spalding, Steve Coleman, David Murray, and Buika. The list for sure will expand.

This summer, Roberto Carcassés and Carlos Sarduy got together to play a series of concerts in different venues in Barcelona. The concerts were hosted in venues like the Jamboree Jazz Club, Marula Cafe, as well as the roof of the emblematic Gaudi’s building – La Pedrera. I was lucky enough to photo-document some of those performances.

As I was shooting my pictures, I had the privilege to witness some of their rehearsals, and I was amazed by the incredible skill of these musicians to integrate, in such a fast, “easy”, and solid way, the arrangements of the material they were about to perform in a few hours. I was also impressed by the mastery with which Sarduy was able to translate and transmit his musical ideas.

I attended two of the concerts and those were wonderful experiences where everyone could feel the musical chemistry between these two friends, as well as the respect they feel for each other..! The rest of the musicians in the band flew with them in an eclectic Latin Jazz concert tinted with the sonic results of their musical explorations and findings. I’m looking forward to checking out their next reunion because I know it will be different. With these guys, anything is possible!⊛