Interview of Jose Carrillo by
Xánath Caraza
Who is Jose Carrillo?
Citizenship:
I'm a USA citizen with Mexican-roots.
Born: Durango
Mexico 1932
Education:
Bachelor's in Drama, minors: creative writing, counseling
Politics:
Socialist-Humanitarian
Religion:
None. Follow the Tao
ID Tags:
Actor, Jazz Musician, Writer, Artivist, Gramps.
Family:
Parents: Dionicio & Carmen Carrillo; four brothers.
Residence:
Seattle, WA, Bitter Lake neighborhood.
Hobbies:
graphics, draw, calligraphy, photography, write songs.
Beliefs:
Morality is kindness. Honesty, Transparency, Accountability. Love and Art will
conquer hate.
Currently
reading: THOMAS JEFFERSON; An Intimate History, Fawn M. Brodie; also,
trilingual poetry books, in English, Spanish, Nahuatl.
Favorite
Composers: Archangelo Corelli, J. S. Bach, Wayne Shorter, Stephen Sondheim.
How do you define yourself as
actor, musician, performance poet?
A
semi-retired, multi-skilled actor with poetic, musical, political
sensibilities. At 84, all artistic resources devoted to support of Latino/a
artists and arts in the Northwest community with a focus on multi-lingual
productions, multi-cultural values.
What or who guided you through
your first experiences in the arts?
I
learned to read English via Marvel comic books. I had two uncles who inspired
me, as a boy, to make music: One named 'Joe' Hernandez, a WWII vet, who paid
for my first music lessons; played his boogie-woogie records for me on his new
Juke Box-size player. The other was
Julian Ramirez fresh from Durango; I liked to sit close to him thrilled with
his guitar strums, his voice singing out rancheras, corridos, boleros,with
gritos/shouts.
Big Swing
Dance Bands became such a rage during WWII that they appeared in “stage shows”
in movie houses. My Golden Gate Theater on Market Street was where I first saw
jazz players, such as Benny Goodman with Gene Krupa on drums, Woody Herman,
Harry James, all the greats.
Poetry
occurred to me, got to me, through the sound of the human voice in prayer: as a child, first in Spanish when, after a
death in the family, groups of family women would gather to kneel, chant
together the lovely, low sounds of prayers.
In my
‘teens I loved the lyrics of popular, sentimental and nonsense songs of
Broadway and Hollywood. What hooked me on poetry was the poem, 'How do I love
thee?' of Elizabeth Browning. It came in the mail from a girl I liked a lot.
Although this sweetheart, Margarita, was eventually the one that got away, I
haven't stopped reading/writing poetry ever since.
At
Balboa High, I played sax in the Blue Boys dance band, and appeared in my first
play in a minor role in a British comedy. The drama teacher, Mrs. Anna May
Dicksen took an interest in me and became my mentor. I now have, in my
possession, a BA in theater & an acting resume' of 60 years of work in
community theater. I've been privileged to perform and speak the lines of the
world's greatest playwrights and poets, including Paz, Neruda, Ibsen,
Shakespeare, Shaw.
In 1969, played Cardinal Pandulph in Shakespeare’s
King John, Summer, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Also in the 60’s, created 'The Busted,
Disgusted, and Can't Be Trusted Troupe' with a show we put together: The Woody Guthrie Story, a music-bio. It was
based on Woody’s book, Bound for Glory, and featured several of his children’s
songs. The Troupe offered it as a free community service to progressive
community groups in California. We opened at La Peña in Berkeley, CA.
Later,
at La Peña, a Chileno cultural center, I produced a cantata on the text of
Pablo Neruda’s Joaquin Murieta which toured in the Bay Area for non-profits, no
charge.
Could you describe your
activities as actor- musician- performance poet-activist?
The
arts skills and experience I had developed over the early years in San
Francisco I brought to Seattle in 1987 when I came up to help one of my
daughters take care of Olivia, my first granddaughter.
I
became active in the Seattle arts scene, performed music and poetry on a local
NPR station, created an audio recording with radio host, Lisa Levy, a tribute
to Pablo Neruda/ 100 Love Sonnets; enrolled in Early Childhood Development
classes at North Seattle Community College, and joined Ruben Sierra's Seattle
Group Theater, a multi-ethnic group.
