Havana Jam
Encyclopedia
Havana Jam was a three-day music festival
that took place at the Karl Marx Theater
, in Havana
, Cuba
, on 2-4 March, 1979. It was sponsored by Bruce Lundvall
, the president of Columbia Records
, Jerry Masucci
, the president of Fania Records
, and the Cuban Ministry of Culture.
The festival included, on the American side, Weather Report
, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom
, Fania All-Stars
, Stephen Stills
, Billy Swan
, Bonnie Bramlett
, Mike Finnegan, Kris Kristofferson
, Rita Coolidge
and Billy Joel
. The Cuban acts included Irakere
, Pacho Alonso
, Zaida Arrate, Elena Burke
, Orquesta de Santiago de Cuba, Conjunto Yaguarimú, Frank Emilio
, Juan Pablo Torres, Los Papines, Tata Güines
, Cuban Percussion Ensemble, Sara González, Pablo Milanés
, Manguaré, and Orquesta Aragón
.
and Cuban President Fidel Castro
started to loose the political tension between the two countries and opened Interest Sections both in Havana
and Washington
. It was the first time in almost two decades after Castro’s rise to power that there was a real interest in establishing a normalization of diplomatic relations and the lifting of the United States embargo against Cuba
.
With a real crisis in the music industry in the United States
and the start of the salsa
boom, in April 1978, CBS Records
director, Bruce Lundvall
, saw an open door to probe Cuban music and together with a group of the company’s music enthusiasts made a four-day trip to Havana, where they were overwhelmed by the sound of Cuban music, but especially by Afro-Cuban
jazz band Irakere
, one of Cuba’s most highly regarded and virtuoso musical acts.
After months of talks, Lundvall managed to sign Irakere and in July the group traveled to New York
to perform an unannounced guest set at the famed Newport Jazz Festival-New York
. Rave reviews led to an invitation from the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival
in Switzerland
.
A few months later, Irakere won their first Grammy with the album Irarere, recorded at their Carnegie Hall
performance, and Lundvall wanted to try his luck with other Cuban bands too. So, in the Fall of 1978, he joined forces with Fania Records
director Jerry Masucci
and convinced the Cuban cultural authorities to organize a three-day festival in Havana with the participation of Cuban and American musicians. The event would be recorded and televised for the enjoyment of both the Cuban and American people.
So they all agreed to set a date for the festival, spontaneously entitled Havana Jam. March 2 through 4, 1979, were the days earmarked for this historical step toward establishing a cultural exchange between the two enemy nations. In order to carry out the Herculean task of planning, Lundvall brought aboard Jock McLean
and Phil Sandhaus, of Columbia
's artists development department. Both veterans of major concert promotion, they knew the festival needed professional production of the highest caliber, and enlisted Showco
(a Dallas-based concert production company) and Studio Instrument Rentals
for the task.
At this point in time, Lundvall was diligently “feeling out” select members of the Columbia artist roster, all of whom were honored to accept the invitation to perform in Cuba. By early February the talent was confirmed. Representing the U.S. would be Billy Joel
, Stephen Stills
, Weather Report
, Kris Kristofferson
with Rita Coolidge
, the Fania All-Stars
and the CBS Jazz All-Stars. The latter group was conceptualized by Lundvall and scheduled to feature more than 20 top jazz artists on the label.
With the festival within grasp, other CBS Records
personnel were summoned into the picture-rehearsals were set up for the CBS Jazz All-Stars, travel accommodations were made, equipment was rented, a wide cross-section of media was invited, and both recording and videotaping plans were confirmed.
Record producers Bert deCoteaux and Mike Berniker
flew down with a crew from the CBS Recording Studios along with a support team and mobile 24-track console from Record Plant. McLean, Sandhaus, Freston and various other people were already busy working in Havana's Karl Marx Auditorium when the musicians landed at the José Martí airport on March 1.
Havana Jam was an invitation-only event, with mostly cultural personalities and members of the Communist Party
and their children in attendance, though some students from different art and music schools were also invited.
