We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hery Paz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hery below.
Hery, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I grew up in a small town in Cuba and after the collapse of the Soviet Union we went into a recession that we can arguably say extends till today. Forget about tooth paste, toilet paper, soap, cooking oil, milk… etc just to name a few basic needs. My father who was a professional musician/painter took work at a friends farm to be able to get compensated in rice, beans and yuca so that we had something to eat at home. Despite the economic and social deterioration we lived in, my parents created a caring, supportive and nurturing environment where I was free to develop and pursuit my artistic curiosities. My father gave me my first guitar at age 7 and pretty soon after he started to take me around to his performances in traditional cuban Conjuntos, and the rest is history. I fell in love with music and at age 9 I was accepted into the Ernesto Lecuona Classic Conservatory of Music across the province in Sancti Spiritus. This meant for my parents 5 years of countless trips and sacrifices to take me food, and support me through my studies at the conservatory. But the biggest risk they took for me was to leave everything behind in Cuba to migrate to the United States in 2001 so that I was free to pursuit a better future. Both of them worked below minimum wage to put food on the table and a roof over my head through High School and my first 4 years of College till they were disable to work for advanced health issues. 22 years later I have a Masters degree from one of the most reputable music programs in the world (New England Conservatory) and have been working successfully in New York City for the past 8 years as an independent Artist. So what did my parents do right? I will say everything, any success or recognition I receive in my life is as much theirs as it is mine, I owe them everything.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
I’m a 36 years old interdisciplinary cuban artist and composer based in NYC and my main disciplines are music and visual arts. In music I’m an improviser/composer specialized in woodwinds (Saxophone/Flute/Clarinet…) and in visual arts I work as a painter/video media artist.
My father is a musician and a painter and my grandfather was an inventor and artist so I grew up in a Cuban household where art was a way of life. Since I can remember I was involved in making/creating whether it was playing an instrument, painting or making my own toys at my grandfather’s workshop. I was definitely born into the crafts that I practice today.
I was classically trained in Cuban Music Conservatories for 6 years and at age 15 migrated with my parents to Miami leaving behind family and the dire conditions we were living in. I worked part-time for a moving company and as a janitor at a hospital through high-school and a bachelors degree. Eventually earning a merit scholarship for my Masters degree at New England Conservatory in Boston where I had the opportunity to meet and study with incredible people like Jerry Bergonzi, Miguel Zenón, Donny McCaslin, Fred Hersch, Ran Blake and Bob Moses. After studies I moved to New York City where I have been a part of the creative music scene for 8 years, having the privilege to work with artists such as Dave Liebman, William Parker, Ralph Alessi, Francisco Mela, Thomas Morgan, Román Díaz, Kris Davis, Ethan Iverson, Juan De Marcos Gonzales, Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver and Joe Morris.
As a band leader I have 3 current projects with recordings on the way:
JARDINEROS – with cuban musicians Román Díaz (percussion), Francisco Mela (drums) and myself (woodwinds, piano). Where we get to explore and repurpose native elements from our culture into a new form of expression combining contemporary composition and improvisation.
RIVER CREATURES – with Tom Rainey (drums), Nate Wooley (trumpet) and myself (tenor saxophone) in which we interpret and improvise around my graphic scores.
OSTIARY – which is an avant-garde group of improvisers composed of Joe Morris (guitar), Pedro Melo Alves (drums) and myself (tenor saxophone, flute).
As a sideman I have had the opportunity to play in acclaimed national and international venues and festivals such as: Blue Note (NYC), Jimmy Glass Jazz Club (Valencia), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Smalls Jazz Club (NYC), Porta Jazz Festival (Portugal), EuroJazz Festival (Mexico), San Francisco Jazz Center, (SF) Jordan Hall (Boston), Robalo Jazz Festival (Portugal), Hot Club (Lisbon)…
As a painter I am a published cover artist with IRAZÚ RECORDS, RED PIANO RECORD and PYROCLASTIC RECORDS (Kris Davis/Craig Taborn “Octopus”). As well as the commissioned artist for the 4th Season of the prestigious label NEWVELLE RECORDS.
