Music
of a select group of exceptional Cuban bands Boogalu Productions
has professionally recorded to provide exposure and help promote. |
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El Ruso y Su Banda (The Russian and His Band) is an extraordinary
group of musicians from an extraordinary place, Baracoa, Cuba.
Baracoa is in the eastern region of Cuba, known as Oriente
- the home of traditional Cuban music. It is here in the countryside
of Oriente where elements of Spanish and African music and
dance traditions fused into forms distinctly Cuban.
El Ruso (Eduardo Navarro Toirac) is the driving force behind
this remarkable group. Band leader, composer, percussionist
and lead singer, El Ruso, while not of Russian descent, got
his nickname for his Muscovite good looks, powerful personality
and professional attitude (the USSR and Cuba were close allies
for almost forty years).
Originally a percussionist on bongo and conga with various
groups, El Ruso pulled together the best musicians in the
area to form his own band in 1996. Known for their superb
sound and high energy, the band is widely acknowledged as
the premier group in Baracoa, providing essential musical
nourishment to this remote region. |
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José Aquiles started playing music in 1972 and soon
became involved in the Movimiento de la Nueva Trova (New Trova
Movement), an important style of music in Cuba that celebrates
love as well as the revolution. In 1980 he began his professional
career playing in various groups and writing music for theater,
ballet, and the cinema, while also entering many music writing
competitions.
José has toured extensively in Central and South America,
Europe and Russia, and has performed with some great international
artists such as Gilberto Gil (Brazil), Pablo Milanes (Cuba),
Sonia Silvestre (Dominican Republic), and Augusto Blanca (Cuba).
Besides touring, José has released three records of
his own music, and is also featured on several Cuban music
anthologies. |
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Morenos del Changüí (brown skin people of changüí)
are a group of talented musicians who perform the traditional
music of Guantánamo. Formed in 1996, "Los Morenos"
are known for their exuberant performances and beautiful original
music, these songs often adopted by other music groups in
the area.
Ariel Dauidinot Brooks is the band leader, lead singer, and
principle composer for the group, with the further distinction
of having won several competitions for his song writing. Most
of the members of the group also perform with "Babul",
one of the top folkloric performing troupes in Guantánamo.
The groups rehearse daily in a large space adjacent to the
local museum and perform regularly at civic events. Together
these two groups form a remarkable collective of musicians,
dancers, and artists, who embody and express the full range
of music and dance styles unique to Guantánamo.
Changüí is the typical dance music of Guantánamo,
a province in eastern Cuba, with a unique history of cultural
intermixture. Guantánamo unlike other regions in Cuba,
was not primarily established by the Spanish, but by French
colonists fleeing the Haitian revolution of 1804. Not as well
known as other genres of Cuban music, changüí
is related to the son, but different in a number of respects. |
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Malaika means "angel" in Swahili and is the name of East
Africa's most popular love song. The original Malaika band
was named after this song and had an extensive African music
repertoire due to the influence of its female lead singer.
After touring Europe the group has reorganized and now performs
a wide range of modern and traditional Cuban genres including
son, bolero, pregón and fusion.
The band now features a new female vocalist, Zulema Iglesias,
the soprano saxophone and flute of René Federico, plus
two female dancers who enliven their performances. Their new
sound blends traditional Cuban music with jazz influences
and arrangements to create a truly distictive sound and feeling.
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