The festival was hardly mentioned on the Cuban press, and thirty years later not many Cubans know it ever existed.
opened the show, offering an assortment of sound effects before launching into their set. The audience repeatedly rose to its feet during the program, setting the festival's prevailing mood of “music over politics”. Backstage, Weather Report's members (Joe Zawinul
, Wayne Shorter
, Jaco Pastorius
and Peter Erskine
) were later congratulated by an assortment of Cuban musicians and fans, most of whom were familiar with the group's repertoire through the aid of Florida radio, mostly AM
stations such as WQAM, WGBS
, WKWF
and WLCY
.
Weather Report
was followed by two traditional Cuban ensembles of differing styles. The first, Conjunto Yaguarimú, featured vocalists Zaida Arrate and Pacho Alonso
, who interpreted “dated” Cuban music. The second group, Orquesta Aragón
, played some of the most dynamic music of the festival, utilizing its charanga sound of violins, cello, flute and rhythm section.
The concert was running very late, and people began to leave the hall because of a midnight public transportation curfew. Hence, when the Fania All-Stars
took the stage the house was half empty, yet the excitement of this ensemble-featuring practically every top name in salsa still captured the spirit of the audience. The ensemble included top salsa artists of the likes of Rubén Blades
, Johnny Pacheco
, Pete Rodríguez
, Héctor Lavoe
, Larry Harlow, Santos Colón
, Luigi Texidor, Pupi Legarreta, Papo Lucca
, Roberto Roena
, Adalberto Santiago
, Sal Cuevas
, Wilfrido Vargas
, and other Latin superstars.
, Stan Getz
, Jimmy Heath
, Arthur Blythe
, Woody Shaw
, Hubert Laws
, Bobby Hutcherson
, Willie Bobo
, Cedar Walton
, Percy Heath
and Tony Williams. The group performed several tunes by Walton and Jimmy Heath that had the crowd on its feet after every solo.
The stage was then turned over to the “once-in-a-life-time” Trio of Doom
, including luminaries John McLaughlin
, Jaco Pastorius
and Tony Williams. The highly amplified trio captivated the audience with its very unique sound. As a finale, a third ensemble came onstage: Blythe, Jimmy Heath, Laws, Bobo, Richard Tee
, Rodney Franklin
, Eric Gale
, John Lee and Gerry Brown
. Although their set was limited to two selections, the assemblage was also well-received.
What followed was the highlight of the festival, the 25-member Cuban Percussion Ensemble. The entourage featured some of the biggest names in modern Cuban drumming, such as Tata Güines
, Los Papines, Guillermo Barreto
and Changuito
, backed by pianist Frank Emilio
and his quartet.
After a masterful percussion set, Cuba was treated to its first taste of rock 'n' roll by Stephen Stills
. He performed a high-energy set that featured a top-notch band that included Bonnie Bramlett
and Mike Finnegan. Stills gave a sampling of his various hits throughout the years, and then jumped into the audience with his remote control guitar and sang a salute to the audience entitled Cuba Al Fin.
Irakere
closed the show, spurred on by the high energy audience in the theater. Featuring leader keyboardist Chucho Valdés
, Irakere pulled out all stops. The group was then joined by Rodney Franklin
, Richard Tee
, John McLaughlin
, Willie Bobo
, Stan Getz
, Jaco Pastorius
and others in an all-out jam session, bringing the evening's proceedings to an abrupt halt at 3 A.M.
, who was accompanied by the Orquesta de Santiago de Cuba.
Appearing next on the bill were Kris Kristofferson
and Rita Coolidge
, backed by an excellent band composed of Billy Swan
and other top musicians. Kristofferson performed first, singing many of his hit songs which were recognized by the audience. The tunes were interspersed with Kris's well-meaning stabs at speaking Spanish
. The house was rocking as Rita Coolidge
took the stage and the Cubans all sang along to Coolidge's AM-radio hits. This audience could have been one of any American audience, not what one would expect in modern, staid Karl Marx Theater
.
