This year’s annual Light in Winter Festival will feature a longstanding favorite of Ithacans, the internationally acclaimed percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Cyro Baptista, who will perform with his band, Beat the Donkey. The wild, improvisational music of Beat the Donkey borrows liberally from music traditions from across the globe, including African polyrhythm, American jazz, traditional Brazilian music (Baptista hails from San Paolo), Indian ragas, and Jamaican dub.
Baptista’s own versatility is evident in his illustrious list of collaborators, which include Derek Bailey, Herbie Hancock, Sting and Yo-Yo Ma. Over the years, Baptista has emerged as one of our most creative and spontaneous musicians. Baptista graciously took a few moments out of his busy schedule to speak to us from his home in Manhattan, where he has resided for the last two decades.
Popcorn Youth: What can we expect from your performance this weekend? How much of it is predetermined?
Cyro Baptista: Well, each performance does have a “set,” but we don’t know where the set ends and where the improvisation starts. (Laughs) At the end of the day, we are dependent on the mood and environment around us, and how the audience reacts.
Popcorn Youth: You’ve performed all over the world in a wide variety of venues. Do you have a preference?
Baptista: It is nice when you play in a small situation that’s very intimate. But I also like to play in a big theater, with the lights and the amazing sound and amplification. You can create a big production using all of your instruments, choreography, and a large stage. Now that I’m getting older, playing small-stage clubs gets kind of boring. You know what I mean — like, suddenly at the bar, the blender goes on and whirs during your gig! (Laughs) You need a lot of patience, but if you need to do it, you do it.
Popcorn Youth: Your music is quite eclectic. How do you balance between operating in jazz and classical and rock and world music traditions?
Baptista: (Laughs) That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I will always need to play Brazilian music — it’s where my roots are. And everything is a challenge for me; now, I’m involved with classical music, which is crazy because I’m not a “real” classical musician. (Laughs) But we are living in such difficult times, and music is such a force of transformation.
Popcorn Youth: Have you felt the effects of globalization in the world music industry?
Baptista: Well, when I went to music school in Woodstock, N.Y., in 1980, all of the teachers were involved with jazz and world music — they were from Turkey, Africa, Brazil, India, and they were just teaching their own music. So the process of putting everything together had already begun. I know globalization can have bad effects, but we can create transformation within music, put it all in a blender, and create a new, better situation.
Popcorn Youth: You’re quite a devoted teacher and instructor of music — you work with professionals, children, teens, college students — has this always been important to you?
Baptista: Oh, yes. I’m always touring, city- and country-hopping, and yet I want to do more. It’s giving back, and we want to create not just music but also the romance of theater and dance — it inspires people! I don’t want people to see our show and say, “Oh my god, I could never do that!” Instead, I say, “You can do this now! You can create your own instrument!” And it feels great to inspire people to not spend 24 hours a day in front of a computer or television.
Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey will perform at the State Theatre this Sunday, Jan. 20 at 7:30pm. For tickets, 607-27-STATE.