emails. Toni will give you the activites for our last day. I’ll tell you about
our last evening. As we’ve mentioned, one of our group is a pianist from New
Orleans, Tom McDermott, who loves Cuban and Brazilian music (my kind of guy!)
and was soaking up everything he could about the Cuban rhythms. Oscar, one our
Cuban guides in Santiago (Toni will explain more about him), arranged for Tom to
do a free concert for the different Santiago groups we’ve been visiting this
week. For a venue, he secured the birthplace of one of Cuban’s national poets
(sorry, forgot to get the name), which is now a museum. Like most Cuban and
Latin American houses, this was built around an internal courtyard and that’s
where the piano was. The house was 19th century and Tom specializes in
traditional New Orleans jazz and before, so a perfect setting. Tom choose
Spanish, Cuban, and New Orleans composers/ songwriters (eg.g.Domino, Jelly Roll
Morton),and did them in roughly chronological order, introducing each song in
Spanish first then English. It was a wonderful mini-overview of what we’ve been
hearing (minus the drums). Our dance instructors, Willian and Belkis,
and several of their students, i.e. our dance partner-teachers attended, along
with some other musicians. Tom’s concert was wonderful and folks in Prescott may
get to see him in June when we comes through town. But the big surprise was that
Oscar had also arranged for the members of a Santiago saxaphone quartet to come
and they did several songs after Tom’s set, including one habenero (dance tune)
that they convinced Tom to improvise with them on piano. For me, this
mini-concert, and particularly this improvised collaboration, sums up the
musical relationships between Cuban and American music. The influence has been
back and forth for centuries and I just know that once Cuban and American
musicians/dancers/artists have freer access to each other, there will be amazing
results. So fitting that our last music demonstrated this perfectly.

We all (including Ariana, Ocsar, & Raul) returned to our favorite palador for
our last dinner. Again, a fitting end. Our travel yesterday back to Miami was
basically uneventful, customs-wise, and we leave soon for the flight to Phoenix.
It’s been a fantastic experience and I’m glad we’ve had the opportunities to
share as we go. Toni’s photos will follow eventually. And for those who want to
hear the variety of CDs we’ve acquired, I’ll figure out a way to circulate them
or have a listening party! Hasta luego. MT

Street vendors- Just like in Porgy and Bess, vendors from the country still roam the streets singing out their wares-  honey in re-purposed plastic bottles, oranges in horse-drawn carts. 

Micro garage sales- This morning Mary and I wandered around for a couple of hours.  When I told a taxi driver no thanks, we’re walking, he replied, ah, the exercise of all of Cuba! On busy streets it seems almost every home has a little “garage sale” going  on the front stoop.  Everyone we pass is carrying something- a bag of groceries, an alternator, a cake. 

La economia- Some days ago I asked Oscar what a sign like “la revolucion continua con Fidel” means today, 50+ years after. Oscar says people believe in the revolution and what it has meant for the Cuban people – health, social security, an end to racism, etc.- and the economy is a problem.  Older people may feel they have sacrificed too much for the revolution, yet nobody want to go back to how things were.  In Oscar’s opinion, the very centralized government stifles creativity and creative thought, and therefore is not good for the economy.  Like Lucila in Havana, he envisions a social democracy along the lines of the Scandinavian countries. 

Still confusing to me is how the 21st century economy works.  Raul tells me el commandante has eliminated the sugar industry, and Cuba now imports sugar.  Raul is distressed at this loss of cultural heritage.  Then there is the dual currency- Cuban pesos for most Cubans and CUCs for foreigners and the people who serve them.  That appears to create a privileged class of service workers who have access to the goods and services CUCs can buy.  My afternoon project is to be in Oscar’s car and hope to learn more about Cuba’s economy, both how it works and how it doesn’t.

Internet card is running out.  Photos next week. If you have specific questions about Cuba (or about CubaNOLA, the organization under whose auspices we are travelling), just ask.  I’ll do my best.

Toni

hotel bar. So afterwards, we joined one of our group, Tom the New Orleans
pianist, to listen to this low-keyed but competent quintet do a selection of
standards from all over the Americas. Four of the guys sang and when they did
4-part harmony, it was beautiful. Not as powerful as Orfeon, but evocative
nonetheless. Their rendition of Michelle (Paul McCartney) was the most creative
I’ve ever heard. They had somehow realized that Tom was a pianist and requested
that he play a few tunes. The result was he and the quintets pianist have a
music date on Fri to compare notes. This might have been our last Cuban music,
unless we go out to a club this evening. But given early morning trip to airport
and the fact that music here starts around 10/11 pm, I doubt it. There is a plan
for Tom to do a concert for all the Cubans we’ve been going to see. He’s good
and may come to Prescott later this summer (watch the Library events). But I
think that the more interesting part will be who of the groups we’ve seen here
will come to his concert (as he says most free concerts are sold out!). It’ll be
a great way to say good-bye to folks.