The evening was propelled one step further when Sara González, who is gifted with one of the most powerful and emotional voices in the world, sang several numbers accompanied by Pablo Milanés
y Grupo Manguaré.
Then came the festival's finale, Billy Joel
, who demonstrated that rock 'n' roll is truly one of the most exciting and spontaneous of all musical idioms. Billy immediately electrified the hall and pandemonium broke loose as people screamed “Bil-lee Yo-el” and rushed the stage. Everyone agreed that this was one of Billy's best sets ever, filled with originality and fire.
Havana Jam was a musical triumph from start to finish and will also be reserved through the many stories told by those fortunate enough to attend.
In 1979, Columbia released two double albums of the festival performances, Havana Jam and Havana Jam 2. The Fania All-Stars
's set was released later that year as Havana Jam on Fania. The Trio of Doom performance was released in 2007 as Trio of Doom.
The event is recollected and revived in Ernesto Juan Castellanos
's 2009 documentary
Havana Jam '79
.
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
that took place at the Karl Marx Theater
Karl Marx Theater
The Karl Marx Theater is a theater in Havana, Cuba, formerly known as the Teatro Blanquita, and renamed after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the venue has an enormous auditorium with seating capacity of 5500 people, and is generally used for big shows by stars from Cuba and abroad...
, in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, on 2-4 March, 1979. It was sponsored by Bruce Lundvall
Bruce Lundvall
Bruce Lundvall, is an American record company executive, most known as being the President/CEO of the Blue Note Label Group, reporting directly to Eric Nicoli, the Chief Executive Officer of EMI Group.- Career :...
, the president of Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Jerry Masucci
Jerry Masucci
Jerry Masucci was a co-founder of Fania Records.-Early life:Masucci was born October 7, 1934, in Brooklyn, to parents Urbano and Elvira Masucci. He had a brother named Alex Masucci...
, the president of Fania Records
Fania Records
Fania Records was a New York based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from an old Cuban song by the singer Reinaldo Bolaño. Fania is known for its promotion of what has become...
, and the Cuban Ministry of Culture.
The festival included, on the American side, Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, the CBS Jazz All-Stars, the Trio of Doom
Trio of Doom
The Trio of Doom was a short-lived jazz fusion power trio consisting of John McLaughlin on guitar, Jaco Pastorius on bass, and Tony Williams on drums...
, Fania All-Stars
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
, Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, Billy Swan
Billy Swan
Billy Lance Swan is an American songwriter and singer, best known for his 1974 single, "I Can Help".-Life:Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. As a child, he learned drums, piano and guitar, and began writing songs...
, Bonnie Bramlett
Bonnie Bramlett
Bonnie Bramlett is an American singer and sometime actress known for her distinctive vocals in rock and pop music. This began in the mid 1960s as a backing singer, forming the husband-and-wife team of Delaney & Bonnie, and continuing to the present day as a solo artist.-Life and career:Bramlett...
, Mike Finnegan, Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
and Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
. The Cuban acts included Irakere
Irakere
Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...
, Pacho Alonso
Pacho Alonso
Pacho Alonso was a Cuban singer and bandleader from Santiago de Cuba who is attributed with creating the musical form Pilón....
, Zaida Arrate, Elena Burke
Elena Burke
Elena Burke was a revered and popular Cuban singer of boleros and romantic ballads....
, Orquesta de Santiago de Cuba, Conjunto Yaguarimú, Frank Emilio
Frank Emilio
Frank A. Emilio is an American politician who represented the 3rd Essex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1981–1991. Prior to serving in the House, he spent six years as a Haverhill City Councilor.Emilio was defeated by Haverhill City Councilor Brian Dempsey in the 1990...
, Juan Pablo Torres, Los Papines, Tata Güines
Tata Güines
Tata Güines was a Cuban percussionist on the tumbadora, or conga drum, as well as a composer. He was important in the first generation of Afro-Cuban jazz....
, Cuban Percussion Ensemble, Sara González, Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés Arias is a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitar player. He studied at a conservatory in Havana. He is considered one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola...
