Mix de antaño
(instrumental)

"Mix de Antaño" is the most adventurous of Charanga Habanera's four "retro-charanga" recordings, in which they pay tribute to their roots as a "real" charanga band. This time, instead of doing a full song like "Pare Cochero" or "A mí que", Calzado takes a number of snippets from the past and combines them into an interesting arrangement which is often played live with instrumental solos, making it a favorite among the musicians, who get to stretch out, especially Yulién and the Mengual brothers, each of whom plays an extended percussion solo in the live version.

The first theme is an old Cuban piece called "Capullito de alelí" played by the trumpets and piano very much in the traditional style. Next is a brief quote from Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" which leads to a piano solo which contains additional references, such as the omnipresent "El Manisero". The piano ends with the most interesting quote by far, from the song "Charanguero Mayor" itself! ("si tú quieres guerra, hay guerra, y si tú quieres fuego, hay fuego"). [audio example 77] Next is the old novelty track "Tequila", and then two quotes from Rafael Hernández, a Puerto Rican composer who wrote a number of pieces in the Cuban style such as "Cachita", "Silencio", and "El jibarito" which Tirso quotes in "El cantinero"..."y alegre el cantinerito va de allá pa cá y te da la luz". The saxophone plays the first Hernández quote and then the trumpets return with "El jibarito".The final quote is from Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca".