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“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 6th, 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
17th (Wisconsin State Fair Park, www.latinmusicfest.org<)
or Chicago’s World Music Festival on Sunday, September 18th
(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!
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Wednesday, 07 January 2009
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