, Manguaré, and Orquesta Aragón
Orquesta Aragón
Orquesta Aragón was formed on 30 September 1939, by Orestes Aragón Cantero in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The band originally had the name Ritmica 39, then Ritmica Aragón before settling on its final form. Though they did not create the Cha-cha-cha, they were arguably the best charanga in Cuba during 1950s...
.
History
In 1977, US President Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and Cuban President Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
started to loose the political tension between the two countries and opened Interest Sections both in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
and Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. It was the first time in almost two decades after Castro’s rise to power that there was a real interest in establishing a normalization of diplomatic relations and the lifting of the United States embargo against Cuba
United States embargo against Cuba
The United States embargo against Cuba is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo partially imposed on Cuba in October 1960...
.
With a real crisis in the music industry in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the start of the salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
boom, in April 1978, CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
director, Bruce Lundvall
Bruce Lundvall
Bruce Lundvall, is an American record company executive, most known as being the President/CEO of the Blue Note Label Group, reporting directly to Eric Nicoli, the Chief Executive Officer of EMI Group.- Career :...
, saw an open door to probe Cuban music and together with a group of the company’s music enthusiasts made a four-day trip to Havana, where they were overwhelmed by the sound of Cuban music, but especially by Afro-Cuban
Afro-Cuban
The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...
jazz band Irakere
Irakere
Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...
, one of Cuba’s most highly regarded and virtuoso musical acts.
After months of talks, Lundvall managed to sign Irakere and in July the group traveled to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to perform an unannounced guest set at the famed Newport Jazz Festival-New York
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
. Rave reviews led to an invitation from the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
A few months later, Irakere won their first Grammy with the album Irarere, recorded at their Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
performance, and Lundvall wanted to try his luck with other Cuban bands too. So, in the Fall of 1978, he joined forces with Fania Records
Fania Records
Fania Records was a New York based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from an old Cuban song by the singer Reinaldo Bolaño. Fania is known for its promotion of what has become...
director Jerry Masucci
Jerry Masucci
Jerry Masucci was a co-founder of Fania Records.-Early life:Masucci was born October 7, 1934, in Brooklyn, to parents Urbano and Elvira Masucci. He had a brother named Alex Masucci...
and convinced the Cuban cultural authorities to organize a three-day festival in Havana with the participation of Cuban and American musicians. The event would be recorded and televised for the enjoyment of both the Cuban and American people.
So they all agreed to set a date for the festival, spontaneously entitled Havana Jam. March 2 through 4, 1979, were the days earmarked for this historical step toward establishing a cultural exchange between the two enemy nations. In order to carry out the Herculean task of planning, Lundvall brought aboard Jock McLean
Jock McLean
John Calderwood 'Jock' McLean was a professional footballer who played in the Football League as a centre half for Blackburn Rovers and Bristol Rovers....
and Phil Sandhaus, of Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
's artists development department. Both veterans of major concert promotion, they knew the festival needed professional production of the highest caliber, and enlisted Showco
Showco
Showco is a sound equipment provider of touring sound reinforcement equipment and services to the concert touring industry. It is based in Dallas, Texas....
(a Dallas-based concert production company) and Studio Instrument Rentals
Studio Instrument Rentals
Studio Instrument Rentals is one of the first backline companies in America and it has been involved in all phases of the entertainment business. SIR was established in 1967....
for the task.
At this point in time, Lundvall was diligently “feeling out” select members of the Columbia artist roster, all of whom were honored to accept the invitation to perform in Cuba. By early February the talent was confirmed. Representing the U.S. would be Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
with Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
, the Fania All-Stars
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
and the CBS Jazz All-Stars. The latter group was conceptualized by Lundvall and scheduled to feature more than 20 top jazz artists on the label.
With the festival within grasp, other CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
personnel were summoned into the picture-rehearsals were set up for the CBS Jazz All-Stars, travel accommodations were made, equipment was rented, a wide cross-section of media was invited, and both recording and videotaping plans were confirmed.
