Q:Tell us about your musical history.
RM: When I was 14, I was with the [Felix] Chapotin band [Trio Matamoros]. [He] was a great trompet player. I sang chorus with Miguelito Cuni, a great sonero from Cuba, one of the best. They were a 'son' group, that had been popular in Cuba for 14 years. Since I was little I was almost always the size I am [Rolo stands at 6'1"] now and my friends were always older.

Q: I believe in 1963 you began to sing with Beny More's orquestra.
RM: No, after Beni died I began work with his orchestra. Before that and after Chapotin, I was with the maestro Ernesto Duarte's band. With this band I recorded as a soloist. With Chapotin I only sang chorus. As a soloist, I got paid for some tunes like "Palama sin nido" 'Echame a me la culpa'. I was with Ernesto Duarte's band until I went independent as a soloist and worked with my own band.

About Beni More...I was with him a very short time, less than a year because there was so much disorganization. It wasn't a serious thing and I like things to be serious; I like punctuality, I like things to be the way they should...so I left and started to work with any group that needed me.

Q: When did you start to sing on television?
RM: I had already worked as soloist in the Cabaret Tropicana. I alternated with many other singers--Siomar Alfaro for one. I had already travelled to the U.S. and worked in the Palladium in NYC with Duarte and a lot of other T.V. programs. I alternated with Celia Cruz, with well, with all of them, with Olga, with all the popular singers of the time. I also traveled to Venezuela, Mexico and Panama, to name a few.

Q: Why were there so few recordings for such a long time?
RM: Well, not even I know what was going on. The Cuban record business has become a "state thing". They didn't call me to record. I recorded an LP in '81 & '82. The years passed and the record didn't come out--and I wasn't the only one this happened to. It happened to a lot of other singers. When I was in Mexico in 1991, they were selling it--it took 10 years to get the record out! After all, it's a matter of taste, of the people who are in power and it seems that those who were in power at the record company at that time did not like my voice. Now that there have been some changes in that direction. They thought that since I was older that I couldn't handle it but at last, thank God, we recorded the album. So I might record some more pieces with Cubanismo. I work with them, I go on tours. Last year I toured all over Europe. This year we started, like everyone else, in June. We started in the U.S., went to Europe, the Middle-East and now we are closing the tour here again, thank God, in the U.S.

Q: Were you singing for a long time at the Tropicana?
RM I've been at the Tropicana for about a year now. I can't continue at the Cabaret [Tropicana] because I went to some Latin American countries. They gave me permission, I went to Haiti, I was going to go to the Dominican Republic but said that I couldn't go. But I get business propositions being in the Cabaret. They are always giving me permission to leave. Now I have to stay because part of the Tropicana show went to Europe and a part of the show stayed there [Cuba]. Because the Tropicana is such a big band, half goes and half stays there in the club. So all the singers and all the dancers and all the musicians are doubles. When they make a trip only some go and now it is my turn to stay . When I return to Cuba, unfortunately, I am going to say that I cannot continue there because it interferes with what I really want to do. The Tropicana is nice, a very good cabaret, with a very good public, but I see myself being restricted, unable to move, unable to travel and those trips are the best. One meets new people and has friends, one's CDs get promoted, and, well, one sees a little money.

Q: Did you ask to make a recording?
RM: No, no. They spoke to me - I was working with a group called "Sonora Delaita" and we were doing activities, concerts, in different places and they had equiptment there. They saw I was working and proposed that I record a CD, the idea of the tunes, the idea! They gave me the opportunity of choosing the number of tunes. One always chooses more, right? If you're going to record 12 or 13 you choose 15, 20 so that they can make the selection. Then the employees at the recording company helped me and we extracted what we thought were the best selections for the record. We worked on the record with a lot of interest and love and I think we did a good job. I am happy with the recording - I think the record will be a success or it is already on its' way.

Q: Are you planning on another recording this year?
RMI have to record 3 records with them. I should do that and two more. It is possible that we won't do it this year. This year there is the possibility of a trip, a foreign tour. It should be for next year.

Q: I hope it will be soon. I liked the tunes ' Como se cosa' y 'en casa de Pedro' y 'Sin Fuego'
RM: Ahhh! You listened to the whole CD?

