Paul Heck visited our studios on April 11, 2012 to discuss his new work with Red Hot Cuba. If youâre unaware of the Red Hot Series, go run and buy the first one â Red Hot Blue with artists David Byrne, Annie Lennox, Tom Waits, U2, and Erasure. The album made millions of dollars to fight AIDS (which is Red Hotâs company model). That first record launched a series of 15 other themed compilations to raise money for AIDS. To discover their discography, check out Red Hot on Wiki and their official website.
Paul was also my music supervision Godfather for my documentary East of Havana, where he secured music ranging from Trio Matamoros to MOP, and had Bryce of The Nationals create original music for my soundtrack. Paulâs latest compilation is Red Hot Cuba, which was genius timing because Iâve been waiting to get this passionate music-maker on the show. Ladies, and gentlemen, meet Paul!
Jauretsi: We have our guest in the studio today , Mr. Paul Heck.
Paul: Hola. Hola Sugar BaronsâŚ
Jauretsi: Paul is an American but he likes to think that heâs Latin deep down inside (laughs)
Paul: Itâs the New Jersey in me⌠New Jesssey
Jauretsi: Anyways, I just want to introduce Paul. Paul has worked on multiple projects, amazing stuff, heâs mostly international you would say?
Paul: Yes.
Jauretsi: Yeah, sorry itâs a lot of world markets weâre dealing with here. Anyways one of the projects he works on at the moment is the Red Hot series. Actually Paul I was going to ask you, is there any way to describe what the Red Hot series is about? What its mission is?
Paul: Red Hotâs mission is to raise money and awareness to fight AIDS around the world. Weâve been around since 1990, we do records and films and concerts. One of our last projects was a Brazilian record that featured Gilberto Gil classic called âSoy Loco Por Ti Americaâ featuring Los Van Van and Carlinhos Brown and thatâs the next song weâre going to play right?
Jauretsi: Yeah, weâre gonna play a song soon actually and then weâre gonna discuss the collaboration with BAM , that youâre working on. Youâre gonna head over to Cuba soon⌠and also East of Havana, which is a very badass documentary on the hip-hop scene in Cuba [self-mocking], you were down for that one?
Paul: That we worked on together, yes.
Jauretsi: Yes.Yes.Yes, a lot of good memories there that was 2004 and itâs 2012 now, so a lots happened politically since thenâŚ
Paul: We havenât aged though, soâŚ
Jauretsi: Yeah, I donât know about that actually. Fountain of youth! Itâs all in Cuba, people donât grow old there. Anyways, introduce this song actually from the Red, Hot, Rio album.
Paul: So this is a Gilberto Gil classic, this is Brazilian theme record but this is a song thatâs sort of about Latin American love called âSoy Loco por Ti Americaâ and it features Los Van Van, the classic legendary Cuban band and Carlinhos Brown the mad genius of Bahia and it was produced by our good friend and collaborator Andres Levin.
Jauretsi: Yeah, we are going to be talking about Andres Levin, actually very influential Cuban- American that is going to be working on these projects. Hereâs the track!
Paul was also my music supervision Godfather for my documentary East of Havana, where he secured music ranging from Trio Matamoros to MOP, and had Bryce of The Nationals create original music for my soundtrack. Paulâs latest compilation is Red Hot Cuba, which was genius timing because Iâve been waiting to get this passionate music-maker on the show. Ladies, and gentlemen, meet Paul!
Jauretsi: We have our guest in the studio today , Mr. Paul Heck.
Paul: Hola. Hola Sugar BaronsâŚ
Jauretsi: Paul is an American but he likes to think that heâs Latin deep down inside (laughs)
Paul: Itâs the New Jersey in me⌠New Jesssey
Jauretsi: Anyways, I just want to introduce Paul. Paul has worked on multiple projects, amazing stuff, heâs mostly international you would say?
Paul: Yes.
Jauretsi: Yeah, sorry itâs a lot of world markets weâre dealing with here. Anyways one of the projects he works on at the moment is the Red Hot series. Actually Paul I was going to ask you, is there any way to describe what the Red Hot series is about? What its mission is?