Record producers Bert deCoteaux and Mike Berniker
Mike Berniker
Michael Berniker was a record producer who was recognized with nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Johnny Mathis and Barbra Streisand, as well as Broadway theatre cast recordings, Latin jazz,...
flew down with a crew from the CBS Recording Studios along with a support team and mobile 24-track console from Record Plant. McLean, Sandhaus, Freston and various other people were already busy working in Havana's Karl Marx Auditorium when the musicians landed at the José Martí airport on March 1.
Havana Jam was an invitation-only event, with mostly cultural personalities and members of the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
and their children in attendance, though some students from different art and music schools were also invited.
The festival was hardly mentioned on the Cuban press, and thirty years later not many Cubans know it ever existed.
Friday, 2 March 1979
With the hall filled to capacity, Weather ReportWeather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
opened the show, offering an assortment of sound effects before launching into their set. The audience repeatedly rose to its feet during the program, setting the festival's prevailing mood of “music over politics”. Backstage, Weather Report's members (Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
and Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
) were later congratulated by an assortment of Cuban musicians and fans, most of whom were familiar with the group's repertoire through the aid of Florida radio, mostly AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
stations such as WQAM, WGBS
WAQI
Radio Mambi is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish News/Talk format. Licensed to Miami, Florida, USA, the station is currently owned by Univision Communications....
, WKWF
WKWF
WKWF is a radio station broadcasting a Sports radio format. Licensed to Key West, Florida, USA, the station serves the Florida Keys area. The station is currently owned by Spottswood Partners Ii, Ltd. and features programing from CBS Radio and Yahoo! Sports Radio.-External links:...
and WLCY
WLCY
WLCY is a country music formatted radio station serving Indiana, Cambria, Jefferson, Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania. This station broadcasts in a similar style to rival WFGI-FM with playing throwback country hits and current hits....
.
Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
was followed by two traditional Cuban ensembles of differing styles. The first, Conjunto Yaguarimú, featured vocalists Zaida Arrate and Pacho Alonso
Pacho Alonso
Pacho Alonso was a Cuban singer and bandleader from Santiago de Cuba who is attributed with creating the musical form Pilón....
, who interpreted “dated” Cuban music. The second group, Orquesta Aragón
Orquesta Aragón
Orquesta Aragón was formed on 30 September 1939, by Orestes Aragón Cantero in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The band originally had the name Ritmica 39, then Ritmica Aragón before settling on its final form. Though they did not create the Cha-cha-cha, they were arguably the best charanga in Cuba during 1950s...
, played some of the most dynamic music of the festival, utilizing its charanga sound of violins, cello, flute and rhythm section.
The concert was running very late, and people began to leave the hall because of a midnight public transportation curfew. Hence, when the Fania All-Stars
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
took the stage the house was half empty, yet the excitement of this ensemble-featuring practically every top name in salsa still captured the spirit of the audience. The ensemble included top salsa artists of the likes of Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
, Johnny Pacheco
Johnny Pacheco
Johnny Pacheco is a Dominican producer, musician, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in American salsa music.-Early life:...
, Pete Rodríguez
Pete Rodriguez
-USFL:Rodriguez served as defensive line coach for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League from 1983-84. He was part of the USFL's first championship team, helping the Panthers to the title in 1983...
, Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez , better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe was born and raised in the Machuelito sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Early in his life, he attended a local music school and developed an interest inspired by Jesús Sánchez Erazo. He moved to New York...
, Larry Harlow, Santos Colón
Santos Colon
Ángel Santos Colón Vega , aka Santitos Colón, was a Puerto Rican salsa music singer and crooner, born in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico and raised in Mayagüez. He was also known with a moniker: "The Man with The Golden Voice".- Youth and Early Career :Colón was born in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, but...
, Luigi Texidor, Pupi Legarreta, Papo Lucca
Papo Lucca
Enrique Arsenio Lucca Quiñonez, better known as Papo Lucca, born on April 10, 1946, Ponce, Puerto Rico.Papo Lucca is a famous Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist , but is best known as a pianist. Main musical genre focus are Salsa and Latin Jazz...
