“With unbridled freedom, he jams with potent montunos and high-energy timba to solos that can melt snow off the sidewalk.” -- Jesse “Chuy” Varela, Latin Beat Magazine

Photo by Andrea Canter

Most Twin Cities’ jazz fans are already familiar with the blistering Cuban piano grooves of Nachito Herrera. Since his arrival in Minnesota four years ago, Herrera has been wowing audiences, students, and fellow musicians with monster technique, bottomless energy, and infectious enthusiasm for his homeland and its eclectic rhythms. His live recording with his first local band, Puro Cubano, generated a lot of hot ink, prompting City Pages critic Britt Robson to note that “the fact that a magnificent, south-of-the-border pianist like Herrera purposefully transplanted himself to our frozen tundra was the best local music news of 2002. And Live at the Dakota is proof of that fact.” In the past year, Herrera has often joined forces with a group of master Afro-Cuban musicians currently working throughout the U.S. but who find their way to Minnesota for a “Cuban All Stars” gig at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis. Nachito and company took their sizzling groove into the studio last summer, and the result—Bembé en mi Casa (FM Music)—was released locally last fall. With varying combinations of collaborators, including daughter Mirdalys on vocals, Nachito Herrera continues his almost-monthly series of Bembés, and you can join the party at the Dakota this weekend, August 26-27.

Nachito

How did this phenomenon of rhumba, son, and bolero end up in the American northland? Ignacio “Nachito” Herrera was born in the small Cuban town of Villa Clara, moving to Artemisa where he and his family lived until he was seven. Although both parents were pianists, Herrera’s first love was drums. However, the pull of the piano won out: "I remember when I was like six years old, my mother asked me if I wanted to be a piano player, and I said yes, this is the only thing I want." Soon his family moved to Havana to better support young Nachito’s musical studies.

"I am very lucky because my teacher (Jorge Gomez Labrana), he wasn't only my teacher, he was like a part of my family. He was my father, my friend, my brother and he was very hard on me. You know, the other kids were playing and sometimes I didn't want to practice. And he said in many proper ways that I had to do this because I was doing something important. You are making your future, this is something very important in your life and if you don't do this now you will be lost. You are making your future."

Initially, Herrera studied the classical composers, immersing himself in the music of Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Quickly recognized as prodigy, at the age of 12, he performed Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 with the Havana Symphony Orchestra. By this time, however, he was beginning to feel a connection to traditional Cuban music. When he was 16, legendary Cuban pianist and Buena Vista Social Club member Rubén González invited him on stage and inspired Herrera to study the music of his native culture. In addition to González, he studied with Cuban master pianists, Chucho Valdés and Frank Fernández. "All the important days, you know Christmas, birthdays, I didn't pay any attention to them. I was always focused on the piano."

Herrera followed his calling, earning a Master’s Degree in Music from the Superior Institute of Art in Havana in 1990. He worked in Cuba as the musical director for both the Havana and Bahamas Tropical Orchestra shows. In 1996, he served the Cuban group, Bakuleye, as musical director, producer, and composer, recording Ula-Ula , and winning the Cuban Nobel Prize of the Year for Best Orchestra. Then in 1997, he joined the famed band Cubanismo!, eventually recording two albums (including Mardis Gras Mambo in New Orleans) and becoming the musical director, touring Europe, the United States, and the Far East.

During one of his American tours, Nachito Herrera attracted the attention of the jazz community in Minnesota. With the help of Lowell Pickett, the owner of the Dakota Bar & Grill and founder of the Dakota Foundation, he was granted a special visa as an “artist of special merit," allowing him to remain in Minnesota. In a very short time, he established a large base of fans of jazz and Latin Music, took on teaching duties at the McPhail College of Music, and decided to settle in Minnesota. "I liked it [Minneapolis] immediately because it seemed like one of the more calm, stable, safe big cities in the U.S.A. And I loved it that even if there are 30 inches of snow on the ground, people will still go out and see live music.”

And there is no end to the critical acclaim Herrera receives whenever he plays. Noted Michael Dumbrow (Urban Pioneer, 2002), “Nachito seems to treat the piano as the percussion instrument that it really is. His hands move at a blinding pace over the keys, trilling not only with his dominant hand but with both, turning the piano keys into an extension of his very self.” With Bembé en mi Casa now set for national release September 6^th, Herrera reinforces the accolades that have swirled around him since his arrival, proclaiming him, in the words of critic Tom Surowicz, “hotter than the burning tip of a contraband Cuban cigar… stronger than a straight shot of Havana rum….and tastier than a big platter of black beans, rice, sweet plantains and ropa vieja.”

Recently, Nachito was nominated as Best Latin Artist and Best Pianist/Keyboardist for 2005 by the Minnesota Music Academy. He’ll be on tour this fall to promote the national release of Bembé en mi Casa. Click here for Jazz Police review.

Bembé at the Dakota and Beyond

Bembé is loosely translated as a party in celebration of Cuba and its Orichas, or spirits, and both the recording and live performances are high spirited celebrations. Any time Nachito Herrera takes the stage, the music is so hot that it challenges the city’s “no smoking” policy, with “Cuban rhythms mixed with jazz; a show of spiritual force and musical talent; a demonstration of the pride within Cuban music….” (liner notes, Bembé en mi Casa). No doubt the audience will be treated to the gems of his new recording, some old favorites (the most exquisite “Malaguena” you’ll ever hear), and most likely some new adventures and a few surprises. Where classical structures merge with native Cuban rhythms, where dexterity and fluidity merge with passion and joy, this is the intersection that is home to Nachito Herrera.

The Dakota is located in downtown Minneapolis at 1010 Nicollet Mall; sets start at 8:30 pm; visit www.dakotacooks.com. Nachito Herrera will be performing at the Minnesota State Fair, August 29-September 1 on the International Bazaar Stage. If you are in the vicinity of the Milwaukee’s Latin Music Fest on September 17^th (Wisconsin State Fair Park, www.latinmusicfest.org<) or Chicago’s World Music Festival on Sunday, September 18^th (Navy Pier, 1 and 3 pm), be sure to catch Nachito and the Bembé Band as they celebrate the national release of Bembé en mi Casa!