An Interview with Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca!

Jacira Castro

Ricardo Lemvo grew up in the African city of Kinshasa in the Congo, during a period of time when Cuban music was all the craze.  He could hear it through the walls of his house, emanating from a nearby bar.  He could feel the classic songs of Beny Moré, Abelardo Barroso, Ignacio Piñeiro and Arsenio Rodríguez in his soul. Ricardo says he could hear the drums and the voices of Africa in the music.  He spent hours imagining himself on a stage singing, but never dared tell his mother because being a musician was not very well thought of.

When he was 15 he moved to Los Angeles, where his father lived and he went to high school and on to the university.  He graduated with a degree in Political Science, and was planning to continue on to law school, but the tug of the music was too much, and he gave in to it.

Jacira:  The west coast of the United States is a very eclectic atmosphere.  If you had been in another area, Miami, for example, do you think your career would have taken the same path? Obviously you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to play with a Mariachi band!

Ricardo:  (Laughing!) I don’t know, but I’m very happy that I’m here (in California)!

Jacira:  Which musicians influenced you the most?

Ricardo:  Well, Johnny Pacheco, Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez, the Orquesta Aragón, Abelardo Barroso, Ignacio Piñeiro, Arsenio Rodríguez, and of the Congolese musicians, Grand Kallé and Sam Mangwana, a Frenchman named Charles Aznavour and some Mexican musicians, such as Javier Solis.

Jacira:  What does Cuban music make you feel?

Ricardo:  Cuban music has African elements... that music is mine!  I know I’m not Cuban, but it is part of my culture.  What I play is a mix of African and Cuban rhythms.

Jacira:  What kind of influence have the Orishas had on your music? 

Ricardo:  A lot of influence.  They are from Africa and I am African.  For me this is very important.

Jacira:  And you are the “son” of which one?

Ricardo:  (laughing!) Of none of them... I am from the Congo and the Orishas are from Nigeria.

(I should have known that... remind me to brush up on my African geography, OK?)

Jacira:  If I could peek at your CD collection, what would I find?

Ricardo:  Music from Africa, the Caribbean, Cuba and Brazil, among others.

Jacira:  And your latest CD, São Salvador, tell me a little about the story behind this album.

Ricardo:  My grandfather is from Angola... the whole family is. The album talks about the history of the Congo. It was a nation that held diplomatic relations with the Vatican and with Portugal, but there was slavery. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the English, they all began to take people to the new world and I talk about this in the title song.  It is written in homage to the land of my grandparents.

Jacira:  Who are your musicians, and where are they from?

Ricardo:  They are Cuban, Mexican, Guatemalan, and the trombone player is a “gringo” from Montana! My arranger is Jesús Alejandro Pérez, a Cuban who lives in Montreal.

Jacira:  Do you have plans for a new album?

Ricardo:  I’ll begin recording this year.  It will be out next year.

Jacira:  And what’s it about?

Ricardo:  It’s “Top Secret”!

Jacira:  I know you are going to be in Tampa, Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale the first days of March, but do you have any other plans for touring?

Ricardo:  We’re always on tour!  After Florida, we will be going back to  Los Angeles, then on to Montreal, Seattle, Chicago and in July we go back to Europe.

Jacira:  Tell me about your personal life... are you married, do you have kids?

Ricardo:  No, I’m not married and I don’t have any children.  Even my girlfriend threw me out!  Ha, ha, ha!

Jacira:  Well Ricardo, I don’t think you will be lacking in perspective candidates!

Don’t miss Ricardo’s shows! Check his website for up to date listings of his upcoming tours!  http://www.makinaloca.com

You can also hear samples of his three albums:  “Tata Masamba”, “Mambo Yoyo” and “São Salvador”.

Ah, and if you are curious as to why the name of the group, Ricardo tells me that the word, “Makina” in the Kikongo language means, “dance” and “loka” means something like “in a trance”, so together they mean, “dancing in a trance”. In Spanish, “máquina” means “machine” and “loca” means “crazy”, so it would be “Crazy Machine”. In this way it transcends various cultures!

 

 

Read more SalsaPower interviews HERE

 

Esta página fue actualizada/this page was last updated on 03-Jan-2008