, Roberto Roena
Roberto Roena
Roberto Roena is a salsa music percussionist, orchestra leader, and dancer. Roena was one of the original members of El Gran Combo Puerto Rican's first successful salsa music orchestra. He later became the leader of his own band, "Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound", arguably one of the best Latin...
, Adalberto Santiago
Adalberto Santiago
Adalberto Santiago is a world famous salsa singer.He was born in barrio Pozas of Ciales, Puerto Rico. Adalberto's relaxed and flawless lead vocals are amongst the best in salsa, and for over two decades he has sessioned as a coro singer on countless New York recordings. His early influences...
, Sal Cuevas
Sal Cuevas
Electric bass guitarist and upright bassist Salvador "Sal" Cuevas was for many years, a member of the salsa music group Fania All-Stars, circa , as well as several other top name salsa groups of the time .Sal also enjoyed the title of Musical Director to Willie Colon's orquestra both during...
, Wilfrido Vargas
Wilfrido Vargas
Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez was born in Altamira, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.He was surrounded by musical influences; namely, his father Ramón, an accordionist and guitarist, and his mother Bienvenida, a flute player and guitarist...
, and other Latin superstars.
Saturday, 3 March 1979
Leading off Saturday evening’s entertainment was the first grouping of the CBS Jazz All-Stars, composed of Dexter GordonDexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath
James Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
, Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe
Arthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
, Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and band leader, often referred to as the "last innovator" in the jazz trumpet lineage...
, Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws is an American flutist and saxophonist with a 40+ year career in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Alongside Herbie Mann, Laws is probably the most recognized and respected jazz flutist...
, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...
, Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo was the stage name of William Correa , an American jazz percussionist.-Biography:William Correa grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York City. He made his name in Latin Jazz, specifically Afro-Cuban jazz, in the 1960s and '70s, with the timbales becoming his favoured instrument...
, Cedar Walton
Cedar Walton
Cedar Anthony Walton, Junior is an American hard bop jazz pianist.-Biography:Walton grew up in Dallas, Texas. His mother was an aspiring concert pianist, and was Walton's initial teacher. She also took him to jazz performances around Dallas...
, Percy Heath
Percy Heath
Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother to tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975...
and Tony Williams. The group performed several tunes by Walton and Jimmy Heath that had the crowd on its feet after every solo.
The stage was then turned over to the “once-in-a-life-time” Trio of Doom
Trio of Doom
The Trio of Doom was a short-lived jazz fusion power trio consisting of John McLaughlin on guitar, Jaco Pastorius on bass, and Tony Williams on drums...
, including luminaries John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
and Tony Williams. The highly amplified trio captivated the audience with its very unique sound. As a finale, a third ensemble came onstage: Blythe, Jimmy Heath, Laws, Bobo, Richard Tee
Richard Tee
Richard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...
, Rodney Franklin
Rodney Franklin
Rodney Franklin is an American jazz pianist and composer.At the age of six he took jazz piano lessons at Washington Elementary School...
, Eric Gale
Eric Gale
Eric J. Gale was a leading American jazz and session guitarist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gale began playing guitar at the age of 12. Although he majored in chemistry at Niagara University, Gale was determined to pursue a musical career, and began contributing to accompaniments for such stars as...
, John Lee and Gerry Brown
Gerry Brown
Gerry “The Gov.” Brown is a recording engineer and producer based in Los Angeles credited on over 47 Platinum and Gold Records. He has received over 15 Grammy bids, including five nominations for Alicia Keys’ “Songs In A Minor,” a Song of the Year Award for Erykah Badu’s “Love of My Life,” two...
. Although their set was limited to two selections, the assemblage was also well-received.
What followed was the highlight of the festival, the 25-member Cuban Percussion Ensemble. The entourage featured some of the biggest names in modern Cuban drumming, such as Tata Güines
Tata Güines
Tata Güines was a Cuban percussionist on the tumbadora, or conga drum, as well as a composer. He was important in the first generation of Afro-Cuban jazz....
