Artist Interviews: Jay Rodriguez, musician/composer

 

I met Jay Rodriguez at a rehearsal for a performance at Symphony Space with Arturo O'Farrill and the AfroLatin Jazz Orchestra, Tato Laviera, Bill Ware and a gaggle of very talented poets and performers.

 1. What was the first musical instrument you wanted to play and why?

The recorder..because everyone else had one in Kindergarten and my parents did not want to get me one.We had just immigrated from Barranquilla. I guess it was not so important in their respective minds at the time.I always did love singing and dancing.We had parties many a weekend and dancing was obligatory.

2. What gig convinced you of your viability as an artist?

I had been studying under Tito D Rivera...and after a lesson.. Paquito D Rivera took me with him to sit in at Mikell's back in the day.I was 14 .Slide Hampton hung with me and drove me home after the hit.I played, MOMENTS NOTICE, a blues ?, and EL DIA QUE ME QUIERAS.I was never going to be the same..I also remember getting to playing Lead alto with Victor Venegas,Candido and Marco Rizo for a big band..around that time.and in 8 th grade I remember scoring the gig with Vicente Pacheco (singer with Wilfredo Vargas ).I was on call with Milly Jocelyn and the merengue scene..i would go from gigs to my performing Arts on 46th many a night..ha...

3. . What has been the most surprising aspect of your trajectory as a musician?

I must say.a few... co founding the Groove Collective back in the early 90's (growing up within that ensemble as musicians and as people )-we were in our early 20's,working with ,Gil Evans,Prince/briefly-Miles ,playing and 

recording with Ray Barretto.

4. Who would be in your dream band? (Musicians dead and alive)

Dream band... Kenny Kirkland,Elvin Jones,Jimmy Garrison,Jaco,George Duke,Trane and Miles,Lester Young,Coleman Hawkins..Bird...and some mo..( Bruce Lee, Batman,the Dali Lama..ha.. ) just incase .all of us just playing one big fat universal note ..

The truth is I feel sometimes that I am already living a dream..so I don't usually dream much..I am constantly inspired though...

 5. What country would you like to live in for one year and why?

Either India- Because i love the music..and have studied Bansuri..and Indian theory ...and Harmony within the line...exquisite...!

or Colombia - because i am from there ,yet I did not grow up there.and could perhaps make a difference within myself.....I figure it would help me understand those things and tendencies within myself...I have been feeling that way every since my fathers passing 3 years ago..I brought his ashes to la Laguna de Luruaco in Barranquilla..where he played as a child..very moving...in my minds eye ..i heard drums in the distance..as I held my little boy Nile in my arms...and spread his ashes onto the lagoon.

6. What is your favorite music to nap to?

I can't sleep to music...it makes me think too much...when i was younger I fell asleep to Alejandro Duran, La Cumbia Soledena,the Fania All Stars, The Ramones,Bob Marley,Stravinsky.. Bach...The Beatles,Stevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye..Ascension,Giant Steps, Billy Holiday, Bird..WBGO...ha..

 I guess If i have to choose it must be BACH..! Nothing is clearer and all encompassing....Bach....sleep Bach....it brings order all....in my mind and heart..

 Now I need..what I like to call Sound Space...not because I don't want to hear music or anything..but because I have enough sounds and things in my mind's ear.... Silence within is truly Golden...

Using SociaL Media and Getting Your Art Done

©2011 Odilia Rivera Santos

In January, I resigned from a teaching position, at a community center, with the clear goal of finishing two novels, my collection of poetry on the subject of love, and organizing poetry readings for my company, Haiku Empire. In addition to those goals, I decided to learn as much about online marketing as possible. The foci of an artist these days -- making art and promoting it. After much deliberation, I decided to send my novels and poetry to a traditional publisher and to self-publish nonfiction, in the form of e-books, for the rest of the year. I gave myself the luxury of completing the aforementioned projects within a year, but I was pleasantly surprised: I finished within six months. I have my parents to thank for my work ethic.
I attempted to live without a cellphone for a year, but kept receiving concerned emails from friends, so the phone is back on. When I'm writing, the Internet is never a distraction, but circuitous conversations really bore me. I really think people need to read more, so they can stop talking about their feelings all day -- it's like the Oprah couch universalized.
I have also been a person who feels very content spending time alone and this makes some people uncomfortable. I go to concerts, the movies, the gym, and even dancing alone. Sometimes, it's easier to be alone because there are no schedules to coordinate. In NYC, coordinating schedules with other people is complicated; we are all busy.
I did not have a clear vision of how my adventure into a full-time artist life would look; thus far, the experience has been magnificent. I am single and have no children, which is helpful because I don't have to discuss my plans with anyone. After talking to a lot of artists about romantic relationships, I see how it takes an extremely confident person to date someone who feels self-actualized. My friend Nelson Cabán, the Puerto Rican artist, and I talked about romance and making art some months back and agreed on how difficult it can be for the artist's lover to deal with our obsession with making art. I sometimes get up at five in the morning to write, connect myself via headphones to my Mac and disconnect from everything else. During this wonderful process of leaving work that no longer suited me, I have had the luxury of moving toward a closer approximation of my ideal life. There were weeks in which I got up, drank coffee, exercised, and wrote without speaking to anyone for days. After years as an advocate for homeless people, victims of domestic violence and immigrants, it was cathartic and wonderful to not speak.
I also connected with some great musicians, Tato Torres of Yerbabuena, Maurice Brown, Arturo O’ Farrill and Wynton Marsalis, who were kind enough to sit for interviews, allowed me to attend rehearsals and I will be posting those interviews on Leisurefications
The Wynton Marsalis interview was strange; I was sitting down waiting to order breakfast at a coffee shop. Marsalis comes in and looks at me like he knew me and I waved. When he sat down, I yelled out 'let me interview you!" He asked me to join him at his table and I asked him to join me at mine. He acquiesced and we sat for two hours talking about Jazz, Hip Hop and his fourteen-year-old son joined us. He was very gracious and fun to talk to.
I firmly believe when we let go of things and people who no longer serve any purpose in our lives, the right people and situations materialize.
Another big change is that I have decided to perform more -- people have asked me to act in their plays and movies for years, but I was never interested. Somehow, the idea of becoming a writer/performer makes sense now. I am speaking to someone this week about television work, some poetry readings and perhaps, becoming the creative director on someone else's very successful project.
My brother used to say a lot of people fear success more than failure, and I can see this is true. I chose to put myself in situations completely inappropriate to who I am and allowed people who are chaos-makers to enter my life. And excising toxic people from my life feels like clearing cobwebs along a path.
https://twitter.com/#!/latinaauthor
https://twitter.com/#!/urbanbrainiac
https://twitter.com/#!/bezotes