Cuba: Music and Revolution: Culture Clash in Havana: Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85 Vol. 2 is the new album compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) that takes off in exactly the same vein as the much-acclaimed Vol. 1 – exploring the many styles that came out of Cuba in the 1970s as Latin and Salsa mixed with heavy doses of Jazz, Funk, and Disco to create some of the most dancefloor-friendly music ever made!

The album comes as a heavyweight 3xLP and deluxe 2xCD set, complete with extensive sleeve notes, and is jam-packed with heavy bass lines, synth and Wah-Wah guitar funk combined with the heavyweight percussion, powerful brass lines and the all-encompassing Latin rhythms of Cuban music known throughout the world.

Much of the music on this album is featured in the deluxe large format book ‘Cuba: Music and Revolution: Original Cover Art of Cuban Music: Record Sleeve Designs of Revolutionary Cuba 1959-90’, released by Soul Jazz Books and also compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records), featuring the music and record designs of Cuba, made in the 30-year period following the Cuban Revolution.

The music on this new album features a host of rarities from legendary Cuban artists such as Los Van Van, alongside Grupo De Experimentación, Farah Maria, Ricardo Eddy Martinez, Juan Pablo Torres, Grupo Sintesis and Orquesta Riverside, most of whose names remain largely unknown outside of Cuba but have long been favourite club tracks and secret-weapons in Gilles Peterson’s record boxes!

The music on this album reflects the most cutting-edge of Cuban groups that were recording in Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s – all searching for a new Cuban identity and new musical forms reflecting both the Afro-Cuban cultural heritage of a nation that gave birth to Latin music and its new position as a socialist state. Most of the music featured on this album has never been heard outside of Cuba.

Both Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker have been involved in Cuban music for more than two decades – Gilles Peterson with his many Havana Cultura projects for his Brownswood label and Stuart Baker with a number of Soul Jazz Records albums recorded in Cuba. This Soul Jazz Records album is released in conjunction with Egrem, the Cuban state record company, and has been put together after the many crate-digging trips that both compilers have made on the streets of Havana and beyond in Cuba stretching over a 20-year period, searching out rare and elusive original Cuban vinyl records. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Though I've travelled extensively, I've not yet made it to Cuba, but with this great set of Latin grooves I feel it might be my next hunting ground.

TRACK LISTING

CD1
1. Juan Pablo Torres Y Algo Nuevo - Y Que Bien (4.24)
2. Orquesta Los Van Van - Por Que Lo Haces? (4.10)
3. Los Latinos - Quemando (2.46)
4. Farah María - Amame Y No Pienses Mas (4.13)
5. FA 5 - Muevete Con Las Fuerzas Del Corazon (5.53)
6. Tambores De Enrique Bonne - Como Arrullos De Palma (2.47)
7. Ricardo Eddy Martinez - Expresso Ritmico (4.11)
8. Los Papines - Solo De Tumba Y Bongo (5.31)
9. Grupo Sintesis - Aqui Estamos (2.31)
10. Los Van Van - Llegada (2.08)
11. Grupo Raices Nuevas - Baila Mi Guaguancó (5.02)

CD2
1. Luis Carbonell - La Rumba (3.53)
2. Orquesta Riverside - En Casa Del Trompo No Bailes (3.02)
3. Juan Formel & Los Van Van - Llegue, Llegue (5.51)
4. Grupo Los Yoyi - Tu No Me Puedes Conquistar (3.09)
5. Los Papines - Para Que Niegas? (4.23)
6. Grupo De Experimentación Sonora Del ICAIC - Cuba Va! (3.06)
7. Raul Gomez - Luces En La Pista (4.40)
8. Los Brito - El 4-5-6 (2.50)
9. Leo Brouwer - Tema De El Rancheador De La Naturaleza (1.37)
10. Ricardo Eddy Martinez - La 132 (4.23)
11. Los Reyes 73 - Finalizo Un Amor (3.37)

A
1. Juan Pablo Torres Y Algo Nuevo - Y Que Bien (4.24)
2. Orquesta Los Van Van - Por Que Lo Haces? (4.10)
3. Los Latinos - Quemando (2.46)
4. Farah María - Amame Y No Pienses Mas (4.13)

B
1. FA 5 - Muevete Con Las Fuerzas Del Corazon (5.53)
2. Tambores De Enrique Bonne - Como Arrullos De Palma (2.47)
3. Ricardo Eddy Martinez - Expresso Ritmico (4.11)

C
1. Los Papines - Solo De Tumba Y Bongo (5.31)
2. Grupo Sintesis - Aqui Estamos (2.31)
3. Los Van Van - Llegada (2.08)
4. Grupo Raices Nuevas - Baila Mi Guaguancó (5.02)

D
1. Luis Carbonell - La Rumba (3.53)
2. Orquesta Riverside - En Casa Del Trompo No Bailes (3.02)
3. Juan Formel & Los Van Van - Llegue, Llegue (5.51)

E
1. Grupo Los Yoyi - Tu No Me Puedes Conquistar (3.09)
2. Los Papines - Para Que Niegas? (4.23)
3. Grupo De Experimentación Sonora Del ICAIC - Cuba Va! (3.06)
4. Raul Gomez - Luces En La Pista (4.40)

