Day 6

            Today begins another incredible day in Cuba. Our first stop of the day was to an Artist’s studio located in Habana Vieja (Old Havana). It was located in a two-story house from the colonial period that had been completely restored. It was given to the artist to provide a place to complete his work, which was magnificent. He is one of Cuba’s most well known artists and has traveled to the United States in order to present his work. As we were going through his studio, he introduced his wife, who is a professor at La ISA (Superior Institute of Art). This is one of the highly acclaimed music conservatories and a place that I have wanted to visit for years. As I wrote about in one of my earlier posts, our tour group was unable to visit the music conservatories because they were in examinations. I thought that this could be an inside opportunity to circumvent this rule and get a tour of a conservatory. I explained my situation to this professor, and she gave me her contact information and explained to me how I could go about requesting a visit on Monday morning. I figured I would give it a try and see what I could come up with. After this visit to the artist’s house and studio (one in the same), we went for lunch at Casona de 17 Restaurante. This was a state-run establishment that had a live Cuban band and decent food including rice, beans, and chicken. The live band was phenomenal (percussion, flute, and tres). I asked them if they could perform some of my favorite Cuban standards, and they obliged! They performed Veinte Años and Son De La Loma to name a few. Wonderful selections and arrangements!

            After lunch, we proceeded to a craft market in the old ship dock near Habana Vieja. It was a vast open room with many small stands selling percussion instruments, souvenirs, jewelry, and other small trinkets. It was very reminiscent of a Florida flea market, except with the sellers trying a bit harder to sell you their merchandise. They were very adamant you buying their goods, but knew how to accept a “no gracias.” I proceeded to make a deal with a few of the vendors and was able to purchase 4 pairs of claves, souvenir maracas, a shekere, and a guiro for a very reasonable price. I was also able purchase some small gifts as well and think I made out very well. You can never have enough quality claves made in Cuba! I’ll use some for my Cuban Ensemble, Conjunto Philadelphia, as well as in my classroom in the fall.

            After our visit to the craft market, we returned to the hotel. I had a scheduled meeting with Barbarito Torres (from Buena Vista Social Club) at 5PM, and I needed a few minutes to prepare. I had a few minutes to check my e-mail, and then I waited for Barbarito and his wife in the lobby. They arrived a few minutes after I sat down in the lobby, and we spent a little over an hour talking in the hotel lounge over café Cubano (strong espresso). Barbarito only spoke Spanish and Sonia (his wife), spoke just enough English for the three of us to communicate well. I tried my very best to converse in Spanish, but on the occasion that I didn’t know how to say something, Sonia and I worked through it in English and Spanish and eventually communicated it to Barbarito. I was very impressed at how well this worked and we ended up having a productive conversation.

            During our conversation, I shared my love for Cuban music and explained how my students loved the Buena Vista Social Club documentary. I told him that my 6^th grade students especially loved the scene where he played the laud (stringed instrument) behind his back. We spoke about music education, Barbarito’s recent musical projects, his touring schedule, about my musical background and career, and about Cuban music. I asked him if it was possible to find Cuban traditional music in written form and he told me: “No” and pointed to his ears. He was implying that you had to listen to the recordings and learn from those. Of course, I knew that this was the best way to learn the music, but I was still curious if there was some music written down. Sonia did tell me that she had a book from the 1950’s that had some Cuban melodies and harmonies in it. She said she would scan some of it into her computer and e-mail it to me when she had time. This is very exciting, because this is something that is not easy to locate in the United States!

            Our conversation continued for a bit longer and it was wonderful. We continued to speak about Cuban music and spent some time on the topic of music education. Barbarito and Sonia told me that the next time I come to Cuba, I should give them plenty of notice and they will set-up meetings for me at the music conservatories, other music schools, and create opportunities for my students to perform for the Cuban people. (One of my goals is to bring my high school jazz ensembles to Cuba to perform and participate in a cultural exchange with the music students there. I am very excited for these future opportunities and truly appreciated Barbarito and Sonia’s willingness to assist me. When our meeting ended, I offered to pay for our coffee, but they wouldn’t have it and they paid. I appreciated their generosity both with their time and their money, and bid them farewell. Before we parted ways, I took a picture with Barbarito.

            After our meeting, I had a little down time, and then I met the group for dinner. We went to a restaurant called 1830, which was located on the Malecón and was simply magnificent. Prior to the revolution, it used to be a private home belonging to an important government figure in Cuba (it escapes me as to exactly who it belonged to). The food was tasty, but the restaurant itself was exquisite!

This was a special night for our group because it was somebody’s birthday and our tour guides surprised her with a birthday cake and candles.

            After dinner, nine of us ventured to Habana Vieja to a bar/restaurant called Café Taberna. I organized this outing because there was a live band performing the music of the Buena Vista Social Club. When we arrived, the band had already started. 

The group was huge: 3-4 horn players, 4-5 singers, a full percussion section, piano and bass. They played music directly from the BVSC albums as well as other music in that style (El Cuarto de Tula, Guantanamera, etc.). The singers kept rotating songs, and would walk around in the audience and sing to individual members of the audience. Like most of the performances that we have seen thus far in Cuba, the performers were very interested in audience participation. There were a few instances where members of the audience got up and danced next to the band, and one instance at the very end where the majority of the audience participated in a conga line around the club. Included with the admission charge was two mojitos each; some of the best that I had in Cuba (although nothing compares to the ones at the hotel).

            This concert concluded at 11PM and considering it was a Saturday night, we all decided to go somewhere else afterwards. Our tour group had reserved tables for us at the Jazz Café across the street from our hotel, and the majority of us went there afterwards (some people went to bed because they were tired). The music began shortly before we arrived, and stopped after only an hour. It was quite a disappointment because it was a Saturday night and the music stopped at 12:30AM! We all left and went back to the hotel. We hung out for a bit in the lounge and then called it a night. Only two more days left in Havana...It has been a magical experience so far…I hope that our last two days here prove to be just as magical!