This morning we walked back to the San Juan Hill monument. Bird-watching and
great normal-life street activity to observe. The birding has not been great
because of being in cities most of the time. Still, I’ve added 6 or so new
species to my list. I’ll get another chance when we go out of Santiago to the
famous cathedral. One other observation before I run out of internet time:
Because pedestrians do not have the right of way in Cuba, you practice defensive
street crossing instead of defensive driving! Luckily I got my training in New
York City! Next email likely from Prescott unless the airport hotel in Miami has
easy access. See you all soon. MT

On to a Santeria ceremony.  Santeria is very different from the voodoo we participated in at Palmas.  The Santeria spirits are more synchronized with Christianity, and I believe we will understand this better when we visit the la Virgin de la Caridad in El Cobre tomorrow.  Lots of drumming, offerings, etc. All in the home of Maruchi, who later served us dinner in her lovely patio.  I bailed on dance class and stuck around for the conclusion of the Santeria ceremony.  It was all very informal with much wandering in and out.  

This may well be my last missive before we fly out Friday morning.  Perhaps Mary will expand more on la musica. Hope you haven’t received too much communication from us.  If we overwhelmed with too much information, feel free to delete unread

Love to all, Toni

lunch–we had a concert by one of the Orfeon singers accompanied by a young
guitarist. She was one of the altos and had brought me to tears, literally, with
her rendition of Gracias a la Vida. Such emotion. She did a selection of
romantic standards and the guitarists did a couple of solo pieces, including one
from the famous Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Joabim. Nice interpretation.
Most interesting,however, was his guitar. It was an electric guitar with nylon
strings! No body to resonate the sound, just the outline of the guitar body.
I’ve never seen anything like it! He played it through an amp, just like any
electric, but it sounded and played like a classical. Cuban made. Who says
they’re behind technologically? Not when it comes to music!

The Santeria drumming group we saw yesterday, in contrast, was raw beat. Toni
will probably tell you more. I am enjoying the dance lessons and the head guy
keeps assigning me me the more-experienced male students–who are are real
teachers. It’s his method and it’s working, especially for Toni! Almost out of
internet. Until tomorrow. MT

David (bass player) said about the economic conditions giving rise to the “more
aggressive” sounds and improvisation of timba, I realized that the best analogy
was to bee bop in the US. For us, Afro American jazz musicians were expressing
their anger, frustration and general “we aren’t going to take it anymore”
attitude through the stridence and dissonance of their music. But unlike punk,
another musical reaction/ expression to hard times, bee bop and timba are
complex musical expressions in comparison to the simplistic, 3-chords music of
punk. So the young jazz players (who don’t specialize in timba) are aware of and
building on the feeling of timba while they explore the jazz idioms.

The music of today was going to a recording studio where a trumpet-player friend
of Ariana (our tour organizer) was mixing his new CD. Looked state of the art to
me, but then it’s been awhile since I’ve recorded. He, too, was experimenting
with combining different genres–Cuban son with Brazilian with big-band jazz.
His was a softer, more “classical” sound, i.e. he was using classical horn,
woodwind and string instruments. The vocalist was absolutely stunning (vocally
that is–we didn’t see her), reminiscent of Sarah Vaughn and some Brazilian
female singers whose names I can’t remember. Again, there ws a clear Cuban
“feel”–wish I could explain that in words better–but not what we think of in
the Guantanamera/Buena Vista Social Club way. So enough of musings! Today was
mostly about artists, which Toni (I hope) will cover. We’ve acquired many
CDs–helping the local economy in our humanitarian mission! So here will need to
be a serious listening party for those of you who are music afficiandos! I see
that my internet time is running low, so off to the Tropicana. Yes, THAT
Tropicana! It’s kitch but it’s a historic institution in Cuba and a better deal
than Vegas. And it’s under the stars, open air. More on that another time. Love
to all. MT

After our return, we went back to the studio we visited on Tuesday.  We were greeted like old friends and everyone was clearly delighted to see us back. This time it was rumba- very AfroCuban with lots or drums, dancing, call and response.   This particular version of rumba is also very sexually charged and the dance was amazing.  My last internet card is running out and we meet in the lobby at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow.  We here security on Cuban planes is even tighter than in the U.S.

More from Santiago (in eastern Cuba)  if our hotel has internet.   Can’t wait to share photos, video clips and all the wonderful CDs we have purchased.

Toni

Lunch was at a Palador called Cocina de Liliam.  Liliam is the chef and the paladors is in her home.  As I understand it, paladors are a growing part of the Cuban economy, and only lately have been required (or perhaps allowed) to pay into the social security system for their employees (mostly family members).  This was our best food to date in Cuba- delicious, beautifully presented, with lots of color and flavor.  All the tables were in lovely patios around the house.  People warned us not to expect much of Cuban food.  This was a restaurant I would visit a lot if it were in Prescott! 

I’ve been curious about how access to information (my stock in trade) works in Cuba.  Here’s my understanding of the moment.  There is an isolation from U.S. books and music, more because of the infrastructure (and perhaps the blockade) than because of censorship on the part of the Cuban authorities.  If people have internet at home, it’s dial-up and hardly suited to downloading music or books.  Hotel internet costs six CUCs (a little more than $6) an hour and is well out of the reach of most Cubans.  If you come to Cuba, a good gift might be a flash drive with lots of memory for transferring information and music.

A quick side note- We’ve seen a couple of large urban gardens, maybe community gardens, maybe truck farms, and Lucila said Cubans who have space to grow, do.  

Tonight five of us have reservations for the show at the Tropicana.  Kind of a splurge and who knows when we will have another opportunity to see the show that inspired the big Las Vegas reviews.  Tomorrow some free time, then the beach east of Havana.  Saturday we leave the hotel at 5 a.m. for our flight to Santiago de Cuba.

Toni