Paul: Red Hotâs mission is to raise money and awareness to fight AIDS around the world. Weâve been around since 1990, we do records and films and concerts. One of our last projects was a Brazilian record that featured Gilberto Gil classic called âSoy Loco Por Ti Americaâ featuring Los Van Van and Carlinhos Brown and thatâs the next song weâre going to play right?
Jauretsi: Yeah, weâre gonna play a song soon actually and then weâre gonna discuss the collaboration with BAM , that youâre working on. Youâre gonna head over to Cuba soon⌠and also East of Havana, which is a very badass documentary on the hip-hop scene in Cuba [self-mocking], you were down for that one?
Paul: That we worked on together, yes.
Jauretsi: Yes.Yes.Yes, a lot of good memories there that was 2004 and itâs 2012 now, so a lots happened politically since thenâŚ
Paul: We havenât aged though, soâŚ
Jauretsi: Yeah, I donât know about that actually. Fountain of youth! Itâs all in Cuba, people donât grow old there. Anyways, introduce this song actually from the Red, Hot, Rio album.
Paul: So this is a Gilberto Gil classic, this is Brazilian theme record but this is a song thatâs sort of about Latin American love called âSoy Loco por Ti Americaâ and it features Los Van Van, the classic legendary Cuban band and Carlinhos Brown the mad genius of Bahia and it was produced by our good friend and collaborator Andres Levin.
Jauretsi: Yeah, we are going to be talking about Andres Levin, actually very influential Cuban- American that is going to be working on these projects. Hereâs the track!
GILBERTO GIL
Jauretsi: There was some awesome drums on that song actuallyâŚ
Paul: Yep, Soy Loco Por Ti America. Thereâs a story where Los Van Van was in Brazil and playing a big music festival and Carlinhos was there the same day and so they got together and they rehearsed and they were gonna play the song onstage and theyâre about to go on, the artist before them just played the same song. Itâs like this famous anthem, so they were like âOh, Damn!â
Jauretsi: So, they didnât play it?
Paul: They just , I donât know , either they didnât do anything or they played a different song that wasnât this song from our album. But it was just funny how you prepare these things live and think âOh itâs gonna be so great!!â and then some huge artist [goes on] before you, and you canât play the same song again soâŚ
Jauretsi: Yeah, the song must go one basically, the art of improvisation huh? It says Red Hot actually produced 16 albums and more than 10 million dollars towards AIDS charity.
Paul: Weâve given away over 10 million dollars, though thatâs been across the board, mostly from record sales but weâve been doing more and more shows lately including a long running series. Eight years now with The Brooklyn Academy of Music. Itâs sort of every even year on World Aids Day December 1. We usually have two concerts, so itâs usually Dec 1 and 2. Weâre incredibly excited because this year itâs gonna be a Cuban focused project called Red, Hot, Cuba.
Jauretsi: Yeah, lets talk about that project actually, now I realize with your other Red Hot albums, such as South Africa or Brazil compilations, thereâs no real travel issues going back and forth [the country], or bringing artists back and forth, so I imagine Red Hot Cuba has a whole new wrench in the machine [concerning Cuba and US travel bans], tell me about how thatâs affecting the whole gameplan.
Paul: The great thing about BAM is that theyâre essentially the producing entity, so they are going to handle a lot of those [travel] license issues, they had a big Cuba Si! festival last year.
Jauretsi: Yeah, tell me about Cuba Si!, I attended some of those events. That was the most amazing greatest hits of Cuba in New York last year.
Paul: They do good work, I have to get Nick from BAM in here, our line producer to discuss it, but the good thing for me is that theyâve been down these roads before and theyâve worked and gotten licenses from OFAC [Office of Foreign Assets Control] so weâre literally in these discussions now for the concert. But what made our lives a little more difficult is to actually bring U.S artists down to Cuba in the late summer and Fall, in order to get the ball rolling with some of the musical collaborations. So as you know itâs exactly the things that youâre not supposed to do, which are illegal, which is actually collaborating with Cubans.
Jauretsi: Making an album [with a Cuban] is like the biggest cardinal sin [for the US Administration]
Paul: So you can license something from a Cuban artist and pay them for it, but youâre not supposed to actually create with them. But hopefully weâre gonna work through all these licensing issues and be able to go down there. Weâre trying to do a series of maybe four or five short trips, 4 or 5 day trips with 1 or 2 artists instead of trying to get everybody together at the same time. As you know, thereâs flights I think 2 times a week.
