These had a purpose in being around us. They wanted to have a good time. We were there to cater for their needs.' And also to hang around the back door of one of the music clubs where the mambo kings of the day played. 'The manager was a nice guy -- he knew we kids loved the music but we were too young to go in. They sold liquor. He kept the back door open when he could and we heard the music.You find solace in the music and that is really true of Cuban exiles because music is such an important part of our lives. That's how you carry your culture with you and the nostalgia for you country. It's something to ease the pain . 'I'll always miss not having grown up in Havana . I'm developing a film set in Cuba ('The Lost City' ) and at least I can recreate the childhood I didn't have. I'm very passionate about my culture and the tragedy that fell upon it. My father ( who died aged 76 in 1993) told me that the last straw for him was when you had to turn the rights of your children over to the State -- and the State determined the indoctrination of your children, their schooling, where they serve in the military. We have no relatives there. We are a small family. They all ran with us. 'And we had to learn a new world. My mother got a job as a secretary and my father who had been a lawyer in Cuba worked for a catering company. But we had our freedom.' And he and his friends, like Zoom Zoom Zami, would go hunting for music:' I discovered Cachao in a music store in Miami . I didn't know who he was but the owner of the store said it was a classic. I picked up the album and I was hooked. Part of the fun of it was finding out that he truly was the mambo king.' Garcia marches off to his office and returns with the original LP. The cover is a little tattered but it's where the dream began. 'One night he was playing at the club where we all hung out at the back door. That night the manager unscrewed the light bulb above one of the set-up of chairs and let us come in. It was timeless music, beautiful music which is compelling and will never go out of style.' Without Garcia's documentary -- 'Cachao:Like His Rhythm There Is No Other' -- and passionate interest the mambo magician would probably have continued playing at weddings and birthday parties in Miami . The Cubans in Florida 's Little Havana suppose he would have been 'discovered' after his death. But Garcia has created a new life for him. 'He is my second son,' says Cachao through a translator. 'He knew all about Cuban music and I was very impressed when we met in San Francisco .' There was also a real family connection. Cachao had worked with Garcia's father Rene and the actor said:'That certainly helped smooth the way. My father was affectionately nicknamed "The Mayor" because he was so gregarious and a fine public speaker. Also impressed was Cuban-born writer Guillermo Cabrere Infante who takes part in the Cachao documentary. Now, Garcia is working on 'The Lost City' which is based on Cabrere Infante's writings about the cabaret world of Havana in the mid to late 'Fifties. |
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