If it seems
Nic Harcourt: Where was your earliest recollection of music?
Jimmy Smits: Brooklyn. And then we moved to
NH: Bandstand was aimed at younger people rather than familiesis that what grabbed you?
JS: Yeah, absolutely.
NH: It must have been culture shock. Did you like Puerto Rican music at the time, or was it more, I wish I was still hearing the Beatles?
JS: I never really thought, Oh Im missing out on the rock n roll thing. Thats just the way it was. There was Chucho Avellanet, a local singer, and El Gran Combo, one of the big
NH: Right. So when you got back to
JS: I was 12. New York was going through what we now know to be salsa musicthe Fania, which was a record label in the 70s. That was huge, with Rubén Blades and Willie Colón. And then...I feel like this is a therapy session.
NH: [Laughs.] Im gonna charge you at the end.
JS: A musical therapy session. When I came back, we lived in an area in
NH: That there was something else?
JS: I had a high school teacher who was going for his masters in fine arts, and he started taking this drama group to Broadway. Seeing people like
NH: Do you mean because of your ethnicity?
JS: Yeah, doing Shakespeare, doing Pinter, doing Brecht. Seeing a musical version of The Wizard of Oz called The Wiz with a whole black cast. I was thinking, This makes sense.
NH: Lets jump forward. How has music played through your commitment to acting? Do you listen to music when youre preparing for a role?
JS: Well, in my profession, youre simulating reality. Ive experienced loss, but I dont know myself what it is to take another lifethe characters Ive played have had to do that. So you have to put yourself into the mindset of the anger. What would take a person to that level? Music has always helped me get to those...emotional places.
NH: Can you give me an example?
JS: Just recently, on Dexter, the journey my character [D.A. gone bad Miguel Prado] tookhe went to this very dark place, and there was a lot of guilt attached to it. I would have Latin music playing in the trailer. But there was a time in the last four, five episodes where my music got very religious. I was listening to a lot of chorales.
NH: Its not something I'd think ofyou know, religious music to get yourself in the emotional place to be ready to kill somebody. [Laughs.]
JS: It works! Maybe it had to do with the Crusades or something...I dont know.
NH: How did your involvement in the Conga Room come about?
JS: This whole thing about finding ways to give back to your communityits always something that runs in me. Its important to have this music. Its educational for the larger community to know it exists, and it can be just as classyit doesnt have to be marginalized. It really made sense when we went to see Buena Vista Social Club in Beverly Hills and were the only Latinos in the theater. My lady and I saw how some of the younger people were into it, because
NH: The original location was in the Miracle Mile, but as the lease was coming to an end in 2006, you were already thinking of bigger things.
JS: We decided if we were going to make the move to L.A. Live, we would take a hiatus.
NH: Now that youve reopened, what are your goals for the new club?
JS: Well always have salsa music. Well always have Latin music. But you know, we are also planning to have Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and I would love to see Santana play there.
NH: I could talk to you for ages, because your story and how it all connects are so fascinating.
JS: Thank youjust send me the therapist bill.
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The