Jauretsi: Thereâs so many flights now Obama freed up flights last year. You can go directly from Key West, from New Orleans, more from New York now, and now Los Angeles. A lot more flights opened up, and the few travel agencies that exist are all booked out and thereâs a big influx of Americans heading down to Cuba right now, because of these new âPeople to Peopleâ licenses that Obama cleared. You couldnât be doing this project at a better time.
Paul: I hope so, itâs gonna be fun we just gotta put the few pieces together, get the artists to commit and go down there and have some fun and make some music.
Jauretsi: So, itâs a two part project? It seems like you actually want to bring [American] artists to Cuba. Tell me about the one thatâs actually New York based in December. Basically, one is sort of youâre trying, and the other one is kind of in the bag. Tell me the one thatâs in the bag.
Paul: The show, the Red, Hot, Cuba show is going to happen. Thereâs funding for it, so itâs gonna happen. So, weâre going to be bringing a bunch of Cuban artists up for that to perform and collaborate and sort of reinterpret. I guess itâs sort of about this phrase âNeo-Cubaâ, itâs whats new in Cuba now. Nothing wrong with The Buena Vista Social Club, but we really want to reflect what artists are doing musically now and mix them with other international artists. Whether itâs Rodrigo y Gabriela or possibly Dr.John, Alo Black, thereâs a bunch of different artists weâre talking to, to try to throw into the mix.
Jauretsi: Thatâs amazing. I see the word here âNeo-Cubaâ, sort of running around the proposal on the Red Hot Cuba project, itâs funny my blog is called The New Cuba, so thereâs this whole mentality of pushing Cuba into the present, pushing it into the future and just, you know, helping modernize it basically.
Paul: Yeah, well it kind of comes from Andres levin, who we can talk about more, but I guess when I was with you in Cuba back in 2004 there was that phrase âCubaneoâ, which is kind of like the way of Cubans, the stuff you have to doâŚ
Jauretsi: El Cubaneo, the Cuban way man, we hustle.
Paul: Yeah, when you have no money and you gotta figure out how to feed yourself and your family. So Neo Cuba in a way is a flip, saying itâs a new time and thereâs new opportunities and new possibilities and, you know, itâs time to get to know each other better from my perspective.
Jauretsi: Absolutely and theres so many laws that happened last year between Raul Castro too that have opened up to that.
Paul: Yeah, thereâs a ways to go, as weâve seen especially with the Miami Marlins baseball manager sticking both feet in the mouth
Jauretsi: I was just thinking about that in the last 48 hours, you know they brought that guy into the Marlins to actually attract more ticket buyers to the stadium and he did the reverse.
Paul: Yeah, they built the stadium in Miami and then it was like wow! There was no sensitivity training on that oneâŚ
Jauretsi: I canât hit him, I canât hit him while heâs down. But that was just not a smart statement there yeah. Alright Iâm gonna play a little bit of Celia Cruz, Iâm picking Celia Cruz just because she ended up leaving her country and always vowed to go back and see her
homeland. Homegirl sort of passed away and never made it back to her soil again. Although
she was buried with some Cuban soil [in her casket], just to kind of unite her with her land. Anyways, Iâm going to play some stuff right now itâs âYerbero Moderoâ. Itâs Celia Cruz when she was with Sonora Matancera.
CELIA CRUZ
Jauretsi: Letâs go down the list of artists for this project â Juan Formell, Los Van Van, Kelvis Ochoa, Juan Luis Cortez, Cucu Diamantes, Carlos Varela. A lot of these artists and more are going to be involved in this Red Hot Cuba project and hopefully some of the US bands will be allowed to record in Cuba, most of them definitely playing Dec 1 and 2 [2012] at BAM. Tell me about the band Yerba Buena, which is pretty much the band Andres is in with his wife Cucu.