At the
Group Theater, I met and worked with actress, Ms. Olga Sanchez; in time, we developed
an association that eventually saw creative results: We co-founded Teatro
Latino, a troupe, which featured ritual theater and plays for children and
libraries; we also co-founded La Casa De Artes, to support arts, artists and
produce events.
One
such was a tribute to Mexican poet, Nobel laureate, Octavio Paz, a staged
reading of his selected poetry which was seen by students from the Yakima
valley. Directed by Olga.
During
this time in the 90's Olga was attending meetings of Los Norteños Writers to
which she invited me.
Author,
Kathleen Alcala, is a co-founder of Los Norteños Writers in Seattle, mid-90s,
with the mission to support, encourage, and showcase the work of Latino/a
writers of the Northwest through public readings, workshops and mentoring. The
goal of Los Norteños is to create entertaining, multi-cultural events,
readings, bilingual publications, and provide a forum for writers to learn from
each other.
Los
Norteños Group has provided me with many opportunities to write, perform,
produce events, manage a web page, and contribute to the current webpage in
facebook.
The
most recent, 2/28/17 performance was the Los Norteños /Raven Chronicles
production of, 'Bridges Not Walls'- an experimental reading in the Juan
Alonso-Rodriguez Art Gallery in Pioneer Square.
Carmelo Gonzalez and I read his poetry in
Spanish with my English translations.
My most
recent lead acting role was in 2013-14 with Seattle ESE TEATRO in author
-director, Rose Cano's “Don Quixote...” an updated version of Cervantes for a
staged-reading tour of homeless shelters. I played him as a homeless-
alcoholic- schizophrenic- monolingual poet. Sancho Panza, his interpreter and
side kick was played by Benito Vasquez.
I was
one of the Raven Chronicle’s 50 POETS AGAINST HATE reading, performed in the
Seattle Central Library early last year, 2016. Jorge Vilchiz, and I read his
poem, Jaguar Mexicano/ Mexican Jaguar, a cautionary message to the young people
of Mexico.
I
continue to support local efforts for a thriving Cuba. I've performed music and
poetry in support of the release of detained Cuban 5 brothers, and a few times
with Pastors for Peace events.
What is a day of creative
writing like for you?
With
poetry, I am unscheduled and undisciplined. I share anything I write with
anyone interested, no charge. My method is just to keep a poetry SKETCHBOOOK,
in which I write in or place scraps of notes for future poems; when my muse
comes calling, I look over my collection and find something to develop. I make
audio recordings to test quality. I believe a poem of mine is never finished.
With other styles of writing I do schedule to meet deadlines.
Do you have any favorite poems?
In the
current world of dangerous, uncontrolled USA and Mexican political corruption,
I go mostly for poems with dramatic impact, poems that indicate social
awareness, but with musical lines, strong rhythms & images- forceful
messages-urgency:
The
following is mine:
Time
Marches/ El tiempo en marcha
Sixty-five
million years ago
the dinosaurs ate all the plants
then each other
for big extinction number five.
number six is on its way:
the money vultures circled above
will in a blink of time
devour all that is left of us.
Hace muchos años, seis ciento y cinco milliones
Cuando los dinosaurios se comieron todas las plantas
Entonces uno al otro
Cumpliendo un gran Extinción número Cinco.
Ahora se está cumpliendo el número Seis
Los zopilotes del dinero hacen un circulo en el cielo
Esperan el paso de un guiño de tiempo
Antes de devorar los pocos vestigious de nosotros.
Cuando los dinosaurios se comieron todas las plantas
Entonces uno al otro
Cumpliendo un gran Extinción número Cinco.
Ahora se está cumpliendo el número Seis
Los zopilotes del dinero hacen un circulo en el cielo
Esperan el paso de un guiño de tiempo
Antes de devorar los pocos vestigious de nosotros.
El cantaro roto/ Broken Water Jar, Octavio Paz.
