September 14, 2006

Bold and vibrant, newly formed Latinismo the 'real deal,' founder Cucho Gonzalez says

By Sherry Lucas
slucas@clarionledger.com

Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger

Latinismo performs at the Everyday Gourmet. The band will play at Festival Latino on Saturday.

Cucho Gonzalez is the founder, leader and percussionist of Latinismo, a Jackson Latin band that will take the stage at Saturday's Festival Latino '06 at Rapids on the Reservoir. They'll also play at Panino's in Jackson Sept. 22-23.

Q: What's the background of Latinismo?

A: The band came together ... about this time last year. When you try to get a band this big (nine to 10 members) to get the authentic sound, I went through a lot of great musicians. That's because I was looking for somebody who not only had the talent but the dedication and the love for the type of music that we do.

Q: What brought you from Puerto Rico to Mississippi?

A: I've been in Mississippi about 10 years. I have three brothers here. They own Courthouse Gymnastics Company and I used to coach gymnastics. At that time I was in North Carolina and they needed another coach so I came down. ... Hey, it's great to be with family. (The oldest of five brothers - the other one is a Latin music producer in California - he taught gymnastics 17 years.)

My brothers, we all played music. The three, I call them the jocks in the family, they're pretty well-known as far as gymnastics is concerned. Since I was the oldest one, there's only so much you can do in gymnastics and your body can take so much. I think music's a lot safer.

Q: Who are the musicians in Latinismo?

A: (Gonzalez plays timbales. The rest of the band is guitarist and vocalist Rick Moreira, bassist Johnny Hubbard, trumpet player Jeff Reiter, percussionist Rufus Mapp, drummer Steve Cook, sax player Sherrill Holly, keyboardist Richard Smith and trombone player Andy Pizzo. Percussionist Rodney "Will" Holmes, bassist Bob Pieczyk and trombone player Mike Weidick also play with Latinismo on occasion.) I think it's a pretty good combination now. We have a drummer and we can play a broader spectrum. I play drums and if I was an octopus, I could do that, but I have to get somebody.

The bulk of the band plays at churches and that's important to us. You've got to give back.

Q: What's the public perception of Latin music?

A: You say Latin music and people immediately think it's just Mexican music. It's not. It's a lot of countries and continents all put together. (Entertainers from Tito Puente and Carlos Santana to Mark Anthony and Ricky Martin have helped broaden the scope, he said.)

Q: Who's your target audience?

A: We try to attract both crowds, the North American crowd and the Latin American crowd. ... I want to try to keep it authentic and unite both cultures. They offer so many great things.

Latin people never had a Latin band here, like a true Latin band. We want to become Jackson's real deal Latin band. It's kind of cool that we're asked to play every genre of music and I just wind up bringing that together and saying, "Here, try something different."

My dad would say, when he would set the table in terms of food for us, he would go, "Hey, have you tried this? Oh, you have existed but you haven't lived.'"

I guess you can put it that way.