Pan con Timba

One of my favorites by the legendary Bebo. Featuring exhilarating horn solos, one in homage to Benny Moré's classic, "Qué bueno baila usted," and an infectious piano solo from Bebo himself, I could listen to this all day. I could use some pan con timba right now, matter of fact...

Desconfianza

One of my favorites from Bebo! "Desconfianza" has a bebop feel and reminds one of Bud Powell. 

Merengues, No

One of my favorites from Bebo, "Merengues, No" actually does sound like a merengue, but still retains a thoroughly Cuban sound. The sonero or vocalist, in particular, maintains the Cuban sound while the big band orquesta keeps things interesting. The vocalist seems to mention various styles of Cuban dance music (rumba, guaganco, cha cha cha, mambo, etc.) which make it quite clear this song is not a 'pure' merengue, either. 

Bebo Valdes

Diane

Lovely version of an old Haitian meringue, "Diane," previously recorded by legends such as Sidney Bechet and Bebo Valdes. Policard gives it a bossa twist, and the video fortunately gives us the name of the song's composer, Jean-Baptiste, who is explained as being chef de l'orchestre du palais national during the US Occupation. 

Chico & Rita

Chica & Rita is a lovely film with a beautiful, animated aesthetic that, at its most basic level, is a love story. Featuring two Afro-Cubans as the love pairing, the film addresses racial discrimination in Cuba and New York, emphasizes Cuban music and jazz (including appearances of famous jazz artists in the film, such as Charlie Parker, Chano Pozo, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, and Tito Puente, and others), and follows a rather unrealistic love relationship (How exactly do Chico and Rita fall in love after spending one night with each other in Havana?). Regardless of how unrealistically the two fall in love, it's an endearing story where jazz and Cuban music unite to tell the story of Afro-Cubans in New York (and the importance of Afro-Latinos in the development of jazz, particularly "Cu-bop" and other developments, including classics such as "Manteca," the very song Chano Pozo dies in a bar to while Chico and Ramon look on). 

Nevertheless, I cannot help but feel that this is an animated (and Cuban) version of Black Orpheus, with less focus on 'traditional' or 'exotic' aspects of Afro-Cuban culture (although a Santeria scene where Rita dances her gorgeous self off and a presumably Cuban female equivalent to a Haitian houngan appears). Like Black Orpheus, jazz fused with local music plays a large role in this film (Cu-bop, Cuban jazz, and mambo rather than bossa nova feature prominently in this stunning film), and both are fundamentally love stories set in 'exotic' Latin American nations where blacks live 'colorful' lives full of music, passion, and Iberian-American urban architecture (Havana and Rio). They also promote stereotypes of the sensual, tropical mulata, but that's still debateable, given the time differences in the film and the rather openly sexual romantic scenes that often characterize recent adult-oriented films. Either way, there are some rather moving dance scenes, comedy, and open sexuality lacking in most animated features. 

Of course, Chico & Rita is a little different for encompassing New York, Paris, and other US cities, and for directlty addressing racial discrimination (Chano Pozo tells Chico and his friend, Ramon, when they first come to New York from La Habana, about Jim Crow and an Anglo-American refers to Chico as a junglebunny). Oddly enough, white Cuban racism against Afro-Cubans is rendered invisible, save by indirect allusions, but Rita, while inebriated, bravely and perhaps foolishly (for its negative impact on her career as a singer and actress in the US), tells it like it is about how she could perform at elite venues in Las Vegas but could never rent a room at the adjacent hotels. 

In addition, the overwhelming view of Cuba under Fidel is one of an unfree and censored music scene with persistent blackouts. It's hard to read too much into it, but considering how influential Bebo Valdes was to the film and how he left revolutionary Cuba (he recorded several of the songs used in the film and the protagonist, Chico, shares his surname), Fidel's Cuba's accomplishments in racial equality are lost in the overall dismal state of independent music not tied directly to his party. This is not to suggest that Castro's government achieved racial equality (certainly not!), but some of the benefits of post-revolutionary Cuba are lost in this film, which also has the unfortunate tendency of overlooking decades of Cuban history. One scene does include a nice homage of young Afro-Cubans rapping and dancing to hip-hop as the old Chico walks by the bustling Havana street to his old apartment. 

Anyway, I'll cease my rambling here. It's a good film that has a very interesting aesthetic style, lovely music documenting the history of interactions between Cuban and US jazz, and some representation of the world Afro-Cubans lived in during age of mambo, chachacha and bebop. At least we get some Afro-Latinos on the big screen and a celebration of Cuba's musical legacy. 

Mayajigua

Just beautiful. Nothing short of elegant, brassy Cuban love. Valdes was a master of Cuban piano and jazz, and on this mambo, one of my favorites of Cuban music, leading an amazing orquesta. I may have found my favorite Cuban artist! The brother was well-versed in US jazz, worked in Haiti for a minute, and mastered various genres, including Cuban contradanza/danzon, such as the classic "La Bella Cubana."

Bebo Valdes at the Intersection of Cuba and Haiti

Unearthed a gem of Haitian-inspired Cuban music by the legendary pianist and bandleader, Bebo Valdes. He spent some time in Haiti and recorded a Haitian meringue I blogged about in the past but also recorded this "Hot in Haiti" which sounds so much like 1950s and early 1960s Haitian kompa. Valdes spent some time in Haiti in the 1940s and clearly never quite forgot the intricacies of the Haitian meringue and the particularly repetitive, percussive brass essential to the music. Nevertheless, Valdes retains a uniquely Cuban solo voice for the band's horns, US jazz influences, and a little percussion solo. 

Check out "Merengue A La Moore." which is similar to "Hot in Haiti" for illustrating how adept Valdes was in fusing his knowledge of Haitian music with his Cuban base. Indeed, this music is fascinating for showing how musical influences flowed, surprisinglyh, from Haiti to Cuba in the 1950s despite the overwhelming influence of Cuban music in Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean and Africa during this period. In the spirit of encouraging further pan-Caribbean musical collaborations, enjoy a stirring tribute to a key figure in the development of Haitian music during La Belle Epoque, Issa El Saieh! Rest in peace, Valdes and Saieh.