Lonely Planet India – August 2019

WORDS: BRENDAN SAINSBURY. PHOTOGRAPHS: JAMES QUINE/ALAMY, PHILIP LEE HARVEY/LONELYPLANET, ARTUR BALYTSKYI/SHUTTERSTOCK

HAVANA’S

VIBRANT

SCENE

Thanks to centuriesof cross-culturalfermentation,

Cuba’s capital is a round-the-clock jam session

of staggering diversity. Rumba, jazz, son cubano,

metal – it’s all resonating here

Cuba might have endured shortages and sacrifice over the past
50 years, but the arts – and music, in particular – have
prospered, spurred by government patronage, ample local
talent and a remarkably fertile culture. Creativity is particularly
strong in Havana, a city of faded grandeur and animated street
life that is starting to rediscover its entrepreneurial spirit.
The Cuban capital virtually bleeds music, a simmering stew
of Spanish, African, French, North American and indigenous
influences that combine in a beautifully syncopated whole.
The city bubbles over in a maelstrom of sounds that swing,
dance and rock out of every nook and cranny. There’s the jazz
trombonist standing on the sea wall practising his scales;
rumba drummers engrossed in an all-day Santería ritual;
the troubadour seducing tourists with songs about Che
Guevara; an octogenarian crooner belting out a plaintive
Bésame mucho; and thrash metallers screaming something
in Spanish about revolution. The music never stops. Even better,
it’s nearly always live. In Havana, guitars are as common
as mobile phones, and singing and dancing as natural
as walking and breathing.
Popular exports son cubano and mambo are merely
a warm-up act. You can walk through the city and plot the path
from Beny Moré to hip hop via jazz, charanga, rumba, salsa,
timba and cha-cha-chá. Take a deep breath and dive in.

S

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From virtual conducting in Mozart’s Vienna to fleeting moments of duende

in Seville, and all-singing, all-dancing Havana nights, tune into soulful

experiences in the world’s most musical cities

lucky, you might spot a star. Last

November, trova l e g e n d Sil v io Ro d r í g u ez

s a n g li ve in n e a r by Plaza del Cristo,

for free. That’s Obispo: music of the

people, by the people, for the people.

3. Callejón de Hamel
   This community art project in Centro
   Habana is a living manifestation of the
   city’s Afro-Cuban soul – a paint-spattered
   back alley filled with strange murals,
   Santería shrines and the rhythmic beat
   o f r u m b a. Ru m b a is o n e o f t h e b uil din g
   blocks of Cuban music, a mixture of
   athletic dancing and ritual drumming
   that is closely associated with syncretised
   religions of African origin. Some have
   c a l l e d it Cu b a’s n a t io n a l s p o r t. O f a l l t h e
   p l a c e s t o h e a r it, Ca l l e jó n d e H a m e l is t h e
   most spontaneous and rootsy. Live rumba,
   with its interlocking rhythms and Yoruba
   chants, kicks off in the street every Sunday


4. El Guajirito
   During the mid-1990s, American slide
   guitarist Ry Cooder resurrected a group
   of half-forgotten Cuban musicians and
   f u n n e l l e d t h e m in t o a n ex t ra o rdin a r y
   collective called the Buena Vista Social
   Club. The band made a self-titled record,
   sold out a tour and won a Grammy.
   M a ny o f t h e m we re s o e l d e r l y a t t h e t im e
   that they’ve since passed away, but the
   salsa-ing spirit of the Buena Vista Social
   Cl u b li ve s o n in El G u ajir it o, a c o s y
   restaurant and live-music venue in a
   grotty-on-the-outside tenement in the
   district of Centro Habana. Sure, the place
   is popular with tourists but, once the
   chatter dies down, it’s hard not to be
   seduced by the energy of the veteran
   singers and musicians during 90-minute
   sets of Cuban classics (www.facebook.
   com/ElGuajiritoRestaurante).


5. Calle Obispo
   By day, Calle Obispo is the main
   s h o p pin g s t re e t in H a b a n a Vi e ja, t h e
   gloriously crumbling Old Town. By night,
   it’s a beautiful din of competing live music
   with guitars, flutes, bongos and trumpets
   filling the air and reminding you that, even
   with your eyes closed, you couldn’t be
   anywhere but Cuba. Some musicians
   play for love, others pass the hat for
   money. In a few of the more clamorous
   b a rs, t h e b a n d is s q u e ez e d in s o t i g h t, t h e
   bass player is virtually kissing the guitarist.
   In La Dichosa, the band is often bigger
   than the audience. Hotel Ambos Mundos
   always has a pianist tinkling the ivories.
   Café Paris is a m o re a nim a t e d s c e n e
   p a c ke d w it h t o u r is t s d a n c in g. I f yo u’re

TRAVEL FOR MUSIC

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