© Bernard Benant
He was born in 1969 in the province of Pinar del Rio, in the West of Cuba, where the big Carabbean island nuzzles Florida to the North and Mexico to the West. 1969 was "année érotique" in France, and the tenth anniversary of the Castro revolution in Cuba. Don't expect Raul Paz to run down his island or his people. That was where he learned to sing, before he can remember, listening to guajira - country music made in Cuba. It is where he spent ten years studying music at the highest level at the renowned arts academy in Havana: violin, musical theory, wind instruments, singing, counterpoint, and even conducting, in other words, a very classical training.
But young Raul found ways to spice it all up. So what if rock was banned on government radio stations. " We found ways of tuning into American radio stations", he remembers. "That was how I discovered Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley".
But Raul was determined to explore new horizons. He left Cuba in 1996, and after knocking about in South America he wound up in Paris, officially to study at the Schola Cantorum. Since then, his life has gathered pace. " The genius of Cuban music", enthuses Raul, "is that it assimilates elements from all over the place". The time was right: in the mid-90's Paris was a melting pot for music from all over the world. Raul hung out on the Latino scene, playing at New Morning, Hot Brass and Bataclan. He became one of the pioneers of the new Cuban wave.
Then a lucky break: he was spotted by Ralph Mercado, founder of the RMM label, "inventor" of salsa in the US. He was to cut his first record, Cuba Libre, in Gloria Estefan's studios in Miami. Renamed Imaginate for the American market, the record was a hit, selling some 100,000 copies and earning him the accolade "best new male artist" in the US music press. Raul Paz began to play live in the US and his career was well and truly underway. However, following the death of Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, Ralph Mercado went bust. The American adventure was put on hold.
Raul returned to Paris and settled down. He took an apartment close to the Place Du Colonel Fabien, "I didn't want to be too disorientated", he explained, and signed with Patrick Zelnik's label Naïve. The first fruit of this relationship was Mulata in 2003. France was bowled over by the revelatory album.
Raul Paz reinterpreted Cuban music, weaving in hip-hop beats, dub, rock riffs and a groove all of his own. Mulata sold 60,000 copies. Revolución takes up where Mulata left off. Raul Paz recorded the new record in Havana, last November, at the Egrem studios, where most gemstones of Cuban music are cut, notably those of the Buena Vista Social Club. "I love these studios", says Raul, indicating the decaying piano that has pride of place. "They've got reverb that you can't find anywhere else; a 50's sound that hasn't been bettered since". Don't be fooled: although he is proud of his roots and all the musical styles that Cuba boasts - mambo, bolero, montuno, guajira, cha-cha-cha etc. - the "French Cuban" caters for neither nostalgia nor folklore. He makes 21st century Cuban music. Revolución was mixed in Paris with Danya Vodovoz, a Russian concert pianist converted to electronic who already featured on Mulata, before being mastered at Sterling Sound in New York. "My songs always communicate on a number of levels", confesses Raul, a master of "real maravilloso", the "literal magic" that characterises Latin-American literature. But you don't need to understand Spanish to appreciate his words. This is borne out by his concerts, where his growing numbers of fans take up his lyrics as an anthem, for the most part phonetically. "I feel at home on stage, says Raul Paz, who exudes rare energy, rage and passion in concert. Alfredo Arias has good reason to have given him a leading part in Mambo Mystico, his last musical at Chaillot. Raul should be seen live. That's when Raul "Peace" goes to war. And the whole world surrenders.
But young Raul found ways to spice it all up. So what if rock was banned on government radio stations. " We found ways of tuning into American radio stations", he remembers. "That was how I discovered Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley".
But Raul was determined to explore new horizons. He left Cuba in 1996, and after knocking about in South America he wound up in Paris, officially to study at the Schola Cantorum. Since then, his life has gathered pace. " The genius of Cuban music", enthuses Raul, "is that it assimilates elements from all over the place". The time was right: in the mid-90's Paris was a melting pot for music from all over the world. Raul hung out on the Latino scene, playing at New Morning, Hot Brass and Bataclan. He became one of the pioneers of the new Cuban wave.
Then a lucky break: he was spotted by Ralph Mercado, founder of the RMM label, "inventor" of salsa in the US. He was to cut his first record, Cuba Libre, in Gloria Estefan's studios in Miami. Renamed Imaginate for the American market, the record was a hit, selling some 100,000 copies and earning him the accolade "best new male artist" in the US music press. Raul Paz began to play live in the US and his career was well and truly underway. However, following the death of Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, Ralph Mercado went bust. The American adventure was put on hold.
Raul returned to Paris and settled down. He took an apartment close to the Place Du Colonel Fabien, "I didn't want to be too disorientated", he explained, and signed with Patrick Zelnik's label Naïve. The first fruit of this relationship was Mulata in 2003. France was bowled over by the revelatory album.
Raul Paz reinterpreted Cuban music, weaving in hip-hop beats, dub, rock riffs and a groove all of his own. Mulata sold 60,000 copies. Revolución takes up where Mulata left off. Raul Paz recorded the new record in Havana, last November, at the Egrem studios, where most gemstones of Cuban music are cut, notably those of the Buena Vista Social Club. "I love these studios", says Raul, indicating the decaying piano that has pride of place. "They've got reverb that you can't find anywhere else; a 50's sound that hasn't been bettered since". Don't be fooled: although he is proud of his roots and all the musical styles that Cuba boasts - mambo, bolero, montuno, guajira, cha-cha-cha etc. - the "French Cuban" caters for neither nostalgia nor folklore. He makes 21st century Cuban music. Revolución was mixed in Paris with Danya Vodovoz, a Russian concert pianist converted to electronic who already featured on Mulata, before being mastered at Sterling Sound in New York. "My songs always communicate on a number of levels", confesses Raul, a master of "real maravilloso", the "literal magic" that characterises Latin-American literature. But you don't need to understand Spanish to appreciate his words. This is borne out by his concerts, where his growing numbers of fans take up his lyrics as an anthem, for the most part phonetically. "I feel at home on stage, says Raul Paz, who exudes rare energy, rage and passion in concert. Alfredo Arias has good reason to have given him a leading part in Mambo Mystico, his last musical at Chaillot. Raul should be seen live. That's when Raul "Peace" goes to war. And the whole world surrenders.