Q: Of course!
RM: Ahhh! That's great!

Q: How many years have you been singing?
RM: Well, how many years have I been singing? I turned 63 on May 15th.

Q: But you have a very youthful voice.
RM: I take good care of myself. I exercise, I run, and I don't smoke cigarettes. I only smoke cigars. But not excessively...when I eat dinner...but I don't abuse it. Only cigars...cigarettes are more dangerous to your health so I like to take a drink instead. I like rum but I don't use that excessively either. I don't drink much. Really, anything excessive is bad for your health.

Q: Have you ever written any songs?
RM: No, I never have...I was born with the ear...I hear a song and then I try to create or have my own style listening only to a part of something, or listening to one singer or another. Basically, I listened to others and then I did my own thing, my style, my way of intrepreting. Now with the group Cubanismo, I am lucky. This young man [Jesus AlemaŅy] who is very talented and he really loves music, music of Cuban roots. We have made a good team, because he likes the son, he likes the guaguanco, he likes the old Cuban music from those years that I know. And so things are going well. Cubanismo is well liked. Wherever we work the people like the group and the public wants to see us again.

Q: Do you prefer one style more than any other?
RM: No, I like all of it because when I started the singers sang everything. They had to sing the paso doble, bolero, guaracas, everything. For example, when I was small, Miguelito Valdez, sang a bolero with a rumba. Things have changed. Now, the boleristas only sing boleros and nothing else and the salseros, only salsa. But since I am from another generation, I can do so much...everything, and I like them all. I like to sing a bolero, I like a guaracha, I like everything!

Q: For your CD, were you able to choose which tunes you wanted?
RM: Yes, yes. There were some that the recording company personnel didn't like and there was no discussion about those. In general, we were 5 brains working together for the same goal. On the disc most of the songs were chosen by me.

Q: Did you choose the musicians for your recording?
RM: I had the opportunity to choose the band or group that I wanted, but I decieded to experiment with the group Bamboleo, which had a different sound. They have a modern thing without losing the Cuban flavor. The director did the orchestration and the arrangements on the CD. I told him not to overdo the modern thing, that the group let it go a bit, and to keep the old sound, so that the flavor and the roots come through and that's how he did it. Something that's not old but it's not so modern. Something contemporary.

Q: Do you ever sing for rumba?
RM: You want to know if I can sing that? Well there is certain Afro-Cuban music that in order to master them you have to know dialects. I don't do that. There are people who dedicate themselves to that and know the dialects well, and the language, but I don't.

Q: Do you live in the same neighborhood you were born in?
RM: I was born in a neighborhood called Cayo Hueso. Now I live in Municipio Playa - because I used to live in a very old house and it was demolished to make other buildings. So, I moved to a good, quiet place.

Q: Surely everyone must know you, when you walk out in the street they must say, 'Ah, there is SeŅor Martinez'!
RM: Everyone knows me because of my age. Not because of anything else. I was in popular bands. The Grupo Chapotin was a very popular group, the Banda Duarte too, and then my shows on television. I did a lot of radio. I had a fine radio program and besides that, my face is so ugly no-one could forget it!

Q: Do you work on any radio programs now?
RM: No, not now because there are not many programs.

Q: Too bad! Hopefully the rest of the world will now hear your music!
RM: Ahh! You would like that... Great! I hope that it is known all over the whole world because it would be something for Cuba and for me. They are listening now and they will continue to listen. As long as I have good health and maintain my vocal qualities, I will keep on recording. This next year I hope to make 2 CDs.

Q: With Cubanismo or another solo CD?
RM: With the permission of the label Dinamark I'll record some stuff with Cubanismo.

Q: Are there future projects that you want to do?
RM: Yes. To record 2 CDs one has to work a good amount. One has to think a lot, practice a lot and get ready for that. Also, the next tour, it's still a ways away but I'm thinking of dealing with that as soon as I return to Cuba.

Q: Do you plan to continue with Cubanismo for another tour?
RM: Yes, I think so but all this depends on the director of the group. It's been good until now, last year and more this year and we hope to continue. I like this format a lot and how the group sounds.

