Enid Rosales: Forging a New Musical Direction

Helson Hernandez

HAVANA TIMES — A young woman on the Tres, a traditional Cuban instrument, presents us with her album which she’s made with the help of friends. “I’ve always accompanied many top Cuban musicians,” she says in this interview with HT.

HT: Briza Pasajera (passing breeze)?

Enid Rosales: It’s the disc I finished putting together in 2012.

HT: Has it been difficult to place it with the recording companies?

ER: Last year I tried to promote and license it under one of the island’s labels but so far without success, apparently because of the backlog the producers have. So I decided to go it alone and finance it independently.

HT: And what’s it all about?

ER: The album consists of 13 songs, 12 of which I wrote, and the last one with the members of D’ Corazon, Vicente Alejandro and Hernán Rivero, which is why I called it ‘Three for Three.’ The violinist Roxana Iglesias and her string quartet Frasis appear as my other guests, plus cellist Paula Isabel Garcia on the song Abuelo. Adrian Berazaín, the troubadour, plays harmonica on one of the numbers.

HT: What’s it like making an disc independently in Cuba?

ER: Friends is what it’s all about. Because to do independent work you need to be able to count on the support of friends who do everything out of the love and sympathy that unites us. Musicians who have been important throughout my career, who know my work, are here on this disc.

HT: Will Briza Pasajera be listed on the Cubadisco 2014 program?

ER: I hope it will be nominated; it’s already on the list of discs proposed for this year’s event. I hope to present the finished disc soon; I’m in the final stages of design in other words, finishing the album as such, and it’s an independent production so you have to look for people who know what they’re doing; fortunately it’s going very well, and I think it will have the desired result.

HT: Highlights?

ER: One very special number is dedicated to my grandparents. It came from listening to one of Liuba María Hevia’s numbers which also has grandparents in it. She sings about the sort of stuff my grandparents do and say and it’s dedicated in passing to all those people with greying hair. It says something about gray hair being mirrors, reflections, memories.  Gray hair is time past.

HT: And on the disk, where will find you as a musician?

ER: This time I play the Tres and sing as well as having composed the numbers on the disc.

HT: This year you’ve been nominated for the “Cuerda Viva” on Cuban TV.

ER: I was nominated previously in the Trova category of the festival but as an instrumentalist and with Frasis, the group. This year fortunately they’ve included me as a soloist in the Trova slot which is a pretty important slot.

HT: Tell us about the new group accompanying you.

ER: I’ve always accompanied many top musicians, Liuba Ma Hevia, Karma Duo, the troubadour Erick Sanchez and others and a few months ago I decided instead of being like the tail of all those lions, become a sort of head of a mouse. In September last year I started to work with all of the musicians in my band; there’s six of us; I’ve got a line-up with drums, bass, guitar, and even a clarinet, with myself on the Tres. Even though I’m playing my own compositions, I’ll always continue collaborating with these and other artists who need me.

HT: How would you describe yourself as an artist?

ER: A songmaker.