Raimundo Rodulfo is a Venezuelan guitarist who became known in the year 2000 as the opening act for the world-class band The Flower Kings. Since then, Raimundo has gain international acclaim and recognition as one of the premiere guitarists to emerge from Venezuela. He’s been often classified as a progrock guitar player, but his influences go from classical to jazz and anything in between with total balance.

Being Venezuela the land of such guitarists as Antonio Lauro, Alirio Díaz and Rodrigo Riera, just to mention few, it was only natural to find Raimundo's music plenty of thrilling passages that show his coming from the academic world, yet an enchanting array of folk, rock, jazz and ethnic elements.

Although, he states Steve Howe, Steve Hackett and Steve Morse as major influences, there is no doubt his music goes far beyond those maestros forces. He has a unique distinctive voice.

Raimundo, born in Maracay, Venezuela, started off as a violinist at 7. He now resides in Miami where he lives with his beloved wife Annabella. TBP took a little time to chat with this laureate guitarist.

TBP: How long have you lived in Miami?

I’ve been here since 2003.

TBP: Do you make your living out of music?

No. I only dedicate moments to music during my free time.

TBP: With how many musicians have you shared your talents?

I’ve been fortunate to share with many great musicians along my career. Some of them are: Alejandro Socorro (percussion), Alfredo Suárez (percussion), Andrés Briceño (drums, flugelhorn), Anna Ventura (violin), Beatriz Rivas (vocals), Carlos Orozco (harp), Carlos Plaza (keys), Carlos Rodríguez (bass guitar and upright bass), Caryasenri Orozco (maracas), Cesar Hernández (vocals), Cesar Romano (violin and viola), Cristo Aguado (vocals), Edgar Rodríguez (sax), Pablo Gil (sax), Pedro Castillo (vocals), Ricardo Bigai (bass), Ricardo Furiati (bass, vocals), Richard Marichal (keys and minimoog),

TBP: You have three albums, now. How have you come to know and select the many musicians that support you?

Pedro and Gerardo of progrock Venezuelan band Témpano are good friends. They are both recognized musicians in Venezuela and abroad. Pedro collaborated with me on my second album. Carlos Plaza from Kotebel was via e-mail. Minerva is my cousin and a singer in projects like VinoTinto and GEM. The rest of the musicians on the album are from different countries. I met them in the musical circuit here. There is also engineer Boris Milan who has worked with many musicians including Santana. They have all been very kind to accept a part in this recording.

TBP: Mare Et Terra seems more ambitious than your previous efforts. Is it so?

You are probably right, for various reasons. Personally speaking, because I conceived it while moving to another country far from the musicians with whom I had been working. I was not very familiar with the circuit here in Florida. In 2006, I took back the project, but more strongly. Carlos Plaza started collaborating with me, and then came the other musicians. This album demanded more work from the compositional point of view. I had to write a lot for the other instruments and the string ensemble. Carlos Plaza, Richard Marichal and I worked while being far away, and that required a lot of communication.

TBP: Can it be said Mare Et Terra is a concept album?

Yes. Perhaps it is an album with a less evident and more introspective concept.

TBP: As the record industry seems to crumble, what does this album mean to you?

Despite the fact the industry is decreasing, the album has had better promotion and penetration than my other outings thanks to Musea’s distribution and legal sites like Midawn. But bootleggers have affected popular artists. In any case, any industry must adjust to the changes even if that causes them to disappear. Independent artists seem to do better in terms of looking for a more suitable way to market their music. People share information in so many ways, cell phones, computer and other devices, and they do it at a high resolution.

TBP: You used math equations in "Dreams Concerto". Are t here any advantages of using this over the more conventional formulas?

In one way or another, all musicians rely on math to compose. I did it using a math model during a section of the "Dreams Concerto". The idea was to resolve a series of polyrhythmic patterns and multiple instruments simultaneously. I used math to sort some difficulties and guide the musicians’ performances. Such an idea was born out of doing something different and the desire of experimenting. Fortunately, I do compose in a simpler way.

TBP: Are you the kind of guitarist who uses the guitar as a main source to compose or are you a more integral guitar player?

I do compose for an ensemble of multiple instruments most of the time. The guitar is just an integral part of it. My goal as a composer is to write music where each instrument speaks for itself a particular mood and idea, whether it is a song, a melody or musical episodes. Today, I enjoy a good song performed simpler than the average song full of virtuosity. I don’t enjoy only guitar-based music, where only the guitar stands out, as I used to do it. The spirit that impulses me to play and write as I do is the spirit to create music that stands for itself so that I can enjoy it performing it and listening to it.

TBP: What do you think of neoprog, and where do you see your music in terms of genre?

I try to drift away from musical genres. That’s my attitude towards my projects, but I am aware of the many types there are out there. Mare Et Terra shows that connectivity that exists in our world today.

TBP: You seem fascinated by long scale works. Why?

I try to write things that are coherent and flow organically. Long scale works were popular among great composers many years ago. You try to keep it 3 to 5 minutes in popular music. I don’t write thinking that is going to be, let’s say, 36 minutes long like “Náufrago”. I’ve written shorter songs. Actually, I am working in my new album and it’s going in that direction. Listeners and critics have their reasons to think of long pieces as boring and excessive, but there are artists like me who will keep on composing this kind of work.

TBP: There is a fascination with the “dream” element, but now has a fresher ethnic sound like the box drum.

It came as a courtesy of Yoel Del Sol. I wanted to put it in the flamenco guitar parts. I just did not know that Yoel was a collector of percussion instruments from all over the world. That is why you can listen to so much percussion from everywhere.

TBP: “Náufrago” seems a guitar tour de force, how do you mange to go from a ghostly scene to a more earthly one?

This song is a song of love and nostalgia. It grew out of so many reminiscences. The Spanish guitar is just one of the many voices found here. The Spanish music elements help to recreate the image of a solitary man living in the middle of the sea dreaming of his long gone beloved woman. A sea that dissolves in his solitude, and a woman that turns into his land and liberty.

TBP: Do you plan to tour now that you have been hailed worldwide?

Yes, if I am invited. I am preparing material to put a band together. I have no time to look for it so I depend on invitations. My recent presentations have been as a solo guitarist.

TBP: How do you feel about collaborating with top Venezuelan musicians like drummer Gerardo Ubieda?

I am proud of it. All of them are great. Pedro Castillo, Andrés Briceño, Carlos Plaza, Pablo Gil, Carlos Orozco, Manuel Rojas and those from other countries as well.

TBP: Do you live in exile?

Many Venezuelans have immigrated to other countries with their families. Many have suffered the abuse of an autocratic regime. Many have been forced to leave the country for political reasons. Many of us have given up fighting for a change that has not come.

TBP: Finally, with whom would you like to play?

It’ll be nice to have an imaginary band with Stanley Clarke, Trilok Gurtu, Bill Bruford, José Negroni, Huáscar Barradas, Peter Frampton, Andrea Bocelli and Yo-Yo Ma. I’d sit and enjoy listening.