"Troveros de Asieta" have been in the music world for many years, what stage is the group currently at?
We have had quite an evolution, after fourteen years in Canarian music. We started in 1991 as a quartet on our island of La Palma, with an album entitled "Tradicional" which captured a bit of the heritage of the influences of Canarian music brought by our grandparents, by our ancestors. Afterwards, we grew as musicians and as people, and we have been adding the creativity of new members. We have combined the traditional concept with root and fusion music. What predominates is the basic Cuban rhythmic pattern, but the harmonies can be perfectly located in other music. For example, within Latin jazz, or African music.
How would you describe your new album, based on the musical show "Dancing with Lecuona"?
Well, it has been the glue of a show formed by a cast of twenty artists, with dance and audiovisuals, which we have developed over the last two years. We had already planned to do a tribute show to Ernesto Lecuona and every time we came across important artists on stage, such as Olga Guillot, Cachao, Michel Camino or Manolito Simonet, we interviewed them. We have also incorporated a documentary part with audiovisuals that talk about the personal experiences of these artists who shared moments with Lecuona.
Why Ernesto Lecuona?
Ernesto Lecuona has Canarian ancestry, his father was from Tenerife, and we were looking for someone to unite America with the Canary Islands. In fact, he dies in Tenerife in 1963. At the same time, Lecuona is the most important Cuban musician of the last century, who, until now, had not been paid any tribute with a live show or an album in the Canary Islands. Ernesto Lecuona was so important that Alfredo Kraus dedicated an entire album to him, as well as Los Panchos Michel Camino, or Chucho Valdés. But we wanted to give it another touch, we have transgressed a bit what had been done until now, always respecting the melodies and the basic concept of its creator.
What have been the results of this documentation and research work on the "Canarian-Cuban" musician?
Everyone knew isolated things about Lecuona, but many of them had not been put together, and in that sense there has been a research work. In addition, we started from seventy works and in the end a show of fourteen was made. But this has always been conceived as a live show, something that the public finds beautiful, fun and stimulating. The selection of Lecuona's works are works that are performed with a band of twelve musicians and sometimes with dance, and in others, for example, with a quartet of musicians for a Latin jazz instrumental piece, or a piece for piano, voice and singer, for example, "La malagueña", which is even a fusion between Lecuona's "La malagueña" and our Canarian "malagueña".
And how do you think the people of Lanzarote will receive this show?
Well, I think, at least, with curiosity. The philosophy of the troubadour is to pamper the public, so we think the other way around: things have to work live and then, to the recording studio. We want to make the public vibrate and cry, create feelings in them.
How do you currently see the Canarian music scene?
I think there are few alternatives for new people who are doing different things. We, after so many years, rub shoulders with different groups, but we miss new faces, at least at the media level. In the Canary Islands there is also a lack of alternative places for musicians to develop their music. Although now, we have to thank a new circuit that is starting to work, with which we are going to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, the Circuit of Islands of Music, Theater and Dance, but it is just starting to work now. In addition, more money and budget is needed for popular and root music. For us to go to Madrid, Barcelona, France or Cuba, it has cost us an arm and a leg.
And how did you feel playing in Cuba?
The truth is that it seemed daring to us. The advantage is that we were not in the traditional pattern so we could do everything that the Cuban musicians themselves did not do since there the traditional Cuban music adheres to very orthodox formats. So they were surprised and in the end they liked it because we had been more transgressive.