Q: Do you think about forming your own group?
RM: Well, this is also a possibility. One has to think a lot. Having a group is very problematic. All the issues, all the things with the musicians end up being one's own problems. All the uneasiness, and then, until now, moving on my own, I've felt myself without problems and without issues. In other words, one has to study this, one has to analyze it. Of course, it would be good to have a group, make a group and present it and choose everything and direct everything and that would be good. But the other part, the part that's not seen, is not good at all. A lot of worries, problems. Now I don't have those worries. What I do have is a preoccupation which has grown on the tour--I've gained about twenty or twenty five pounds that I have to lose! I have to start doing exercise and run. Because, well, since we left on the tour I haven't done any exercise. I haven't ridden a bike or anything, and so as soon as I get home, I have to do exercise and lose those 20 to 25 pounds or else. I know that my clothes almost don't fit because I've gained weight.

Q: I believe you have a voice similar to a tenor who sings opera, strong and clear, the timber...
RM: Yes, yes. Because when I was young I studied a little singing and then it helped me, it helps me to project my voice with a little technique, technique of opera but there are things that one is born with. I create the force and that gets better with the technique. It is with these things that one is born.

Q: Any good stories that have happened to you in your life with musicians?
RM: No, because normally, I get along well with everyone. No one is perfect. We all have virtues, we all have faults and I try to get along well with everyone, to not be hypercritical, not be a liar, and that more or less, "keeps me in a good space", not having problems, at least not with my conscience.

Q: Which moment and with which singer was the best for you?
RM: A little while ago, maybe last year, I don't remember if it was last year, Andy MontaŅez was there, in Cuba. A great singer and so we ended up on a T.V. program. We did a duet and they interviewed him. He's a great singer who has "goza" and has fame. We also worked in a theater, where important things go on. When he was interviewed on T.V. and by the press, he honored me! It was incredible...he had the delicacy to mention me always and eulogize me and it seems that that had an effect on everything else. That is something very important--you can have the best thing, the best product, the best, and no one knows about it, no one will buy it. I believe that in promotion and in publicity there is the best and worst of everything.

Q: Any special moment with Chapotin?
RM: That was my school. I learned a lot. The pianist of the group, Luis Martinez, helped me a lot. He taught me a lot and then, listening to Cuni, well, he is one of the greatest singers that Cuba has ever had. I listened and I listened to him and I sang the coros. At rehearsals I paid attention and I listened and the good things always stayed with me. I was always learning. With Beni More, I had the privilege of having a good friendship with him. He used to visit me in a cabaret where I first started. I used to visit him at his home. We saw each other a lot, almost every week. He used to call me "Chiquito Muchacho" because I was young when he was older, had more experience and knew more. I used to hear him quite often. Undoubtedly, he was one of the best 'barbaros' of rhythm.

Q: In Europe, did the public recieve you well?
RM: Incredibly, in the Middle-East, in Israel, they enjoyed the music which is a phenomenon for them. In Lebanon, the same, in Croatia, in Slovenia--it had never occurred to me that people in those countries were going to like Cuban music, were going to dance to it and were going to enjoy it. But they did. It's great that our music is an ambassador of good will.

Q: DO you have students that want to study or sing with you?
RM: No. No youngsters have approached me. They stay with the popular stuff. Because, to sing opera, canto, besides being born with that talent, it is demanding and one has to have the technique and this is more serious. But the popular thing has to be born in a person. One has to have it in his heart and in his feelings. I think this has something to do with it. I have heard singers who more or less have a quality, they are similar to me in the timber of their voice and that's good. But there's no time for improvisation. One has to constantly be inventing and moving.

Q: I hope you will return soon with Cubanismo.
RM: I hope to return again and be in these cities that are so marvelous, and this divine public that has given us so much attention. It is so great when I see the public dance and enjoy themselves and enjoy the music because I do the same as well.

Rolo had to leave for a radio interview. I thanked this humble and gracious performer for his time. This interview is being posted just in time for another visit with Rolo and the rest of Cubanimso here in the Bay Area. Catch one of their shows and hear 'el sonero' Rolo Martinez for yourself. You will be very glad you did!

Listen to a sound byte of Rolo from 'Para Bailar me Son' 

Interview ©1999 by Julia Sewell
Muchisimas gracias to Claudia Lama for transcription and
CherryMae Golston for translation.

