Ernán López-Nussa:
Rumba Calls Me

Acclaimed on numerous occasions on stages around the world, Cuba's prestigious jazz pianist says he found his inspiration in Cuban music.

"One of the things that moves me about Ernán López Nussa is how his particular and social characteristics go together. He is capable of the most street-like exquisiteness and the most elaborate music from every day life. He seems to be a man in whom there is, apparently, a struggle between two conditions but he solves the differences with his art." Praises like this one from the famous Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez have been a constant in the career of this revered Cuban pianist.

The López-Nussa last name is quite well known on the island. With a father who was a painter, journalist, and art critic and a mother who studied piano and became a teacher, three of their four sons became artists. Ernán, born in Havana in 1958, and his brother Ruy studied music at Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and at Cuba's Higher Institute of Art. Ruy's sons, Harold and Ruy Adrian, followed in their father's steps. Without a doubt, this musical "staff" is at the centre of a family where creativity is fostered above all.

CubaPLUS: You chose jazz without discarding the classics. Was there a reason for that choice?

Ernán: Something simple and human: Rumba called me. Those are decisions one makes in life. I had two options when I was very young. I had a