2024-08-21 03:01:00
“Hey, this is a great one. We have to do something, how about a documentary?” the audiovisual director suggested. Javier Hornos to his colleague Federico Sotelo. Shortly after, on the brink of the pandemic, they began filming what became Mr. Jazz, the film by Carlos Inzillo. Much of it was done with a mask and after three full-house performances at Bafici, they hope to be able to exhibit it next September 4th at the San Martin Cultural Center.
But who is this big guy, a man with a peaked cap, a dog and a cane, such a fan of Humphrey Bogart that he named his son that, as well as a devotee of Racing and his friends? Journalist, writer, frustrated clarinetist and passionate about the genreInzillo is the architect of Jazzologyand live music cycle that these days turns forty years old and which has no parallel in Latin America, or perhaps even in the rest of the world. “It is the story of living jazz,” says Sotelo about the film’s protagonist.
“It’s incredible to get here. The budget was always low but the entrance was free,” says the person who in his youth went to listen to the pianist Pelele, enjoyed the sounds of Gato Barbieri, Baby López Furst, Fats Fernández, Negro González and Néstor Astarita at the Jamaica Club, and so many other musicians at the Hot Club of Buenos Aires and the Círculo Amigos del Jazz. It was in the midst of the effervescence of the Alfonsin spring, when Inzillo -then head of press for the San Martín Cultural Center- approached the idea to the then director of the institution, Javier Torre.I wanted to spread jazzfrom ragtime, negro spirituals, work songs and blues to contemporary expressions. Calling on established and young talents.”
“Culture flourished and The response to Jazzology was so positive that the test continued to the present day.”. They opened on September 4th with the quartet of Chilean violinist Hernán Oliva, a gypsy swing fan, together with guitarists Chachi Zaragoza and Eduardo Ravera, and bassist Carlos Soubrebost. The public filled the Enrique Muiño hall and Oliva provoked an emotional feedback with his repertoire of classics. “The following Tuesday we continued with pianist Manuel Fraga and his trio. And the story continues…”
He tells it from his apartment, which is packed with CDs and DVDs, awards, record players and film noir prints. He mentions some of the pioneers who passed through Jazzología: Enrique Villegas, René Cóspito, Osvaldo Norton, Enrique Varela, Ken Hamilton, Tony Salvador, Lona Warren. And he mentions performers from later generations, such as Javier Malosetti, Tomás Fraga, Andrés Pellican, Diego Urcola, Juan Caino and Juan Klapenbach.
Son of Don Andy, a collector and inveterate dice player (a habit he inherited), Inzillo was educated among vinyl records, when young people attended the typical and jazz dances, the most popular of the 50s, some organized by his father.
In the film, the voices are choral. Those closest to him speak about him: his wife Elena, his son Humphrey, Fraga, Adrián Iaies, Sergio Pujol. There are archive images where he is seen with René Cóspito, Louis AmstrongDonna Caroll, Dizzie Gillespie and many other jazz musicians. Inzillo met Satchmo and Gillespie in Buenos Aires, and introduced his friend Fraga at the Colón for the performance of the classic Rosa Madreselva. He had a record store in a gallery on Libertad Street, which went bankrupt because he was always lending out records.
The list of jazz musicians that Inzillo met is endless. “I’ll name just a few: Jim Hall, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Michel Petrucciani, Joe Zawinul, Lalo Schifrin, Egle Martin, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Branford Marsalis, Vince Giordano, Baden Powell, Conrad Herwig…”
In the film, memories come rushing back and he pauses to savor them as Lulu, his granddaughter, brings him something delicious to the table. “I had the opportunity to meet a lot of heavyweights. In that first year of the cycle, a bop great, the American guitarist Chuck Waynebanjo pioneer, who played with Charlie Parker. Also to Erling Kronera brilliant Danish trombonist and composer, who realized his lifelong dream in Jazzology. He was a fan of Jorge Luis Borges and our great writer went to listen to him, in the front row next to Maria Kodama. After the concert, Erling, with joy, cried a lot. In the 90s, he came to give a master class to the cycle the formidable American vocalist Betty Carterone of the most creative in history. She shared the stage with Marta Bellomo, Leda Valladares and María Volonté.”
-Did the cycle go through difficult times?
-In 1984, the democratic atmosphere was in danger. One Tuesday a call came in threatening to plant a bomb. The police inspection found nothing. We had a meeting and were unsure whether to hold it. We consulted with Mariano Tito, a very talented vibraphonist and pianist who had a big band. “Let’s play!” he said. The audience came in and enjoyed a vibrant session. There were a couple of times when they tried to get us out, but not exactly for economic reasons.
-A story that you remember fondly?
-Rubén Carámbula (Berugo’s uncle) was performing, a pioneer of jazz in Uruguay. He had lived in the United States and had a school of jazz and Afro rhythms in Montevideo. Among his students was the clarinetist and oriental saxophonist Alberto Alonso. They had not seen each other for 20 years and he went to see him to surprise him. Alonso hid behind the scenes and appeared accompanying the maestro behind the curtain. ‘Where are you, Alberto Alonso? You are unique,’ Carámbula guessed. The hug was endless.
To note in the agenda
To celebrate the 40th anniversary in September, three Tuesdays have been scheduled: on the 3rd there will be “Ray Charles & Betty Carter”, a tribute to two greats with Jorge Cutello and Guadalupe Raventos; on the 10th, the Big Band of the Popular Music School of Avellaneda, in a program of swing classics, under the direction of Juan Cruz de Urquiza; and on the 17th, Manuel Fraga on solo piano, with an eclectic repertoire. In addition, the internationally renowned Japanese pianist Tomoko Ohno will join the celebration on Tuesday, October 22, in a duo with Ricardo Lew on guitar. Also on the agenda are Delfina Oliver, Helena Cullen and the Creole Jazz Band, and a tribute to Juan Klapenbach.