Mucho Gusto—¡Cubanismo! at the Rosza!
Dateline: Havana. The night
is young, the stars are radiant, and a gentle Caribbean breeze whispers
through the sultry night. Take a vacation from the grayness of our current
weather and sit back and enjoy one of the most famous and dynamic of Cuba's
bands, ¡Cubanismo! The band visits the Rozsa Center on Saturday,
April 6. Their contagious traditional Latin dance rhythms will make you
forget that summer is still a long way away in the Upper Peninsula. Tickets
for the 8:00 p.m. performance can be purchased at the Rozsa Center Box
Office (487-3200, Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) or online at www.tickets.mtu.edu.
The soaring trumpet of Jesús
Alemañy, who's known as the Cuban Wynton Marsalis, is the driving
force of this all-star, fourteen-piece, uptempo Cuban band. He is the
leading exponent of the traditional septeto style that originated when
trumpet was added to the guitar and percussion ensembles of the Cuban
countryside. Born in 1962 in Havana, he began studying music at the age
of thirteen at the Conservatoire Guillermo Tomas in Guanabacoa, Havana.
Three years later, he was invited to join the group Sierra Maestra, Cuba's
leading contemporary ensemble specializing in the roots style of salsa
known as son, which features the trumpet as solo instrument. Alemañy
is one of the new generation of musicians who are classically trained,
but who keep their roots firmly planted in the Afro-Cuban popular tradition.
This is true "roots" music-the authentic stuff that includes
the mambo jam session you can dance to, the cha cha, the rumba, less well-known
rhythms like danzon, pa'ca, and the descarga, and many more.
The band first found success
in the U.S. in 1996 when they were named in the top ten bands of that
year by Latin Beat and Afropop Worldwide. They also landed in the Billboard
Top Ten Tropical/Salsa Album Artists of the year.
Many of the traditional Cuban
styles are almost forgotten today, lost among the influences of American
pop, funk, and rap. "The heart, the very heart of Cuban music is
the rhythm," says Alemañy, who sought help in his research
for authenticity from veteran musicians like pianist Alfredo Rodriguez.
As a result, Alemañy has succeeded in recreating the pure rhythms,
the true sound of Cuba. And the expression cubanismo stands for a word
or phrase which is specifically Cuban-something unique to the island and
not common to the general Spanish culture of Latin America. If the music
sounds familiar, don't be surprised. What we know as salsa is really just
Cuban emigrant music, which after decades of relative obscurity has reached
a new level of popularity all over the world with an extraordinary new
generation of talented musicians.
The event is made possible
by funding from the MTU Committee for Campus Enrichment and the James
and Margaret Black Endowment. For further information contact the MTU
Great Events Series Office (487-2844).