F
1. Los Brito - El 4-5-6 (2.50)
2. Leo Brouwer - Tema De El Rancheador De La Naturaleza (1.37)
3. Ricardo Eddy Martinez - La 132 (4.23)
4. Los Reyes 73 - Finalizo Un Amor (3.37)

‘Cuba: Music and Revolution’ is a new album compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) that explores the many new styles that emerged in Cuba in the 1970s as Jazz, Funk, Brazilian Tropicalia and even Disco mixed together with Latin and Salsa on the island as Cuban artists experimented with new musical forms created in the unique socialist state of Cuba. The album comes as a deluxe double CD and heavyweight triple vinyl, complete with extensive sleeve notes, jam-packed with heavy basslines, synth and WahWah guitar funk combined with the heavyweight percussion, powerful brass lines and the all-encompassing Latin rhythms of Cuban music known throughout the world.

The album is released to coincide with the massive new deluxe large format book ‘Cuba: Music and Revolution: Original Cover Art of Cuban Music: Record Sleeve Designs of Revolutionary Cuba 1959-90’, which is also compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) and which features the music and record designs of Cuba, made in the 30-year period following the Cuban Revolution. The music on this album features legendary Cuban groups such as Irakere, Los Van Van and Pablo Milanés, as well as a host of lesser known artists such as the radical Grupo De Experimentación, Juan Pablo Torres and Algo Nuevo, Grupo Monumental and Orquesta Ritmo Oriental, groups whose names remain largely unknown outside of Cuba owing to the now 60-year old US trade embargo which remains in place today and which prevents trade with Cuba - and thus most Cuban records were only ever available in Cuba or in ex-Soviet Union states.

The music on this album reflects the most cutting-edge of Cuban groups that were recording in Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s - who were all searching for a new Cuban identity and new musical forms that reflected both the Afro-Cuban cultural heritage of a nation that gave birth to Latin music - and its new position as a socialist state. Most of the music featured on this album has never been heard outside of Cuba. Both Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker have been involved in Cuban music for more than two decades - Gilles Peterson with his many Havana Cultura projects for his Brownswood label and Stuart Baker with a number of Soul Jazz Records albums recorded in Cuba. This Soul Jazz Records album is released in conjunction with Egrem, the Cuban state record company, and has been put together after the many crate-digging trips that both compilers have made on the streets of Havana and beyond in Cuba stretching over a 20-year period, searching out rare and elusive original Cuban vinyl records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Following on from *that* gorgeous book with all of the beauty in it is the musical collection of the same. Compiled by some of the greatest selectors around on the scene, this is a fascinating and superb collection of groovers, shakers and under-appreciated heavy hitters.

TRACK LISTING

Grupo Irakere - Chequere Son
Conjunto Rumbavana - El Son Del Campeon
Juan Formell & Los Van Van - Mi Ritmo Caliente
Grupo Monumental - Mi Son Caridad
Grupo De Experimentación Sonora Del ICAIC - Sondeando
Las D'Aida - Con Cadencia Y Con Dulzura
Juan Formell & Los Van Van - Y No Le Conviene
Pablo Milanés - Te Quiero Porque Te Quiero
Emíliano Salvador - Luna Wanestain
Los Reyes 73 - Un Lamento Hecho Cancion
Eduardo Ramos - Vocación Revolución
Grupo Mounmental - Hasta Las Cuantas
Los 5 U 4 - Solo Esta Musica
Grupo De Experimentación Sonora Del ICAIC - Canción Con Todos
Orquesta Los Van Van - Yo Se Que Van Van
Grupo Mounmental - Nadie Se Siente Cansado
Orquesta Ritmo Oriental - Maria, Baila El Son
Juan Pablo Torres Y Algo Nuevo - Rompe Cocorioco
Los Reyes 73 - Grandes Amigos
Paquito D'Rivera - La Patica
Grupo De Experimentación Sonora Del ICAIC - Grifo
Raúl Gómez - Dacapo
Grupo Irakere - Juana 1600

The legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band present the soundtrack to ‘A Tuba To Cuba’, the critically acclaimed documentary directed by TG Herrington and Danny Clinch. The film follows Ben Jaffe of New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band as he seeks to fulfil his late father's dream of retracing their musical roots to the shores of Cuba in search of the indigenous music that gave birth to New Orleans jazz. ‘A Tuba To Cuba’ celebrates the triumph of the human spirit expressed through the universal language of music and challenges us to resolve to build bridges, not walls.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe said of ‘Kreyol’ from the soundtrack: “Every evening in Havana people gather along the waterfront to socialize. I’ve always been taken by the tempo at which people stroll, like New Orleans, there’s a very particular rhythm to their walk. That rhythm was the inspiration for ‘Kreyol’. In fact, ‘Kreyol’ is the Cuban spelling of ‘Creole.’ You can feel that same Creole influence in New Orleans, it’s one of our many shared connections with Cuba.”

At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living one.

TRACK LISTING

Yesteryear
Tumba
I Am
Descarga Del Son
Keep Your Head Up
Corazon
Elegguà
Kreyol
El Manicero
Solitude
Las Palomas
Malecón