Jazz is a distinctly American art form. But musicians from other cultures and countries have found their way into it and have made it their own.
Cuba is a prime example. This small island country off the coast of Florida has put its cultural stamp on jazz with giants like Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, and Chucho Valdes. American jazz artists like Cal Tjader and Dizzy Gillespie looked to Cuba and took its Latin influences into their own music. And now another generation of Cuban musicians takes center stage.
Cuba’s Harold López-Nussa was born in 1983 into a musical family. He began playing piano at a young age and his music today is a fusion of American and Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban and other Cuban folk musics, and European classical forms.
López-Nussa and his trio will perform at the UWM Fine Arts recital hall Wednesday evening. But we caught up with him at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Tuesday afternoon to chat and get a preview:
