Big Noise From Havana - Jazz Plaza 2013
by Bill Tilford, all rights reserved

Anyone who despairs about the current state of Jazz in the world need only look to Havana, Cuba to find solace.  We have written before about the musical renaissance currently underway among Cuban musicians living in New York, and Havana is simultaneously experiencing one of its own. This atmosphere of excitement and innovation was evident everywhere during Jazz Plaza 2013, the 29th International Jazz Festival in Havana. Virtually the entire spectrum of the music we call Jazz (including Fusion, Free Jazz and experimental music) was well represented by Cuban artists as well as the international groups that were invited by the organizers.   Even more importantly, much of this new music is now being recorded and released by Cuban recording companies, an important signal that the music industry in Cuba is seriously committed to supporting it.  A further sign of awareness that something special is happening is the welcome reintroduction of a Jazz program to Radio Havana Cuba (one of the country's shortwave broadcasters), which had previously cut back its music offerings as a budgetary measure.  For a variety of reasons, much of the best of this music has not yet reached the ears of large numbers of listeners in Europe or North America, but once that happens,  Jazz aficionados will probably come to regard Havana as an epicenter not just of Latin Jazz but of Jazz generally.  Most of the stylistic boundaries that clearly segregate  the two categories are rapidly evaporating, and this is to the benefit of both in the opinion of this writer.  Even in cases when the new generation chooses to stay within traditional rythmic structures, it is using chord progressions and melodic twists that you would not have heard a decade ago.   As much as we still love the groundbreaking work of groups like Irakere and Afrocuba, the music being produced right now has moved far beyond the stylistic boundaries observed by those groups, and it really would not be fair to attempt to compare them. 
A few  US organizations sponsor People to People trips to Cuba at the same time that Jazz Plaza takes place, and this is a great way to visit Cuba legally and have meaningful interaction with the people there.  This writer went with one of those programs (sponsored by PlazaCUBA) and recommends them highly for culturally-oriented trips to the island.   (Jazz Plaza takes place at night after the scheduled activities in the various People to People trips have ended for the day.)

It is physically impossible for a single person to attend every event at Jazz Plaza,   The official program, which ran from December 19-22 this year, used eight different venues (Teatro Mella, the "centerpiece" venue; Casa de Cultura de Plaza, Teatro Bertolt Brecht, Sala Avenida, Jardines de Teatro Mella, Hotel Meliá Cohiba (which also had bands in more than one room after hours), Palacio de la Rumba and Sala Maxim Rock).   Additionally, many clubs and hotels increased their Jazz bookings during this period.    It was, in a sense, a Jazz city for the occasion.   This writer, a Chicagoan, notes that a similar approach is often publicly suggested for his own city every year by other writers.   
There is nothing that  one could possibly write in a single article that would adequately convey the variety and quality of the current Jazz scene in Cuba, but we also brought back a lot  of recent cds, and some impressions of the best of these  will be shared with you in the weeks to come.   In the meantime, you can view three photo galleries from the four nights:

Jazz Plaza Gallery I
Jazz Plaza Gallery II
Jazz Plaza Gallery III

Also, here is  a partial (and woefully incomplete)  list of artists (not all of them are young) who are relatively unknown to most listeners in the US and Europe and most have recordings that are worth seeking out.  Our one regret is that we are virtually certain that we missed some new artists that deserved our attention while we were there:

Joaquin Betancourt y La Joven Jazz Band.   Sería una simplificación excesiva llamar esto un sucesor moderno a la Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, pero se comparte algunas caracteristicas en común, como el OCMM (algunos de cuyos miembros fundaron Irakere más tarde) modern successor to the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, but it shares some features in common;  like the OCMM (some of whose members later founded Irakere), it plays modern arrangements in a big band setting, and it includes some extremely talented young musicians that will undoubtedly go on to establish other exciting groups of their own.   

Ypsi Garcia.    We don't have a recording, but this talented young drummer may be of special interest to fans of fusion artists like Billy Cobham.   

Habana Jazz Collective.   The closest thing to this that Cuba ever had in the past may have been GES, but this new group has a full brass section and a tighter focus on instrumentals.   Not fully avant-garde, but it sometimes straddles both sides of the boundary.       

Ruy López-Nussa.   Pianists Ernán and Harold López-Nussa are already internationally famous (deservedly so), and Harold's brother Ruy-Adrian plays drums in his group, but drummer/bandleader/educator Ruy López-Nussa (Harold's father, Ernán's brother) has somehow remained largely off the international radar in spite of his prowess as a percussionist and his role as leader of the progressive group La Academia.    He turned up in several places during Jazz Plaza, and we hope to hear more of him beyond Cuba. 

Carlos Miyares.   You may have heard this saxophonist in the past with Chucho Valdés, but he also has his own project,  and we have already reviewed Chucho Valdés presenta a Carlos Miyares.  You can read that review here. 

William Roblejo.   This progressive violin virtuoso commands a range of styles spanning decades, and we will be reviewing his recording Dreaming in the future. 

Julio Valdés Fuentes.   This multiinstrumentalist has his own project in addition to working with other groups including Mezcla and Canela.   His instruments include violin, with which, like Mr. Roblejo, he can play practically any style he wants with aplomb.   

Orlando Sánchez Soto (aka Cubajazz):   You might not know it from his past recordings with Mezcla, but this fellow is on the cutting edge of Cuban saxophonists, and his resume includes work with Bulgaria's Milcho Leviev.   His appearance in Mezcla's newest recording (a splendid Jazz DVD which we will review soon) finally features some aspects of his range that you probably haven't heard before. 

Ernesto Vega.   This clarinet phenomenon / composer was not part of Jazz Plaza (in fact, he is in Houston currently), but his 2008 recording Venir al Mundo came into our hands while we were there.   This is one of the best recordings that you probably haven't heard in the US - yet. You may find challenges obtaining this recording, but it will be more than worth the effort if you succeed. 

FINALLY (For the moment):

There is a very well-done blog (in Spanish) dedicated to Jazz in Cuba:  decubajazz.cult.cu
where you can learn a lot more about the artists and their work.