Aaron Goldberg: "the Cuban thing is going to come up in my life".

Aaron Goldberg walks through Havana. He crosses Fifth Avenue in search of a shirt for the concert he will give in the next few days because, by mistake, his suitcase is still in the United States. He assures that he is no longer a young man, but he is surprised as a boy with the musical richness of the Island before the simple scene of a bread seller playing the flute while waiting to be bought. "Here everyone plays something, or dances or sings," he says. 

It is his third visit to Cuba and, like last year, he is looking forward to sharing the stage with Cuban jazz greats and immersing himself in the festival that fills every January with swing the spaces of the city.

-What have been for you the milestones of your jazz evolution, from the beginnings with Joshua Redman and your solo debut, Turning Point, to the present day?

-Most probably belong to the beginning, when I was really young, like 17 or 18 years old. It was a stage where I went from student to a more professional level. The first one I would say was playing with my second teacher in Boston, Jerry Bergonzi, because that's when I realized that I had reached a level where my teachers wanted me to play with them. They could pick anyone and yet if they picked me it meant that I had reached that level.

"After that I was invited to play with Betty Carter, one of the most famous jazz singers. She was accompanied by many young, ambitious and talented musicians from the jazz scene and suddenly I was surrounded by them and others that I was already famous and even admired. Little by little I accepted that I was entering that scene and that I could be a real jazz musician. At the time, I was in college and spent about four years doing both.

"Then I started with Joshua Redman, who was already famous and playing on big stages for lots and lots of people. This was important to have the experience of improvising and taking risks, alongside someone already very strong, and it gave me the courage and preparation to start my own stuff." 

In later years, Aaron Goldberg shared the stage with some of his idols such as Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Al Foster and Roy Haynes. While he remembers how great it was to record his first records and tour with his own band, for him, the opportunities to play with his idols have been the highlight of his career.

Image taken from the artist's website

-What motivated you to return to Jazz Plaza? How was your experience in the previous edition?

-This festival is already famous in the United States because for so many years Chucho Valés invited excellent American musicians like Roy Hargrove, for example, to play here. I have friends who visited it and came back with many good stories about the quality of the people and the music. For New York jazz musicians, Cuban music is well known and wonderful. I knew that the level of the Cubans is very high, since the level of musical education here is perhaps the best in the world, and this is why I wanted to see for myself how it works and to have this taste of the festival.

"It was wonderful to meet people I didn't know before and they are of the highest level, like Rolando Luna, who is beastly. I heard his concert last year and it was one of the best piano concerts I have ever heard in my life.

"I also enjoyed being able to visit some of the music schools like ENA and ISA. I was inspired by all these students dancing, singing and playing. In my opinion, there are excellent things in my country, but music education is not one of them. I think the U.S. can learn a lot from the Cuban music education system.

Goldberg tells how interesting he found Dayramir González's invitation to play at the 38th edition of Jazz Plaza. He had met him at the ENA in 2006 when he was a student and the idea of coming to Cuba last year came out of the reunion in New York.

"I wasn't expecting to come back so quickly but it made me very happy when Dayramir invited me again. After coming last year I especially wanted to play with Jorge Reyes, who has a wonderful sound and spirit. I listened to some of his concerts in the last edition and he always impressed me. 

"It is an honor to collaborate with him and Oliver Valdes, who is a very talented young man. I'm happy to have this opportunity to blend my American jazz tradition with his experiences, and for this to happen much faster than I expected."

-How do you assess the Cuban jazz scene at present?

-For me there are two Cuban jazz scenes: one inside Cuba and one outside. There are so many excellent Cuban musicians in the United States, Spain, France, I have found them all over the world; even in Japan and China there are Cubans. They are improving and influencing the scenes in those places. When I see someone who plays very well and they are not from that country, they are usually Cuban. 

"Until last year I had not met so many Cuban jazz musicians and I was surprised, above all, by the number of trumpet players. You don't find many trumpet players in New York of this level and here there is a tradition of many who play the trumpet beautifully, which is a very difficult instrument." 

Image taken from the artist's website

-What do you recommend to the new generations of jazz players?

If you really want to be a jazzman it is important, in my opinion, to study not only the traditions of Cuban music, but also our Afro-American tradition, because the language of jazz improvisation is mostly a language of Afro-Americans. It is necessary to immerse yourself in our jazz to then be able to mix it with the Cuban.

"In addition, they should learn the rhythmic language of the swing and although the best way to do this is to go to New York, without that opportunity it is best to learn by ear, through the Internet. I think jazz goes beyond the classical tradition of the score. It's taught that way in many places, but the jazz masters didn't learn that way, they learned by ear. In general, train your ear, listen and imitate the greats of the genre, and then improvise". 

—In recent months, exchanges between Cuban and U.S. artists have become more frequent, representatives of various genres have visited the island. How do you appreciate this exchange and, in the case of jazz, do you think it is important to encourage these encounters between both cultures?

-This festival is doing a good job creating bridges and opportunities, because politically the two countries are quite far apart but musically we are united. It is important to continue to protect this open bridge, independent of politics, because it is an opportunity for Americans to come here to play with Cuban musicians and also to listen to incredible jazz groups.

"I hope, hopefully, we can expand the size of this bridge and, if I can be a part of that, I would be honored. It has to be protected because it can be fragile if politics doesn't improve, and from my perspective, it's always changing. People are close, as Pablo Milanés says, and if we come together as humans politics doesn't matter so much." 

-In your latest productions there are echoes of Brazilian and Haitian music. Have you thought of submerging yourself in some way in Cuban music?

-I am collaborating with musicians like Jorge Reyes and Oliver Valdés, in part, to deepen my own connection with Cuban productions. As a student I've learned little by little over the last year, including with Dayramir, but I'm not Cuban and I'm not going to be able to play Cuban music. I am interested in collaborating with and learning from Cubans, in exploring the possibility of using the influences and spirit of Cuban music in my own jazz language.

"Countries like the United States, Cuba, Brazil and Haiti, we speak almost the same language of melody, rhythm and improvisation, which is not a coincidence; it is the black African music that entered our cultures. That's why I would say that we are like brothers musically and this exchange and influences of one on the other is possible.

"I have already done something related to Cuban music. Like in 2006, I heard a song by Pablo Milanés in a bar, the Song for Latin American UnityI recorded it a few years later, in 2014. Every time I visit countries I let myself be influenced by melodies and rhythms that I find in these countries and I am sure that the Cuban will emerge in my life".