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Puedo Ser Feliz” is a lush big-band piece written by noted Cuban composer Adolfo Guzmán (1920–1976) and made popular by the legendary Cuban pianist–singer known as Bola de Nieve (1911–1971). Baro’s version is arranged by Toronto-based (since 1998) Cuban pianist, composer, and bandleader Hilario Durán. Baro’s original song “En Son De Descarga” features the Cuban cuatro; the piece was written in the style of traditional son and was also influenced by descarga (improvisation using multiple Cuban music genres), which became popular in the late 1940s and ’50s, Baro notes. “Campo De Batalla (Battle Ground)” holds a deep tension from its onset, and in its distressed melody, it expresses the trauma and history of freedom fighters, enslaved peoples in Cuba who were 20 musıc works #150 | winter 2024/25 part of the African diaspora in the Americas, and who fought for their own liberation from the Spanish. “El Clarin De Pueblo Nuevo,” which Baro wrote with Toronto-based Cuban musician Pablosky Rosales, is an ode to the Cuban trumpet in which singer Alberto Alberto calls out the names of some of its greatest players, including Jorge Varona, Manuel “El Guajiro” Mirabal (Buena Vista Social Club), Arturo Sandoval, and Félix Chapopttín, whose composition “Yo Si Como Candela” is included on Mi Raiz. The album also links the Cuban musical communities of Canada and Cuba. Cubanismo, a group founded in the 1990s around the same time as Buena Vista Social Club, was led by trumpeter Jesús Alemañy. After members Roberto Riveron and Jorge Luis “Papiosco” Torres left Cuba for Canada, it was disbanded. Alemañy eventually re-established the group in Cuba, and brought a young Baro on board. The version of “100 Años De Juventud”—a song by the legendary Afro-Cuban jazz band Irakere and its founder, Chucho Valdés—on Mi Raiz features Riveron on bass and Papiosco on percussion, while Alemañy and Baro render their own take on the iconic trumpet duet of the original version. “The audience will eat what you give them. If it’s good, it’s good,” Baro says. “They don’t need a history lesson. They need the opportunity to hear the trumpet as a melody line, to see the trumpet player up front as bandleader, or to hear a trumpet PHO T O H E I N G JB Y
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opposite page: Alexis Baro performing with his quintet (not shown) on the OLG Grove stage at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival in June 2024. above: Alexis Baro and his twenty-piece band performing a one-time only concert at Toronto's Redwood Theatre in March 2024 to mark the vinyl launch of his recording Mi Raiz/ My Roots. I N G KI L L BB Y P H O T O and percussion band, as it’s heard on the streets of Cuba. If you put on a good show, they will ask for it again. But if you don’t get the chance to showcase this music, how are they going to know?” Race can be an issue, something seen across artistic genres, he says. “I grew up in the ballet, where one out of twenty-five dancers in the school was Black. It’s about opportunity. Not everyone needs [to be] the same as Arturo to be great, to be acknowledged, to have the opportunity for grand careers. He’s seventy-five now. There’s no one else?” Audiences may not need to know the history, but hearing about it can enrich their listening experience. It’s also important for players to know where the music comes from. “In a direct or indirect way, you can sense that legacy in the playing, even if you might not know the roots of it,” Baro says. “You hear it, you emulate, and you imitate something that was done nearly a hundred years ago. The trumpet is not just a tool to be used as a horn section. Younger players should know where they come from. “As a soloist, that’s what I’ve been doing for years, out front as a bandleader and a composer. It’s the whole mission and purpose of [Mi Raiz]. And you don’t need to emulate an American jazz player to do it. You can do it the Cuban way.” As we finish up our interview, Baro is lending his skills to the Soulpepper Theatre production of Billie, Sarah and Ella: Revolutionary Women in Jazz, and I sense I’ve only just touched the tip of Afro-Cuban music, Afro-Cuban jazz, and Baro’s knowledge, research, and artistic contributions. Fortunately, there’s another album in the planning stages, and more collaborations to come. GLORIA BLIZZARD writes on music, dance, and culture, and is the author of Black Cake, Turtle Soup, and Other Dilemmas: Essays on Music, Memory and Motion, published by Dundurn Press. LINK: < alexisbaro.com > FYI: Alexis Baro is working on new music. He and his band play a concert celebrating Black History Month at The Pilot in Toronto on Saturday February 15, 2025. winter 2024/25 | musıc works #150 21

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Puedo Ser Feliz” is a lush big-band piece written by noted Cuban composer Adolfo Guzmán (1920–1976) and made popular by the legendary Cuban pianist–singer known as Bola de Nieve (1911–1971). Baro’s version is arranged by Toronto-based (since 1998) Cuban pianist, composer, and bandleader Hilario Durán. Baro’s original song “En Son De Descarga” features the Cuban cuatro; the piece was written in the style of traditional son and was also influenced by descarga (improvisation using multiple Cuban music genres), which became popular in the late 1940s and ’50s, Baro notes. “Campo De Batalla (Battle Ground)” holds a deep tension from its onset, and in its distressed melody, it expresses the trauma and history of freedom fighters, enslaved peoples in Cuba who were

20 musıc works #150 | winter 2024/25

part of the African diaspora in the Americas, and who fought for their own liberation from the Spanish. “El Clarin De Pueblo Nuevo,” which Baro wrote with Toronto-based Cuban musician Pablosky Rosales, is an ode to the Cuban trumpet in which singer Alberto Alberto calls out the names of some of its greatest players, including Jorge Varona, Manuel “El Guajiro” Mirabal (Buena Vista Social Club), Arturo Sandoval, and Félix Chapopttín, whose composition “Yo Si Como Candela” is included on Mi Raiz.

The album also links the Cuban musical communities of Canada and Cuba. Cubanismo, a group founded in the 1990s around the same time as Buena Vista Social Club, was led by trumpeter Jesús Alemañy. After members Roberto Riveron and Jorge Luis “Papiosco”

Torres left Cuba for Canada, it was disbanded. Alemañy eventually re-established the group in Cuba, and brought a young Baro on board. The version of “100 Años De Juventud”—a song by the legendary Afro-Cuban jazz band Irakere and its founder, Chucho Valdés—on Mi Raiz features Riveron on bass and Papiosco on percussion, while Alemañy and Baro render their own take on the iconic trumpet duet of the original version.

“The audience will eat what you give them. If it’s good, it’s good,” Baro says. “They don’t need a history lesson. They need the opportunity to hear the trumpet as a melody line, to see the trumpet player up front as bandleader, or to hear a trumpet PHO T O

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JB Y

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