Hay que dormir con los ojos abiertos, hay que soñar
con
las
manos
We must
sleep with open eyes, we must dream
with our hands,
soñemos sueños activos de río buscando su cauce,
sueños de sol soñando sus mundos
We must
dream the dreams of a river seeking its course,
of the
sun dreaming its worlds;
hay que soñar en voz alta, hay que cantar hasta que el
canto
eche
raices, tronco, ramas, pajaros, astros
we must
dream aloud, we must sing till the song
puts
forth roots, trunk, branches, birds, stars,
cantar hasta que el sueño engendre y brote del costado
del
dormido la espiga roja de la resurrección;
we must
sing till the dream engenders in the sleeper's flank the
red
wheat-ear of resurrection
Jaguar
mexicano by Jorge Vilchiz, my translation.
Excerpt: final
stanza:
¡Grita, Mexico!
Que no se convierta en enigma
lo que ha sucedido en Ayotzinapa,
grita, que te escuchen las mentes malignas
y los que traicionan la patria.
Grita, como grita mi pluma que plasma,
que le escribe a mi pueblo, al jaguar mexicano
estas letras empíricas,
aprendidas en los barrios polvosos de Iztapalapa.
Scream,
Mexico!
So that
what has happened in Ayotzinapa
doesn't
become an enigma.
Scream,
so you can be heard by malignant minds
and
those who betray their country.
Scream
the way my pen does that insists
that I
write to my people, to the Mexican jaguar
these
practical words,
learned
in the dusty neighborhoods of Iztapalapa.
AFFIRMATION
by Assata Shakur
I
believe in living.
I
believe in the spectrum
of Beta
days and Gamma people.
I
believe in sunshine.
In
windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles
and rocking chairs.
And I
believe that seeds grow into sprouts.
and
sprouts grow into trees.
I
believe in the magic of the hands.
And in
the wisdom of the eyes.
I
believe in rain and tears.
And in
the blood of infinity.
I
believe in life.
And I
have seen the death parade
march
through the torso of the earth,
sculpting
mud bodies in its path.
I have
seen the destruction of the daylight,
and
seen bloodthirsty maggots
prayed
to and saluted.
I have
seen the kind become the blind
and the
blind become the bind
in one
easy lesson.
I have
walked on cut glass.
I have
eaten crow and blunder bread
and
breathed the stench of indifference.
I have
been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed
by the haters.
Gagged
by the greedy.
And, if
I know anything at all,
it's
that a wall is just a wall
and
nothing more at all.
It can
be broken down.
I
believe in living.
I
believe in birth.
I
believe in the sweat of love
and in
the fire of truth.
And I
believe that a lost ship,
steered
by tired, seasick sailors,
can
still be guided home
to
port.
(Note:
Assata Shakur, former Black Panther, is living in exile in Cuba after escaping
USA prison,
sentenced
for murder of a highway policeman in a shooting on a New Jersey Highway.
It was
a he said-she said trial.)
What project are you working on?
I’m
finishing a chapbook of recent work. Its title is, in jazz talk, MUCH LATER
POEMS. The first poem is:
POEM:
FOR SUSUKI
I am
water
You are
water
I am
air
You are
air
The
earth feeds me
The
earth feeds you
Let's
be kind to
the
water
the air
the
earth
each
other.
What else would you like to
share?
I'm
very proud of my daughters, Lee & Denise,
granddaughters,
Olivia & Una
all
leading creative, fulfilling lives,
Lee is
a dancer, works as an editorial assistant for a Seattle Writer;
Denise
is a lead graphic artist for a national retailer;
Olivia
is a dancer and family counselor in CA
Una is
a popular fashion photographer-producer in NYC
Jose
Carrillo, 84, actor, musician, poet was born in Mexico, grew up in San
Francisco. Attended SF State College;
studied theater with Jules Irving, Herbert Blau; became member of their Actor’s
Workshop; attended most of the school’s Poetry Center events, studied with poet,
Stan Rice; life-long experience in community theater, and music. Moved from SF to Seattle in 1987; member of
Seattle Los Norteños Writers. Single, lives in Seattle, peacefully alone in a
senior complex with the name, Four Freedoms House.
1 comment:
Jose Carrillo is ab idol in Brazil too. I found an amazing review on one of his films. It's on my watch list now.
Jeff - scientist, researcher of medical research papers on Nursing.
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