Not all the music in Cuba is in formal venues.
A few blocks from where I was staying I came across this band.
They got together to accompany an outdoor basketball tournament taking place in in public park.
In the last video the guys identify themselves and the name of the band.
A Saturday morning surprise on Calle 23 in Vedado
Note the little kids watching. This is how the music gets transmitted to the next generation.
Snare, bass drum, trumpet, cow bell. These guys would be at home in New Orleans. Was this one of the sounds of Congo Square?
On days like this, I wish my Spanish was better
These videos are just the tip of the tip of the iceberg of what I saw and heard in Havana. Over the ten days there I went to at least two different shows, some days as many as five, per day.
I could have easily gone to more and I never saw a bad one.
– Ken McCarthy
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