Q:Tell us about your musical history.
RM: When I was 14, I was with the [Felix] Chapotin band [Trio Matamoros]. [He] was a great trompet player. I sang chorus with Miguelito Cuni, a great sonero from Cuba, one of the best. They were a 'son' group, that had been popular in Cuba for 14 years. Since I was little I was almost always the size I am [Rolo stands at 6'1"] now and my friends were always older.

Q: I believe in 1963 you began to sing with Beny More's orquestra.
RM: No, after Beni died I began work with his orchestra. Before that and after Chapotin, I was with the maestro Ernesto Duarte's band. With this band I recorded as a soloist. With Chapotin I only sang chorus. As a soloist, I got paid for some tunes like "Palama sin nido" 'Echame a me la culpa'. I was with Ernesto Duarte's band until I went independent as a soloist and worked with my own band.

About Beni More...I was with him a very short time, less than a year because there was so much disorganization. It wasn't a serious thing and I like things to be serious; I like punctuality, I like things to be the way they should...so I left and started to work with any group that needed me.

Q: When did you start to sing on television?
RM: I had already worked as soloist in the Cabaret Tropicana. I alternated with many other singers--Siomar Alfaro for one. I had already travelled to the U.S. and worked in the Palladium in NYC with Duarte and a lot of other T.V. programs. I alternated with Celia Cruz, with well, with all of them, with Olga, with all the popular singers of the time. I also traveled to Venezuela, Mexico and Panama, to name a few.

Q: Why were there so few recordings for such a long time?
RM: Well, not even I know what was going on. The Cuban record business has become a "state thing". They didn't call me to record. I recorded an LP in '81 & '82. The years passed and the record didn't come out--and I wasn't the only one this happened to. It happened to a lot of other singers. When I was in Mexico in 1991, they were selling it--it took 10 years to get the record out! After all, it's a matter of taste, of the people who are in power and it seems that those who were in power at the record company at that time did not like my voice. Now that there have been some changes in that direction. They thought that since I was older that I couldn't handle it but at last, thank God, we recorded the album. So I might record some more pieces with Cubanismo. I work with them, I go on tours. Last year I toured all over Europe. This year we started, like everyone else, in June. We started in the U.S., went to Europe, the Middle-East and now we are closing the tour here again, thank God, in the U.S.

Q: Were you singing for a long time at the Tropicana?
RM I've been at the Tropicana for about a year now. I can't continue at the Cabaret [Tropicana] because I went to some Latin American countries. They gave me permission, I went to Haiti, I was going to go to the Dominican Republic but said that I couldn't go. But I get business propositions being in the Cabaret. They are always giving me permission to leave. Now I have to stay because part of the Tropicana show went to Europe and a part of the show stayed there [Cuba]. Because the Tropicana is such a big band, half goes and half stays there in the club. So all the singers and all the dancers and all the musicians are doubles. When they make a trip only some go and now it is my turn to stay . When I return to Cuba, unfortunately, I am going to say that I cannot continue there because it interferes with what I really want to do. The Tropicana is nice, a very good cabaret, with a very good public, but I see myself being restricted, unable to move, unable to travel and those trips are the best. One meets new people and has friends, one's CDs get promoted, and, well, one sees a little money.

Q: Did you ask to make a recording?
RM: No, no. They spoke to me - I was working with a group called "Sonora Delaita" and we were doing activities, concerts, in different places and they had equiptment there. They saw I was working and proposed that I record a CD, the idea of the tunes, the idea! They gave me the opportunity of choosing the number of tunes. One always chooses more, right? If you're going to record 12 or 13 you choose 15, 20 so that they can make the selection. Then the employees at the recording company helped me and we extracted what we thought were the best selections for the record. We worked on the record with a lot of interest and love and I think we did a good job. I am happy with the recording - I think the record will be a success or it is already on its' way.

Q: Are you planning on another recording this year?
RMI have to record 3 records with them. I should do that and two more. It is possible that we won't do it this year. This year there is the possibility of a trip, a foreign tour. It should be for next year.

Q: I hope it will be soon. I liked the tunes ' Como se cosa' y 'en casa de Pedro' y 'Sin Fuego'
RM: Ahhh! You listened to the whole CD?