One of the things I’m the most proud of perhaps is that I have pursued my career and search for identity uncompromisingly, with vulnerability and integrity not being afraid of change. Often times I see young artist mistakenly aligning themselves to a “click” group or ideology to either hide within or ride the temporary wave of attention/success that the group is experiencing aesthetically or socially which leads nowhere on a personal level. There is an individual responsibility we have as creative beings to be honest with ourselves in taking risk, developing and deepening what we produce facing the real possibility of it being misunderstood and/or not well received. Art is fearless, unapologetic, uncompromising, complex and painfully sincere, and so should we strive to be ourselves.
It is extremely hard to find your place and identity as a Cuban latino after being uprooted and replanted in very different soil. Surviving and adapting to an environment that is both foreign and distant from what you hold dear and consider home. As a result, a common and significant practice in my artistic process is to recycle poetic, aesthetic, plastic, rhythmic, socio-cultural and syncretic raw materials from Cuban culture to transform them into a personal compositional and instrumental practice. More than in cultural preservation, I’m interested in the transcendental complexity and flexibility of culture and its inherited ability to evolve.
Among influences and inspiration to my work I can list Wifredo Lam, Cecil Taylor, Alejo Carpentier, Evan Parker, Reina María Rodriguez, Leo Brouwer, Charles Gayle, Lorenzo García Vega, Argeliers León and many others.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I believe that in some regards we can draw parallels from produce and food to answer this question. Consume local if you can, stay away from big market chains, take at least basic interests in what you are ingesting: where does it come from? whose hands nurtured and produced it. Be curious, take risk, there is a time for comfort whatever that might be for you, but it is only balanced by the times where you expand your palette and understanding. Remember that entertainment and music as an art form are non mutually exclusive things, which also applies to visual arts as well. Art often presents profound questions, it asks for something from us, not just our attention, it engages and challenges us, it requires some degree of vulnerability and surrender, as well as empathy. This brings me to my last point and perhaps the hardest to apply, be PATIENT, probably a cruel thing to ask someone in the age of speed, information, and instant gratification. To listen to an entire album in one sitting, are you crazy? Or watch a 3 hour movie? Some of the best things in life are an acquired taste, they simply require time and exposure. Take it from a recent chocolate addict, yeah that’s right I’m pretty weird, I discovered chocolate in my 30’s. To put it in context I grew up in a Communist country with very little resources so my experience was limited to more less 5 encounters with chocolate in the first 15 years of my life and they did not go well. You know what finally broke the ice? Added Sea Salt, and now I even enjoy 100% Cocoa or “dirt” as I used to called it. So be patient, give Art a chance when presented with unfamiliarity, I promise there will be artist that will introduce you to new worlds and artistic ecosystems as beautiful and profound as the ones you enjoy now.
In more practical and less philosophical ways to support independent artist, commission them for work, buy music directly from them, follow them on social platforms and more importantly on their websites. In the music industry there aren’t many platforms that fairly compensate independent artists so avoid iTunes or Spotify, use BANDCAMP instead who came up with initiatives like offering one Friday of the month where 100% of sales go to the artist free of fees. Support independent small labels, they are usually artist owned and becomes the only viable means for them to produce and curate their music and their peers. Go see local live music shows, bring friends and family to share the experience and take the opportunity to talk to the artists. Lastly, NEVER haggle an artist price, leave that to dealers, gallerists, managers etc… if you can’t afford it find an alternative, perhaps a smaller piece and if you can afford it, consider paying more, to support and help them continue to produce.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?
Plenty of compelling aspects, but the most rewarding for me has to be the renewed capacity to see life differently through the creative process. It enables me to recognize the potential of things beyond their ordinary use. That in itself carries enough propellant to get you out of bed and through the painful process of materializing an idea in hopes to bring something positive into this world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.herypaz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hery_paz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hery.paz/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-AS_OSew2O-oW-8voJUQWA
Image Credits
Kenneth Jimenez & Roberto Murillo