Guitarist Pablo Menendez’s funky Yoruba, Afro-Cuban, salsa, bebop fusion septet Mezcla (“mixture”) is as much about Cuba’s musical past as it is the future. Let’s Do Cuba‘s Intimate Cuban Jazz Weekend offers deep immersion into the Cuban Latin/fusion jazz scene through Mezcla and renowned artist, Pablo Menendez. According to Let’s Do Cuba’s Lily Puosa, “Our experience … Read more
The sixth annual International Jazz Day, to be celebrated worldwide on April 30, 2017, will be held in Havana, Cuba. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock announced the news today. RELATED: Cuban-born Paquito D’Rivera Composes Diplomacy and Art with His Sax International Jazz Day … Read more
Paquito D’Rivera defies categorization – the winner of fourteen Grammy Awards, he is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and, at 17, became a featured … Read more
Generations of Jews living in Cuba (sometimes referral to as “Jewbans”) added to the rich complexity of Cuba’s cultural history. It is estimated that more than 24,000 Jews lived in Cuba in 1924, and more immigrated to the island nation in the 1930s. But during and after the 1959 communist revolution, more than 90% of … Read more
By Alexander Britell HAVANA — If you’re wondering where the background is, you won’t find it. Because it’s you. The jazz singer’s voice is muted by the mic, slowly rising with the bass and the keyboard. She is looking at the small crowd, but not singing for them. She is just singing. Because in Havana, … Read more
Live in Cuba debuts By the Cuba Journal staff Nine-time Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis’ newest album has a Cuban twist. Released last week, Live in Cuba features the first-ever performances by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in Cuba. Recorded in front of a sold-out crowd at Havana’s Melia Theatre in October 2010, the two-disc … Read more