Q: Of course!
RM: Ahhh! That's great!

Q: How many years have you been singing?
RM: Well, how many years have I been singing? I turned 63 on May 15th.

Q: But you have a very youthful voice.
RM: I take good care of myself. I exercise, I run, and I don't smoke cigarettes. I only smoke cigars. But not excessively...when I eat dinner...but I don't abuse it. Only cigars...cigarettes are more dangerous to your health so I like to take a drink instead. I like rum but I don't use that excessively either. I don't drink much. Really, anything excessive is bad for your health.

Q: Have you ever written any songs?
RM: No, I never have...I was born with the ear...I hear a song and then I try to create or have my own style listening only to a part of something, or listening to one singer or another. Basically, I listened to others and then I did my own thing, my style, my way of intrepreting. Now with the group Cubanismo, I am lucky. This young man [Jesus AlemaŅy] who is very talented and he really loves music, music of Cuban roots. We have made a good team, because he likes the son, he likes the guaguanco, he likes the old Cuban music from those years that I know. And so things are going well. Cubanismo is well liked. Wherever we work the people like the group and the public wants to see us again.

Q: Do you prefer one style more than any other?
RM: No, I like all of it because when I started the singers sang everything. They had to sing the paso doble, bolero, guaracas, everything. For example, when I was small, Miguelito Valdez, sang a bolero with a rumba. Things have changed. Now, the boleristas only sing boleros and nothing else and the salseros, only salsa. But since I am from another generation, I can do so much...everything, and I like them all. I like to sing a bolero, I like a guaracha, I like everything!

Q: For your CD, were you able to choose which tunes you wanted?
RM: Yes, yes. There were some that the recording company personnel didn't like and there was no discussion about those. In general, we were 5 brains working together for the same goal. On the disc most of the songs were chosen by me.

Q: Did you choose the musicians for your recording?
RM: I had the opportunity to choose the band or group that I wanted, but I decieded to experiment with the group Bamboleo, which had a different sound. They have a modern thing without losing the Cuban flavor. The director did the orchestration and the arrangements on the CD. I told him not to overdo the modern thing, that the group let it go a bit, and to keep the old sound, so that the flavor and the roots come through and that's how he did it. Something that's not old but it's not so modern. Something contemporary.

Q: Do you ever sing for rumba?
RM: You want to know if I can sing that? Well there is certain Afro-Cuban music that in order to master them you have to know dialects. I don't do that. There are people who dedicate themselves to that and know the dialects well, and the language, but I don't.

Q: Do you live in the same neighborhood you were born in?
RM: I was born in a neighborhood called Cayo Hueso. Now I live in Municipio Playa - because I used to live in a very old house and it was demolished to make other buildings. So, I moved to a good, quiet place.

Q: Surely everyone must know you, when you walk out in the street they must say, 'Ah, there is SeŅor Martinez'!
RM: Everyone knows me because of my age. Not because of anything else. I was in popular bands. The Grupo Chapotin was a very popular group, the Banda Duarte too, and then my shows on television. I did a lot of radio. I had a fine radio program and besides that, my face is so ugly no-one could forget it!

Q: Do you work on any radio programs now?
RM: No, not now because there are not many programs.

Q: Too bad! Hopefully the rest of the world will now hear your music!
RM: Ahh! You would like that... Great! I hope that it is known all over the whole world because it would be something for Cuba and for me. They are listening now and they will continue to listen. As long as I have good health and maintain my vocal qualities, I will keep on recording. This next year I hope to make 2 CDs.

Q: With Cubanismo or another solo CD?
RM: With the permission of the label Dinamark I'll record some stuff with Cubanismo.

Q: Are there future projects that you want to do?
RM: Yes. To record 2 CDs one has to work a good amount. One has to think a lot, practice a lot and get ready for that. Also, the next tour, it's still a ways away but I'm thinking of dealing with that as soon as I return to Cuba.

Q: Do you plan to continue with Cubanismo for another tour?
RM: Yes, I think so but all this depends on the director of the group. It's been good until now, last year and more this year and we hope to continue. I like this format a lot and how the group sounds.