Paul: Myself and Andres Levin and Cucu, his wife, is a Cuban born singer and artist. Theyâve been spending a lot of time in Cuba the last couple years. Actually just finished a feature film about sort of their adventures of touring and playing there and Andres is a long time collaborator, he was sort of the main musical architect of the Red Hot Riot album. We did our first Fela Kuti tribute about 12 years ago, so it just seemed a perfect opportunity to work with him again, cause heâs really been hands on with all these Cuban artists and really knows the pulse of whatâs happening. So, some of those artists you mentioned weâre reaching out to, but we havenât necessarily confirmed yet. But it kind of gives you an idea of what weâre going after.
Paul: Yerba is the band Andres has had since we did the Riot record and itâs sort of evolved into Cucuâs band, Cucu Diamantes. So, itâs just an amazing mix of⌠I canât even describe it⌠it just sort of embodies what I guess Neo Cuba is about.
CUCU DIAMANTES
Jauretsi: Yeah, Yerba Buena played at that million person concert in Havana.
Paul: Thatâs right.
Jauretsi: Which happened like two years ago I think it was. That was sort of the closest thing they had to a Live Aid [concert] down there with international attention. I am going to ask you a question, cause you worked on East of Havana in 2004, you went for the shoot down there. Is there any preconceived notions you had about Cuba when you got there? If anything what did you
learn about the country?
Paul: I donât think I had any preconceived notions I was just excited. I remember sort of practically talking you out of having me come along, cause I was like âI donât really need to goâ⌠and then I thought âWhat am I saying? Just shut up and get down thereâ
Jauretsi: I could not have your spirit in the project without your body being down there.
Paul: Indeed and many many of my friends have asked, âWhat was it like?â I mean it was hard, âcause we were working non-stop and then you know food is an issue.
Jauretsi: You remember all those days in Alamar that there was not even a place to buy bottled water?
Paul: Yeah, so it was an amazing opportunity to work directly with [the Cuban] people and see more of what their lives are like on a daily basis, because we were definitely not in the tourist section of Cuba. So it gave me a better appreciation for what people have had to struggle with there for decades.
Jauretsi: Yeah and we went deep, deep in there. Tell me about some of the people you met like [record Producer] Pablo Herrera ? I mean these are people that even I didnât expect to meet down there.
Paul: Pablo was like my brother from another⌠Cause I guess heâs Pablo Herrera and Iâm Paul Heck and I spent a lot of time of our trip there in his apartment working with him and some of the local artists like [rapper/poet] Soandry andâŚ
Jauretsi: Danay.. the singer Danay was amazing too.
Paul: Danay! Just sitting in his room with the MPC and a digital recorder working on these songs. So that was just a trip.
Jauretsi: Yeah, he was the only game in town in terms of having an MPC player at that time.
Paul: And he could use it! Man, I had an MPC, but he taught me things that were just like, when all the buttons fall off how to use a tiny little screwdriver to still be able to push the function buttons on an MPC. So heâs a sweet guy.
Jauretsi: About half our characters have left the country, I donât know if you know. So when you go back in December, you wonât be able to contact a good portion.
Paul: Yeah, well I know Pablo is in Glasgow, I think?
Jauretsi: Scotland, yeah. Heâs in Scotland and then Soandry is still in Cuba. Magyori is in Oakland and Mikki Flow is in D.C. Anyways itâs gonna be an awesome new day when everyone can celebrate down there together. By the way thereâs a bunch of vinyl here right now that Paul Heck has bought actually on a digging trip to Cuba.
Paul: Well, it was that one afternoon we got off course [from shooting] to just kind of explore some things and someone took us to a loft in old Havana, which was something like 121 degrees up there, there was this ladder and this old guy had probably a few thousand old records and a tremendous amount of dust and mold
to go with it.
Jauretsi: I remember it was a gold mine when we found it!
Paul: It was too good to be true and I tried to find the best records that didnât look like they were completely falling apart or covered in scratches and found Irakere. You know itâs funny because as a long time crate digger you often are attracted to records that just have beautiful covers, âcause they often tend to be great records as well, so thereâs just some amazing groups that Iâd never heard of. I bought them just purely because the covers were just so gorgeous and kind of spoke to me at the time. Truth be told that was some of the stuff I put into the East of Havana sound track⌠little bits and you know little borrowings
here and there. Little bits of samples on some of the film score, so it inspired me to get to work on the music that eventually ended up in the film.
