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Again we had a very
rewarding trip, studying, performing, renewing friendships and learning
more about daily life in Cuba. Here are a few of the highlights.
Sketches from Cuba
I.
Soon after arriving in Cuba one late January afternoon, we found
ourselves sitting with other musicians at one end of the balcony of the
stately old building on the corner of H and 17 streets in Vedado, which
houses UNEAC, the National Union of Cuban Artists and Writers. The
central section serves as a stage, overlooking the lush tropical garden
in which are seated a good-sized crowd who had come to the regular Trova
Sin Traba concert. We heard the astounding guitar work of ‘Mister
Acordes’, and the beautiful songs of Juan Carlos Perez before taking the
stage.
After playing some of our own songs, we were about to launch into one
of our favourite Cuban songs, ‘La Guitarra’, when the MC came onto the
stage to announce the arrival of Sara Gonzalez, one of the great singers
of the Cuban Nueva Trova. Sue seized the moment, explaining that we
first heard ‘La Guitarra’ when Sara had toured Australia in 1982 and
that her performance had inspired us to learn this song. A few bars into
the song, much to our surprise and elation, she came onto the stage to
join Sue at the microphone. At the end, amid embraces and a few tears,
the crowd gave a truly wonderful reception. While we floated back to our
seats the stage was taken by Alexis Méndez, one of our close musical
friends in Havana, who gave a great rendition of his song ‘Promesas’
composed in a traditional musical style but with a sharp contemporary
edge. The concert was capped off by Cuba’s great tres player, Pancho
Amat and his group, with vocal improvisation between his singer and
Sara.
II.
Later that evening we walked down to the restored Amadeo Roldán
theatre, with the streets packed with people waiting to hear the pianist
Chucho Valdés, who leads Irakere, one of Cuba’s major Latin Jazz
ensembles. Tonight he was playing with a quartet and his performance was
full of the drive and virtuosity for which he is renowned, with his
sister making a cameo appearance giving a fantastic rendition of Drume
Negrita; it was a special event by great musicians in front of their
home crowd.
III.
On the streets of Havana, there are an incredible number of people
walking with musical instruments, there are a lot of gigs in this town.
Amidst this swirl of life, we head with some friends to one of the
restored buildings of Old Havana, the Pablo de la Torriente Brau
Cultural Centre, home to the new generation of trovadores
(singer-songwriters). The concerts here reveal a side of Cuban musical
life that is young, dynamic, and contentious. But there are many facets
to Cuban music, and right after seeing a trio called Enserie, we rushed
down a few blocks to the old cathedral to see a concert by the choir
Exaudi, who had been in Australia a few years ago.
IV.
Further afield in the suburban areas Havana has its ordinary side as
well, but even here the musicality of the city comes through, in the
local music school the strains of a piano piece drift out, while a young
girl works through a particularly virtuosic piece. And down the road at
a small museum a final year student gives his graduation guitar recital,
playing pieces by Spanish classical guitarists as well as Latin American
composers. At the end the boy is given a standing ovation, his father
breaks down, still grieving the loss of the boy’s mother just a few
months previously. This moving scene completes a circle for us, a few
weeks ago we had come here to La Vibora in search of a guitar teacher
for Sue; now she had invited us back to hear this concert by another of
her students. After, we queue for the bus again, but end up catching a
ten-peso taxi, crowding into the old Chevrolet for a ride back to
Vedado. There we head down to UNEAC for another peña, this time
dedicated to International Women’s Day and we see Marta Campos and Heidi
Igualida play, we revel in the warmth of their spirited performances.
Home again, and practice, we’re anxiously trying to meet our teachers’
expectations, it’s a rare opportunity for us to have these lessons, and
we don’t want to waste time
V.
David arrives for my bass lesson the next morning. I’m relieved to
hear him comment on my progress. Sue heads off for her lesson down Linea
through Vedado to Central Havana. Barima lives at the back of Capitolio,
in an old apartment block, inside reveals remarkable architecture, her
lounge room in the apartment is dedicated to music. It belonged to her
uncle who was a physicist, piled up high against one corner are Russian
texts that were rescued from a clean out at the Science library, on the
wall is a poster for a concert Barima gave. Her lessons are packed with
information, she loves the subject material, playing examples of songs
using those dissonant chords often called jazz, but are prevalent in
Cuban Trova songs, a different style. And soon Sue fills her notebook
with substitutions and cadences, chord sequences and analyses of Cuban
songs that are enough to keep her head spinning for a year.
VI.
Late one night at El Gato Tuerto nightclub, César Portillo de la Luz
was playing solo. With his unique style, left hand moving all over the
guitar neck in the most beautiful harmonic progressions and right hand
using only the thumb to give occasional emphasis, he sang his songs with
such warmth and expression you’d think he’d only just written them. The
songs sounded quite familiar. As a pioneer of the filin (feeling)
movement back in the 1940s his songs had become well known around the
world. At 81 he was still packing the house.
VII.
 The
next day we catch up with Alexis, an art teacher in Guanabacoa, but who
lives for music and being able to perform his songs. His life style is
bohemian even by Cuban standards, we talk and talk like there’s no
tomorrow, discussing the relation of the new singers to the older
generation of the Trova, how they fit into the Revolution, the tension
that exists at times, the place of salsa in Cuban music, the effects of
tourism, the latest trends. There are no holds barred in our
discussions, we explore every aspect of Cuban musical life that we
possibly can and we end the day with this wonderful sense that music
counts, that people take it seriously and find meaning in their lives
through music, its not simply recreational, it tells people who they are
and how they fit into the world. At the end of our stay we feel that,
with all its contradictions, the Revolution has released creative forces
that give us reason to believe that music is a worthwhile pursuit, and
will serve as a reference point for the rest of our lives
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