Q: Do you think about forming your own group?
RM: Well, this is also a possibility. One has to think a lot. Having a group is very problematic. All the issues, all the things with the musicians end up being one's own problems. All the uneasiness, and then, until now, moving on my own, I've felt myself without problems and without issues. In other words, one has to study this, one has to analyze it. Of course, it would be good to have a group, make a group and present it and choose everything and direct everything and that would be good. But the other part, the part that's not seen, is not good at all. A lot of worries, problems. Now I don't have those worries. What I do have is a preoccupation which has grown on the tour--I've gained about twenty or twenty five pounds that I have to lose! I have to start doing exercise and run. Because, well, since we left on the tour I haven't done any exercise. I haven't ridden a bike or anything, and so as soon as I get home, I have to do exercise and lose those 20 to 25 pounds or else. I know that my clothes almost don't fit because I've gained weight.

Q: I believe you have a voice similar to a tenor who sings opera, strong and clear, the timber...
RM: Yes, yes. Because when I was young I studied a little singing and then it helped me, it helps me to project my voice with a little technique, technique of opera but there are things that one is born with. I create the force and that gets better with the technique. It is with these things that one is born.

Q: Any good stories that have happened to you in your life with musicians?
RM: No, because normally, I get along well with everyone. No one is perfect. We all have virtues, we all have faults and I try to get along well with everyone, to not be hypercritical, not be a liar, and that more or less, "keeps me in a good space", not having problems, at least not with my conscience.

Q: Which moment and with which singer was the best for you?
RM: A little while ago, maybe last year, I don't remember if it was last year, Andy MontaŅez was there, in Cuba. A great singer and so we ended up on a T.V. program. We did a duet and they interviewed him. He's a great singer who has "goza" and has fame. We also worked in a theater, where important things go on. When he was interviewed on T.V. and by the press, he honored me! It was incredible...he had the delicacy to mention me always and eulogize me and it seems that that had an effect on everything else. That is something very important--you can have the best thing, the best product, the best, and no one knows about it, no one will buy it. I believe that in promotion and in publicity there is the best and worst of everything.

Q: Any special moment with Chapotin?
RM: That was my school. I learned a lot. The pianist of the group, Luis Martinez, helped me a lot. He taught me a lot and then, listening to Cuni, well, he is one of the greatest singers that Cuba has ever had. I listened and I listened to him and I sang the coros. At rehearsals I paid attention and I listened and the good things always stayed with me. I was always learning. With Beni More, I had the privilege of having a good friendship with him. He used to visit me in a cabaret where I first started. I used to visit him at his home. We saw each other a lot, almost every week. He used to call me "Chiquito Muchacho" because I was young when he was older, had more experience and knew more. I used to hear him quite often. Undoubtedly, he was one of the best 'barbaros' of rhythm.

Q: In Europe, did the public recieve you well?
RM: Incredibly, in the Middle-East, in Israel, they enjoyed the music which is a phenomenon for them. In Lebanon, the same, in Croatia, in Slovenia--it had never occurred to me that people in those countries were going to like Cuban music, were going to dance to it and were going to enjoy it. But they did. It's great that our music is an ambassador of good will.

Q: DO you have students that want to study or sing with you?
RM: No. No youngsters have approached me. They stay with the popular stuff. Because, to sing opera, canto, besides being born with that talent, it is demanding and one has to have the technique and this is more serious. But the popular thing has to be born in a person. One has to have it in his heart and in his feelings. I think this has something to do with it. I have heard singers who more or less have a quality, they are similar to me in the timber of their voice and that's good. But there's no time for improvisation. One has to constantly be inventing and moving.

Q: I hope you will return soon with Cubanismo.
RM: I hope to return again and be in these cities that are so marvelous, and this divine public that has given us so much attention. It is so great when I see the public dance and enjoy themselves and enjoy the music because I do the same as well.

Rolo had to leave for a radio interview. I thanked this humble and gracious performer for his time. This interview is being posted just in time for another visit with Rolo and the rest of Cubanimso here in the Bay Area. Catch one of their shows and hear 'el sonero' Rolo Martinez for yourself. You will be very glad you did!

Listen to a sound byte of Rolo from 'Para Bailar me Son' 

Interview ©1999 by Julia Sewell
Muchisimas gracias to Claudia Lama for transcription and
CherryMae Golston for translation.