Jauretsi: You know in Cuba they donât use the word âsampleâ. Instead they use the word âBawckgrowndâ, which is a thick Cuban accented way of trying to say âbackgroundâ. Itâs the Spanglish version.
Paul: Yeah exactly itâs the background, flavor, atmospheresâŚ
Jauretsi: If you want to say âsampleâ in Cuba, you have to say âBawckgrowndâ to the rappers/producers or they get stuck. So tell me about the song you have set up right now..
Paul: This is a classic old Arsenio Rodriguez song called âAchero con Paloâ from a record probably from the mid 50s. Heâs just classic legendary Godfather of Cuban music.
ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ
Jauretsi: Hey, youâre listening to the Sugar Barons show, we just heard another track. What was that, Paul?
Paul: That was a classic old Irakere song, a song called âBolivianaâ, so I guess it was tribute to a ..
Jauretsi: Bolivian chick?
Paul: Bolivian chick yes. This is from one the beautiful records I got when I was in Havana with you in 2004 working on East of Havana.
IRAKERE
Jauretsi: I live for those digginâ sessions man, so much fun to get records down there.
Paul: Are there still things you can find?
Jauretsi: Yeah! I got some of my favorites which I still play on the show today. I also like to search for Propaganda records, I call them⌠Just a lot of State speeches and soundtracks to State songs and stuff like that.. CDR [The Committee for the Defense of the Revolution] has a song for example, maybe weâll play that later.
Paul: What, do you have the ten LP box set of the 10 hour Castro speeches?
Jauretsi: No, itâs like random speech records. They are kind of all recorded on vinyl down there, you just gotta look for them. For anybody that is tuning in late we are discussing the Red, Hot, Cuba project with Paul Heck whose worked on a ton of the Red, Hot series, âRed, Hot Rioâ, etc. What other countries
have you worked on actually?
Paul: Well, the Fela, we did Red, Hot Riot, which was a Fela Kuti tribute in 2003. Weâre working on a new one, but itâs not a sequel. It is a Fela centered recordâŚ
Jauretsi: Red, Hot Fela record was an incredible record. Which artists were on that?
Paul: DâAngelo, Macy Gray, Femi Kuti did a killer version of âWater No Good Enemyâ, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Jorge Ben, Tony Allen, Sade, Reese, Caleese, Ray Lima, Manu Dibango⌠Tons of artists! It was hard to get them all on the back cover actually.
Jauretsi: Wow. Wow. Iâm like âname a few..â and youâre like âthereâs fifty there going onâŚâ Anyways, about the Red Hot Project there is a specific angle to it, itâs to raise awareness in some of these countries when it comes to AIDS and a lot of the money at least 10 million has gone so far with all the records?
Paul: Yeah, weâve given away about 10 million, which is important cause a lot of people say âOh, weâve raised this much money, but they didnât give away that muchâ But weâve actually given away over $10 million from the sales of our records and the concerts that weâve done. The thing with Cuba, you know, is the [struggle with] access to medicine and supplies. For this show at BAM, weâre probably looking to be able to donate, you know, things as simple as condoms to organizations in Cuba.
Jauretsi: Itâs serious lack of medicine supplies down there. Also, talk to me about this whole anti-homophobic messaging that I believe sometimes Red Hot brings into these countries?
Paul: Well, itâs just, all these issues are interrelated
Jauretsi: I know, I guess I ask that âcause in places like South Africa and Cuba, itâs kind of a big machismo
society, soâŚ
Paul: Senisex in Cuba, works with LGBT issues and we love what they do, so we are going to be working in association with them with some of the proceeds we will raise from the concert.
Jauretsi: Nice. Alright, Iâm going to go on to a favorite track here. A song called
âGuajira Bacanâ by Azuquita. This band is amazing they come in with a lot of different layers and flavors.
GUAJIRA BACAN
Jauretsi: I kind of wanted to go back and talk about East of Havana for a secondâŚ
Paul: Yeah, Jauretsi I think you were a fan of the Fela record and it was something we just started talking about in terms of the film and working on it. I was honored to be asked cause Iâd never really worked on a film before. So, thank you again.
