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| AHA recently had the opportunity to catch up with William Cepeda, musician and leader of the group Afro-Rican Jazz, whose new CD My Roots & Beyond is set for release this November 10th. Interestingly, Cepeda's Afro Rican Jazz group received a small grant from AHA's Latino Arts Advancement Project a few years ago, so it was great to catchup and see what he is doing. Cepeda, who is a native of the town of Loíza in Puerto Rico, is breaking new ground with his sound, and had this to say to our reporter Neyda Martinez. NLM: This is your first independent album and production, what kind of experience has it been for you? WC: Basically, I have produced music, CDs, and recordings for other artists. This is my first CD as an independent soloist. The project was a lot of fun because I have been working and developing this concept for well over eight years. NLM: How long did you prepare for this album and what was the process? WC: Five years. I know this music and have been experimenting and trying different things, learning more and more about how to fuse the different musical influences: jazz, and the world music ingredient, with my culture and my music. I took a lot of time creating, writing, combining new elements, and doing a lot of research. The research included learning more about the history of this music. Particularly for Puerto Rican music, you need to know what the music means. One can know how to play percussion but not know the form or actually study the history of the music. I've been developing music from different areas of Puerto Rico such as Cataño. I've been exploring music from all around the island and not just Loíza. I've read a lot of music, transcribed traditional songs from Puerto Rico. I've been critically analyzing the subject as profoundly as possible, like you do with anything you really want to learn about. |
NLM: What were the challenges in creating and producing an album with your vision and concept? WC: This is the first experience of producing my first album and of being in control in the studio. Its difficult when you create something new that's different - it takes a lot of work. For example, the engineer was not familiar at all with this musicThe ideas and voices I hear in my mind are not what people are used to hearing, so its hard for people to understand what I am trying to create. Having lived in Loíza, participating in all the "carnivals" I was thinking about the energy there and my challenge was how to project that. The sounds, the "live" energy had to be transmitted. It was very complicated and difficult to record, but it was cool, a great experience and hopefully, the next album I can do even better. NLM: When did you start developing the concept of "Afro-RicanJazz?" WC: My fusion between jazz and Puerto Rican music began in 1984-85 when I returned to Puerto Rico after having graduated from Berkeley. That was when I started. Later I came to New York and decided to put the group together. I started to compose a lot more when I arrived here. Afro-Rican Jazz is an expression that incorporates my personal jazz background and experiences with the music and cultural traditions of my homeland, it is my contribution. NLM: Having grown up in Puerto Rico, how and when did you or other musicians encounter jazz? WC: I don't know. Jazz is rarely heard in Puerto Rico, only 2 or 5 stations played jazz on University and alternative programs and only one day a week. Sometimes they'd play Latin jazz but, there really wasn't a jazz scene in Puerto Rico. |
NLM: How does your concept of Afro-Rican Jazz differ from what audiences know as Latin Jazz? WC: A lot of Latin Jazz is based on Cuban rhythms, so that's what people tend to expect. My work is very difficult to describe - the base isn't Cuban. It's Puerto Rican. My foundation is the traditional music of Puerto Rico, whatever I put "on top" is a blend of different expressions and impressions of my experiences. I've added jazz harmony, more complex and developed melodies, as well as more contemporary melodies. This music is developed, the melody is more polished. (I'm) experimenting with those rhythms from Puerto Rico with the jazz. My album is Puerto Rican. It also has influences from diverse sources, such as free avant-garde jazz, world music, straight-ahead jazz, rap, funk. All those influences appear on this album in addition to Caribbean and Latin Jazz—there are a lot of flavors there! NLM: It is impressive that most of thesongs are all your original music and compositions. Tell us about the compositions and about the collaborative process with other artists WC: About ninety percent of the music on the CD are all my compositions. Three of the songs on are not mine. Sara, a very traditional danza, was composed by Angel Míslan. The danza was orchestrated and arranged very differently, I added bomba, and Slide Hampton is a special guest playing the trombone. For Now and Forever is by Michele Rosewoman and is a very contemporary jazz piece. Music from the mountains — jibaro music — that appears on the album is by Eric Figueroa from Puerto Rico. For the jibaro song I blended bomba and jibaro together. Michele and I added a very old chant from Loíza — a chant that is over 100 years old! I hope people will listen, I hope this recording is inspirational. More than a record, I hope this album is a contribution to Puerto Rican music. © November 1998 Association of Hispanic Arts, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be duplicated or reprinted in any form without express permission of AHA. |
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