Fabio Rojas Interview

Recently I received the new record of Fabio Rojas with the name „Perservance“ . Fabio is a drummer from Venezuela who now lives in the USA in New York City.

 

It is a vibrant album with a lot of drums and an excellent jazz band.

The music has a lot flair from the new york jazz scene and latin america. Fabio holds his music together with his skillfull drum playing with a lot of energy and high emotion. The music has a real flow with and is never boring throughout the whole CD.

 

 

If you like to get to know more about the record, please visit Fabio´s Website:

 

https://www.fabiorojasmusic.com/

 

‘Perseverance’ is set to release on September 19th.

JP: Hello Fabio thank you for your time for Jazzreporter.com! 

 

JP: When was the first time you heard jazz music? 

 

FR: Probably before, but I recall when I was around 15, and I started playing it when I was 16 for the first time when I graduated high school and started my first music university.

 

JP: Is it a big jazz music scene in Venezuela?

 

FR: When I left (2010) there was. A lot of people used to travel there and perform, right now due to the political turmoil, that doesn’t happen. And today’s scene in Venezuela, I don’t really know, as I haven’t  been there since I left. I live in the US and I’m part of the New York City scene.

 

JP: Is the american jazz music very popular in the USA?

 

FR: Yes it is for sure. In the case of New York City, jazz  is everywhere you look. Any city/town that you travel to, there’s always jazz. Most universities across the nation have jazz programs as well, and a lot of people studying it from all over the world.

 

JP: Which drummers influenced you in your youth?

 

FR: During my youth, as most people in the 90’s, 2000, I grew up watching MTV. My favorite drummers as a teenager were Travis Barker and Joey Jordison. Later on, while studying latin percussion, Tito Puente. And when I got into jazz I started listening to the jazz greats: Tony Williams, Art Blakey, Jack DeJhonette, Roy Haynes, Max Roach.

 

JP: Which kind of music inspired you for your new record Perseverance?

 

FR: Perseverance is a summary of all my influences that I’ve had during my life. There’s jazz improvisation, sound, instrumentation. There’s folkloric rhythms and harmonies from Venezuela used in some of the tunes. There’s a little bit of rock influence too with some power chords in some sections of the tunes and feel. There’s classical influence that I got from playing in orchestras as a teenager used in the orchestration, texture/arrangements. And there’s a big influence from Film Scores as well, as I am a film composer, and I like to compose in different  formats and instrumentations. If you analyze the music and listen to it as a whole, the whole album has a very cinematic feel, representing my story and events.

 

JP: Which kind of sound did you have in your head when you started recording this music? Modern 80s fusion music? 

 

FR: This music was all recorded in one day in the studio. The sound that I thought is a 2024 jazz sound, using today’s technologies with all the micking, and today’s sound, as all the greats have done in their time, using what is at hand, to represent the present, and prepare the future. In the case of the drums, my cymbals are very dark, but the toms are tuned lower. I’ve used high pitch toms for about 15 years, and for the last 3 years, I’ve decided to change and look for a more personal sound, so I lowered all the tuning of the drum set, and used more toms, two rack toms and two floor toms. One of the musicians that suggested having more toms to use was Greg Osby, about 5 years ago, during a tour in Asia. 

 

JP: Is Perseverance the most important cd in your career?

 

FR: This is my debut album as a leader, so career wise, definitely. Up until now 2024, but I plan to do more projects in the future as well. 

 

But I would like to note that every album that I have recorded before, either as a co-leader (Contraluz) with pianist Kevin Harris, or all the albums that I recorded or composed music as a sideman have all been equally important for me. As each one of these experiences have prepared me and taught me how to do “Perseverance”, so this wouldn’t have been possible, without all the previous recordings I’ve done.

 

JP: Can your music have a little impact on the current political situation in the USA or Venezuela?

 

FR: In Venezuela, I hope that it brings some spotlight and another perspective on the political turmoil, as most of the album is based on growing up there and how the dictatorship affected every aspect of life. And I hope it's resolved soon as well and becomes a democratic country again. It’s time.

 

JP: Are you planning to make a tour through europe with your band?

 

FR: Yes, that is one of my plans for 2025. I would love to go perform with my band to different music festivals across Europe in 2025, so I hope to see you there!.