Jauretsi: So, I de-virginized you basically?
Paul: Yes and I recently finished a second film, so that was exciting. Youâve mentioned some of the artists in the film whoâve left the island, but one of the main characters in the film, Soandry, is still there. I was curious, I know youâve been down there to see him, whats the state of things?
Jauretsi: Yes, Soandry is amazing. He was just an amazing rapper and community leader. We went through a lot of young Cubans when we went down there, and basically scoured the rap festival and listened to every band. There was a lot of young Cubans, and they came in so many shapes and colors and sizes and some didnât speak the truth, some spoke the truth, some were afraid to speak on camera but spoke to me off camera. For some reason, when we met Soandry he was just super vocal, strong, fearless, so he became our person. Anyways, I went down there for a couple years early to see the rap festival. We ended up shooting during the 2004 festival [which got cancelled by the Cuban State]. Itâs 2012 so a lot of years have
passed, but to answer your question, the Rap Agency took over. The agency selected 7 bands to represent all of Cuban hip hop [to promote to the world] while there was an estimated 500 rap bands in Cuba.
Paul: The Rap Agency isâŚ
Jauretsi: The Rap Agency is the governments way of saying âwe are taking over and we are going to be in control of this underground movementâ. So, once the Rap Agency existed, which is pretty much a bunch of old Revolutionary guys being in charge of Hip Hop. So, go figure. Once that happened you couldnât book a show, you couldnât do anything unless the government approved in advance. Having said that
Soandry was mad respected and although his band was not in it, a few of the other bands in the agency all collaborate with Soandry. So, heâs involved and intertwined with that community today and throughout the years, the Rap Agency responsibilities seemed to have been transferred to other State organizations such as Hermano Saiz among many.
Heâs been working on a lot of events with them and stuff like that. I went down there recently and noticed his lyrics have gotten stronger, his voice has gotten stronger, I do believe theres going to be one amazing band emerging out of Cuba thatâs gonna change the game. One of them is called Aldeanos, I donât know
if youâve heard of them?
Paul: No.
Jauretsi: It stands for âThe Villagersâ, if you google Cuban hip hop, they are all over BBC and CNN and stuff. Aldeanos are very close friends with Soandry, heâs part of that crew too. Theyâve gotten in trouble a lot in Cuba. Anyways the underground movement by all means continues to exist, and theyâre not part of the Rap agency scene, but they also have allies there. So, itâs a very close tight scene. Two out of the three [East of Havana] characters are not in Cuba anymore. So Magyori was the female rapper in the movie which you remember, the tough revolutionary chick. She left, sheâs in the States now, Mikki Flow is also in the States. They are struggling U.S style, I mean their medicine was free down there, you know, they had to come to America and re adjust to taxes and a whole other mess of things, but they are happy, they have partners, theyâve always told me that they can speak their mind here, and thatâs what they came for. Itâs a complicated conversation.
Paul: Well, itâs good to hear Iâm looking forward to going back. Hopefully this fall and seeing Soandry again, itâs been too long.
Jauretsi: If your fellow American producers visited Cuba, what advice would you give them?
Paul: Talk to people, get out! Cubans are incredibly friendly. Donât just stay in the tourist areas basically.
Jauretsi: Cool. Iâm gonna play a little bit of Beny More âOh Vidaâ
OH VIDA
Jauretsi: [another song plays] That was Orchestra Cubana de Musica Moderna. Where did you get that record Paul?
Paul: I got that in Havana with you baby.
ORQUESTA CUBANA
Jauretsi: Thanks for spending some time over here.
Paul: My pleasure , thanks for having me.
Jauretsi: If any listeners wants do homework on this Red Hot Cuba project, where can they look it up?
Paul: Go to BAM, basically itâs a big part of BAMs âNext Wave Festivalâ in the Fall 2012.
Jauretsi: Youâre listening to the Sugar Barons show, this is Jauretsi with Paul Heck. Closing up with a little TNT âThe Meditationâ. See you next week!
TNT BAND – THE MEDITATION
Paul Heck Interview Recorded Live at The Sugar Barons show on 4.11.2012 at Miss Lilys Variety in Soho, New York.
The New Cuba 
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