'Music for having a good time': Join the dance party with Cimafunk's 'ACL' episode

Cimafunk wants you to call him “Cima.” He makes powerhouse, Afro-Cuban funk that’s been endorsed by the likes of George Clinton and Paul McCartney. Wearing black bell bottoms and a black vest with no undershirt at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Cima says he’s all about fun and flair.

The artist born Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodríguez is a lover. In early October, the Cuban singer did a whole "doblete" in Austin, both performing at ACL Fest in Zilker Park and taping an episode of “Austin City Limits” that premieres this week on PBS.

More:Cuban breakout Cimafunk brings ecstatic dance party to 'Austin City Limits' taping

His two most popular songs on Spotify are love songs, and it’s easy to see why. “Aunque Sea Un Ratito” (translation: “Even if it’s just a little while”) sounds like an uptempo reggaeton dance song but is so vulnerable it gives this reporter secondhand embarrassment.

“You’re the only one I wait for,” he sings, on a song that acknowledges love’s fleeting nature and chooses regardless to hang onto every moment, before landing the gut punch lyric: “If you don’t appear, I don’t sleep.”

“Para El Tiempo” (“For the time being”) is an arresting ballad. It’s also about love, this time a romance at a crossroads where Cima doesn’t want to make a wrong turn so he chooses to stop time instead.

OK, but remember that he’s a fun guy, too.

“Have a good time,” he says in Spanish when explaining his underlying mission statement as a performer. “When I’m having a bad time, I don’t remember those moments. The music is for having a good time. And for sharing that good time with the people. Everyone wants to be happy. The idea is to feel good. That’s the idea always.”

Onstage, that enthusiasm is contagious. His nine-piece backing band, the Tribe, performs an eclectic celebration of both traditional Cuban music (yes, he says he idolizes every NPR liberal’s favorite Starbucks band of the late ‘90s, Buena Vista Social Club) and modern splashes of rock and hip-hop. The strategy can be summed up in two Spanish-language words: “sabrosura” and “gozar.” They come up often in conversation.

Sabrosura refers literally in Spanish to food that tastes good, but it doubles as an apt descriptor for the vibrant flavor of life that Cima barters in. As in, his music is a sabrosura. And it is para gozar, or for enjoying.

“The people in Austin are 'chévere' (slang popular in the Caribbean and South America for ‘cool’) and Austin is a magical place,” he says. “Being here is a sabrosura. It’s a great time.”

The delectable nature of Cima’s language isn’t lost on his studio material, either. Last year’s album “El Alimiento” was a heralded, well-traveled burst of soul and hip-hop that featured U.S. soul and hip-hop artists such as George Clinton and Lupe Fiasco. Born in 1989, Cima’s a bridge between the up-and-coming voices in the Spanish-language pop sphere and the icons of his youth.

“I appreciate it. It’s a perfect reference point,” he says of Cuba being associated with Buena Vista Social Club. “I’m so proud when people think of (Buena Vista’s standout trombone player) Ibrahafim Ferrer when they think of Cuban music. But look at what’s happening now. There are lots of people making things influenced by that. … When you hear us, you’re going to hear the Afro-Cuban legacy of Buena Vista Social Club. You’ll hear that in our generation.”

Paul McCartney was once filmed applauding at a Cimafunk live show. Footage made its way to Twitter this year. Cima says that moment was a sabrosura.

“It was a magnificent present,” he says. “I’m a fan. He's one of the biggest artists of the century… and that he was there having a good time and feeling good, that’s always a sabrosura. It’s rico. And it’s inspiring, because it helps me when it’s time to put together a live show, because it’s proof that when you enjoy the show, the people enjoy the show.”

However you hear his music, Cima has one go-to strategy that he employed for both the TV show and the festival: Gozar.

“It’s the same vibe. The same energy. The same craziness with a few less songs but it was electric,” he says. “And on TV it’s the same thing: Medicine for the world.”

Cimafunk on 'Austin City Limits': How to watch

Cimafunk and the Tribe recorded their episode in May at ACL Live, and it premieres at 7 p.m. Saturday on Austin PBS and other PBS stations. It also can be streamed starting after the broadcast at acltv.com.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Watch Cimafunk and the Tribe on their 'Austin City Limits' debut