Jesus ‘Aguaje’ Ramos was born in 1951 in Pinar del Rio where he began his musical studies in the National School of Arts. He started playing the trombone in local groups until 1979 when he moved to Havana and began playing with the great female quartet Los D’Aida. That same year he took part in the Estrellas de Areito recordings. Aguaje has played on the World Circuit recordings of the Buena Vista Social Club and Afro-Cuban All Stars, and the solo albums of Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez and Omara Portuondo.
What lead you to jazz?
Improvisation led me to jazz music.
Which jazz musicians had or have a great influence on you, and why?
John Coltrane and Miles Davis open for me the way to jazz music. Their music was like a new world to me. Also, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Elington and many more…
Who do you think is the most promising young cubain musician ?
Oh, I can’t say.. There are so many! Cuba is a very rich country regarding music and musicians with a very good education system. At school, the pupils are taught not just classical music but also traditional Cuban music. In our orquesta for example, there few young people as the pianist Rolando Luna or Guajirito (Guajiro Mirabal’s grandson) playing the trumpet. It is nice to see that these young people are interested in the traditional Cuban Music and they are excellent musicians.
What do you think is your greatest success as a musician?
I don’t know if I’am successful. What I know is that I can’t live without playing music. One that does spring to mind is an album we recorded back in the ‘70s — Estrellas de Arieto. It was recorded in the same EGREM studio in the centre of Havana as Buena Vista Social Club, and it had an all star line up, including some the great of Cuban music: Miguelito CunÃ, ChappotÃn, Tata Guines, Pio Leyva, Ricardo Egues, Guajiro Mirabal — to name a few. That was a special recording.
What are your plan for the next months ?
Playing traditional Cuban music around the world 
