Kirsty MacColl's Cuba

Part Five

Broadcast on BBC Radio 2, 28th February 2001

Living in Cuba may be no holiday, but where there's a bar there's music, and there's a magical quality to Havana that makes up for the shortages. With the help of expert travel writer Simon Calder and music producer Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, Kirsty goes in search of Havana's best haunts, and gets a lesson from Juan on how to play the tres, the distinctive Cuban guitar which has three pairs of strings and is a familiar sight in the city's many music bars. There's music from Los Van Van and Pablo Milanes and a Cuban's guide to the Mambo.

Albita: El Manicero

Albita Rodriquez is known as the "Cuban diva". Born in Havana, Albita grew up around musicians. Both her parents were popular musicians in Cuba, singing punto, guajaro, a simple Cuban style of music. Her early childhood toys included bongos and claves. She began her musical career performing throughout Havana, in nightclubs and for concerts. In 1992 Albita furthered her musical career by travelling to Colombia and Latin America performing concerts before continuing into the United States. Albita's stay in the United States has produced much success. Her career began in the restaurant Centro Vasco where such musicians as Madonna and Gloria Estefan came to see her. Her music combines traditional Cuban styles as well as Baroque and African styles. Her songs are still written from her personal experiences. During her first year on tour in the United States, Albita opened for the Cuban jazz musician Arturo Sandoval. The two began a musical friendship. Albita chose her musical style with her homeland in mind, singing of the traditions and history of Cuba. Her music not only appeals to young listeners for its upbeat style but also to older audiences because of the messages her songs convey.

Son / Hipbop Latino HIBD8023. Composed by Simons.

Los Van Van: La Habana No Aguanta Mas

The musical concept at the heart of Timba, combining Cuban music with modern creative songwriting, began in the 60s with Los Van Van. Juan Formell, former musical director of Orquesta Revé, absorbed the influences of jazz and the explosion of creativity in rock and R&B in late 60's/early 70's en route to forming Los Van Van - Cuba's most popular group ever since, with music stemming from his fusions of Cuban rhythms with synthesizers, all types of rock, rap, Brazilian music, merengue, and just about anything else that caught his interest.

30 Years of Cuba's Greatest Dance Band / Continental Music Distribution ASHE20072

Pablo Milanes: Homenaje

Pablo Milanes Pablo Milanes is one of Cuba's top composers. A founder of the Nueva Trova mouvement, Pablo was born in Bayamo in 1943. He started with groups like Cuarteto del Rey and Los Bucaneros before working as a soloist. Some of his first songs were related to the Cuban music movement known as "Feeling", and he is also known for his son. In 1968, he joined the Canción Protesta de la Casa de las Américas, and is a member of GES (Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora). His music has featured in a number of films, including Oggun, directed by Gloria Rolando. He formed a foundation, Fundacion Milanes, but the government terminated it, perhaps over the usual nervousness around independent black initiatives.

Cancionero / EMD Blue Note 7805962. Composed by Pable Milanes.

Celina Gonzalez: Mi Tierra

Celina Gonzalez is one of the great vocalists of Afro-Cuban music - she has been a major star since the 1940s when she shared a duo with her late husband, Reutillio Dominguez. In the decade before the Cuban Revolution, Gonzalez and Dominguez developed a large following for their vocals harmonies and lightly-arranged, guitar and percussion, approach to musica campesina, a rural style of salsa.

Fiesta Guajira / World Circuit WCD 034. Composed by Radeunda Lima.

Pérez Prado: Mambo No. 5

Though diminutive in stature, Pérez Prado was a giant in the world of post-war popular music. Dubbed "The Mambo King," he reigned supreme as one of the most influential pop orchestra leaders of the early 1950s. As the mambo rhythm spread across the continents, a society emerged from the dark years of World War II to shed it's inhibitions and embrace the frenzy of this Afro-Cuban beat. Prado's conception of the mambo began to develop in 1943. He later said that four, five, and sometimes six musicians would often play after hours jam sessions on the tres (a small Cuban guitar) and the resultant cross rhythms and syncopation give him the idea. Ralph J. Gleason reported that "Prez" talked to him about the mambo as being an Afro-Cuban rhythm with a dash of American swing. According to Prado, the mambo is "more musical and swingier than the rhumba. It has more beat." He also explained, "I am a collector of cries and noises, elemental ones like seagulls on the shore, winds through the trees, men at work in a foundry. Mambo is a movement back to nature, by means of rhythms based on such cries and noises, and on simple joys".

Cuban Originals: Pérez Prado / RCA Original Masters 74321 700462. Composed by Pérez Prado.

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