As an American musician, I was dumbfounded when I first visited Cuba and discovered Timba. I simply couldn't believe how well each band played together and how different they sounded from one another. I kept going back to Cuba and then returning to Northern California and each time the differences between the two musical worlds became more and more unbearable! In Havana, every musician plays in one band and one band only. In San Francisco, there are many bands, but no matter which one you go to see, you're likely to see the same two trumpet players, the same bass player, and often even the same lead singer. Beyond that, if a California band rehearses once a week, it's a rare accomplishment something to be proud of. The members of La Charanga Habanera have one job, and one job only, and the band frequently rehearses as often as six times a week. Listen to their music. I rest my case!

David Calzado takes the process one step further by rehearsing in public in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Havana, the now-legendary "El Fanguito". La CH never takes a new arrangement to the gig until it has passed muster with the discriminating "gente de la calle" of El Fanguito.[Kevin Moore]

Timba.com's Havana correspondent Ivette León takes us to El Fanguito in this photo essay.

Ensayos de la Charanga Habanera (El Fanguito)
por Ivette León

Carmelo y Yunior trompetistas

Ebblis Valdivía (El boni) e Ivette

Randolph bajista

Noel (cantante) y Carmelo

Aned Mota y su hijo

Saxofón

Juan Manuel (trompeta)

Noel e Ivette

Ensayos de la Charanga Habanera (

CHARANGA HABANERA IN REHEARSAL

As an American musician, I was dumbfounded when I first visited Cuba and discovered Timba. I simply couldn't believe how well each band played together and how different they sounded from one another. I kept going back to Cuba and then returning to Northern California and each time the differences between the two musical worlds became more and more unbearable! In Havana, every musician plays in one band and one band only. In San Francisco, there are many bands, but no matter which one you go to see, you're likely to see the same two trumpet players, the same bass player, and often even the same lead singer. Beyond that, if a California band rehearses once a week, it's a rare accomplishment something to be proud of. The members of La Charanga Habanera have one job, and one job only, and the band frequently rehearses as often as six times a week. Listen to their music. I rest my case!

David Calzado takes the process one step further by rehearsing in public in one of the roughest neighborhoods of Havana, the now-legendary "El Fanguito". La CH never takes a new arrangement to the gig until it has passed muster with the discriminating "gente de la calle" of El Fanguito.[Kevin Moore]

Timba.com's Havana correspondent Ivette León takes us to El Fanguito in this photo essay.

Ensayos de la Charanga Habanera (El Fanguito)
por Ivette León

Carmelo y Yunior trompetistas

Ebblis Valdivía (El boni) e Ivette

Randolph bajista

Noel (cantante) y Carmelo

Aned Mota y su hijo

Saxofón

Juan Manuel (trompeta)

Noel e Ivette