Interview RSS The Exclusive MP3.com
Interview Podcast Video Los Zafiros
Trailer

Once upon a time, there was a group of Cuban musicians who rose to great heights, only to fall into obscurity due to political and industrial change outside of their control.

Sound familiar?

But unlike the Buena Vista Social Club, which was a collection of artists from a variety of bands, Los Zafiros were actually a working group, and a popular one at that. The Sapphires brilliantly mixed American-inspired doo-wop with Afro-Cuban rhythms, salsa, son, and other traditional Latin forms, and were often referred to as The Beatles of 1960s Cuba.

Filmmaker Lorenzo DeStefano happened upon the story of Los Zafiros and decided it was a story that needed to be told, reuniting the two surviving members and asking them to share their memories. The film is out on DVD now.

MP3.com: Hi, Lorenzo? Lorenzo DeStefano: Hey Jim. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. No problem. I'm looking forward to it. Great. I got a chance to watch some parts of the film but not all of it as the DVD just arrived. So I have to confess that I haven't seen the whole thing yet. Oh, yeah, that's a little late. That's OK, though. I've seen the trailer and obviously I have a little bit of knowledge about the group, particularly Manuel [Galban], and I know a little bit about the history.

From a cursory perspective, this seems like another story of a group of talented musicians in Cuba who for one reason or another got wrapped up in the political and social changes that were going on in the '50s and '60s and as a result kind of got washed away a little bit, not much to their own doing. Talk about that and how maybe it relates to the folks in the Buena Vista Social Club. Yeah. Well one of the guys, Manuel Galban, is now in Buena Vista. He wasn't in the very beginning but he is now. It's a different story than Buena Vista in the sense that this was a real group that was a pop sensation as opposed to a bunch of guys who maybe occasionally played together but not as a cohesive unit until Ry Cooder came along and they put that thing together. Right. It was more of a collective of a bunch of different players who may or may not have played together over the years but shared a sound and a tradition. Yeah, from a generation of sort of a folklore kind of approach. So this is a pop approach and that's what's different and it's good that people have been noticing the difference between the two films. Sure, absolutely. This is much more rooted in story and emotion and family and the effect this group had on the people. Yeah, I think they came at this specific time, 1962, after messing around for a while before that and really came together once Galban got on board as musical director. And they took it for a ride, about 10 years or so, with diminishing returns based on as well as the changing climate in Cuba, as you mentioned, in the '70s, with some stricter adherence to the code of working for the state, plus their own imploding from their own habits. Right. So it was a little bit of both. It wasn't simply a question of the revolution, they had some internal issues that for one reason or another prevented that from kind of continuing on and that kind of stuff. Yeah, and the film shows the dynamic there between the older guys Galban and Cancio, the two survivors, basically trying to corral these other guys into showing up. Right. And there was a lot of crazy stuff going on and the hotel room is wrecked, you know, it's a rock-and-roll story. But they actually thrived during the revolution. You know, there's a line in there that, at least, Cancio says, "As musicians we didn't contribute tangible goods or anything but we did contribute with a distraction for people who needed something at that time." Sure. And so there you have the people on the streets, the interviews in the film, the degree of reverence with which they're still held is amazing. Yeah, and it is different, also, in the sense that this was a pop group that was very stylized and very much influenced by the Motown sound. Oh, definitely influenced by that, yeah. I'm interested in how you came to this project whether it was something that you'd been thinking about for quite a long time or came upon you pretty quickly? Well I discovered the story of the group in 1998 through an album called Bossa Cubana on the World Circuit label. That got me into the music, which was lush and very beautiful no matter whether you're a fan of that late '50s R&B or not. It's extremely well crafted. Yeah, sure. And that's what [World Circuit and Buena Vista producer] Nick Gold talks about in the movie, how it's pop but it's art, and the seriousness with which they approached it. So that and they were backed by great songwriters in Cuba and all kinds of great musicians to jump in and help and a state recording thing that they didn't have to pay for but it turns out of course that they didn't own any of the songs either. Of course. So they were riding a wave. Yeah, absolutely. And I came to it from that record and then got the permission of the two guys. I offered them that opportunity to tell the story in a comprehensive way. And then we did it. OK. Is there any chance of touring with the two surviving members? Do they hope to kind of use the momentum of the release of the film to maybe put together an album either together and/or tour? Right. Well it's tricky because obviously your biggest market is kept from you. The US. Right. Things have gotten very, very tricky visa-wise over the years. Yeah, and again, that's what the film's kind of about in a tacit way is that people over politics is the position of the film but it doesn't always work that way. Right. In this case it's politics over people. Right. Galban is well employed by World Circuit and they keep him touring to the amount he wants and he likes being at home too. Cancio is kind of not in the musical scene anymore but the filming really gave them that opportunity to come together and life is not film. So yeah, I mean, there was some talk of trying to do something in Canada with Los Nuevo Zafiros, the tribute group that's in Havana. But it's expensive. And Manuel has been doing some solo work and won a Grammy for Mambo Sinnuendo, the album he did with Ry Cooder a few years back. Yeah, and he's a much more worldly. When we were filming they reminded me so much of two old heavyweight actors in a way. Galban was Anthony Quinn and Cancio was Marlon Brando, you know, and they had that similar dynamic. In terms of how they interacted with each other or just as individuals? Well Galban looks a lot like Anthony Quinn. And Cancio's brooding quality is similar to Brando. But they were really great and easy to work with. OK. It's been some years for Cancio more but they're used to the limelight. And they have that walk, that strut, that even older men you can tell that they once were studs. Right. It's one of those things that doesn't really go away regardless of time passing or situations changing and that kind of stuff. The swagger stays. It's the same way they're watching women walk by and Cancio says, "Look at these women. They're looking dangerous." So they're both still feeling it. Right. Yeah. The swagger remains. There was a day when all they to do was show up and they had those women. I'm sure. So in terms of the film, what's the schedule looking like? Have you already done a lot of the festival circuits kind of thing? Yeah, we've been through that. Shout Factory stood behind this all the way, and they've been great. And I think that we just happen to be coming out now on DVD, it's strictly chance. But the Cuban situation, the uncertainty of it is always a boost in the sense that Cuba is always in the news. Very true. Well, Lorenzo, Thanks a lot for the time. We very much appreciate it. All right, Jim. Very good.