Interview with ungrateful and rude person, contrabassist Hernán Cassibba. An interview by email in writing. 

JazzBluesNews.com: – First, let’s start out with where you grew up, and what got you interested in music. How exactly did your adventure take off? When did you realize that this was a passion you could make a living out of?

Hernán Cassibba: – I grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My interest in music came from my father, who took me to see recitals from a very young age. At an early age I was given a guitar, and I immediately knew that making music was what I wanted to do with my life.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Festivals 2023

JBN: – How has your sound evolved over time? What have you been doing to find and develop your own sound?

HC: – My sound evolved based on what I studied with my teachers, the recitals I saw, the groups I joined. I believe that the development of one’s own sound is a lifelong journey.

JBN: – What routine practices or exercises have you developed to maintain and improve your current musical proficiency, in terms of both rhythm and harmony?

HC: – I practice 4-5 hours a day, in 40 or 20 minute bursts, with several breaks in between. I divide the study session into; technical elements (scales, arpeggios, bebop scales, intervals, etc.), classical music studies and concerts, transcription of jazz solos, walking, rhythmic exercises and jazz repertoire.

JBN: – Have you changed through the years? Any charges or overall evolution? And if so why?

HC: – I am changing all the time. I think the biggest change occurred in quarantine, where I was able to take advantage of the brake on all activity, and lock myself up to study 7-8 a day for many things that I had pending.

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JBN: – In your opinion, what’s the balance in music between intellect and soul?

HC: – I think Charlie Parker sums it up very well in “learn it all, and forget it”. The intellectual, like the technique, always have to be based on the expression and the inner voice.

JBN: – There’s a two-way relationship between audience and artist; are you okay with delivering people the emotion they long for?

HC: – Yes.

JBN: – ???

JBN: – How can we get young people interested in jazz when most of standard tunes are half a century old?

HC: – It is important to understand that although music is ancient, its power is infinite. The same happens with Bach, Parker, Piazzolla and so many other great masters. Time is relative. The important thing is to enrich the discourse and nurture the intellect, since that will open a lot of new doors for them.

JBN: – John Coltrane once said that music was his spirit. How do you perceive the spirit and the meaning of life?

HC: – I think it’s important to focus on several things; in the family, in friends, in art in general, in society, politics, literature. Music is the most important thing in my life, what I enjoy doing the most, but life is so much more, and the world is huge. I believe that one has to experiment, have fun and always be open to discovering new worlds.

JBN: – If you could change one single thing in the musical world and that would become reality, what would that be?

JBN: – If he understood, he would definitely answer․

JBN: – Whom do you find yourself listening to these days?

HC: – Santi Dibriano, Gerard Clayton, Astor Piazzolla.

OUR US/EU Jazz and Blues Association 2023

JBN: – Let’s take a trip with a time machine: where and why would you really want to go?

HC: – 1960, para ver el recital de Woodstock y vivir todo ese momento tan rico en producción artística y política.

JBN: – Do You like our questions?

HC: – Beautuful questions.

Interview by Simon Sarg

Note: https://jazzbluesnews.com/2023/03/19/useu-jazz-blues-association-festivals/ You can express your consent and join our association, which will give you the opportunity to perform at our Jazz and Blues festivals, naturally receiving an appropriate royalty. We cover all expenses. The objectives of the interview are: How to introduce yourself, your activities, thoughts and intellect, and make new discoveries for our US/EU Jazz & Blues Association, which organizes festivals, concerts and meetings in Boston and various European countries, why not for you too!! You can read more about the association here. https://jazzbluesnews.com/2022/11/19/useujba/