, Los Papines, Guillermo Barreto
Guillermo Barreto
Guillermo Barreto , was a Cuban drummer who also played timbales who was a major figure in the Cuban music scene for more than fifty years and is, debatably, the one who pioneered Cuban "Be-bop" jazz drumming.-Early...
and Changuito
Changuito
Changuito is a Cuban percussionist.-Biography:Quintana was born in 1948 in Casablanca, Cuba. As a child he played professionally in bands such as Havana Jazz , with his musician father, and with La Pandilla de los Cabezas de Perros...
, backed by pianist Frank Emilio
Frank Emilio
Frank A. Emilio is an American politician who represented the 3rd Essex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1981–1991. Prior to serving in the House, he spent six years as a Haverhill City Councilor.Emilio was defeated by Haverhill City Councilor Brian Dempsey in the 1990...
and his quartet.
After a masterful percussion set, Cuba was treated to its first taste of rock 'n' roll by Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
. He performed a high-energy set that featured a top-notch band that included Bonnie Bramlett
Bonnie Bramlett
Bonnie Bramlett is an American singer and sometime actress known for her distinctive vocals in rock and pop music. This began in the mid 1960s as a backing singer, forming the husband-and-wife team of Delaney & Bonnie, and continuing to the present day as a solo artist.-Life and career:Bramlett...
and Mike Finnegan. Stills gave a sampling of his various hits throughout the years, and then jumped into the audience with his remote control guitar and sang a salute to the audience entitled Cuba Al Fin.
Irakere
Irakere
Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...
closed the show, spurred on by the high energy audience in the theater. Featuring leader keyboardist Chucho Valdés
Chucho Valdés
Chucho Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists...
, Irakere pulled out all stops. The group was then joined by Rodney Franklin
Rodney Franklin
Rodney Franklin is an American jazz pianist and composer.At the age of six he took jazz piano lessons at Washington Elementary School...
, Richard Tee
Richard Tee
Richard Tee was a pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger.Tee graduated from the High School of Music and Art and attended the Manhattan School of Music. Though better known as a studio and session musician, Tee led a jazz ensemble, the Richard Tee Committee, and was a founding member of the...
, John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
, Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo was the stage name of William Correa , an American jazz percussionist.-Biography:William Correa grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York City. He made his name in Latin Jazz, specifically Afro-Cuban jazz, in the 1960s and '70s, with the timbales becoming his favoured instrument...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
and others in an all-out jam session, bringing the evening's proceedings to an abrupt halt at 3 A.M.
Sunday, 4 March 1979
Leading off Sunday evening’s performances was trombone player Juan Pablo Torres, followed by legendary Cuban singer Elena BurkeElena Burke
Elena Burke was a revered and popular Cuban singer of boleros and romantic ballads....
, who was accompanied by the Orquesta de Santiago de Cuba.
Appearing next on the bill were Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
and Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
, backed by an excellent band composed of Billy Swan
Billy Swan
Billy Lance Swan is an American songwriter and singer, best known for his 1974 single, "I Can Help".-Life:Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. As a child, he learned drums, piano and guitar, and began writing songs...
and other top musicians. Kristofferson performed first, singing many of his hit songs which were recognized by the audience. The tunes were interspersed with Kris's well-meaning stabs at speaking Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. The house was rocking as Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
took the stage and the Cubans all sang along to Coolidge's AM-radio hits. This audience could have been one of any American audience, not what one would expect in modern, staid Karl Marx Theater
Karl Marx Theater
The Karl Marx Theater is a theater in Havana, Cuba, formerly known as the Teatro Blanquita, and renamed after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the venue has an enormous auditorium with seating capacity of 5500 people, and is generally used for big shows by stars from Cuba and abroad...
.
The evening was propelled one step further when Sara González, who is gifted with one of the most powerful and emotional voices in the world, sang several numbers accompanied by Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés Arias is a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitar player. He studied at a conservatory in Havana. He is considered one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola...
y Grupo Manguaré.
Then came the festival's finale, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, who demonstrated that rock 'n' roll is truly one of the most exciting and spontaneous of all musical idioms. Billy immediately electrified the hall and pandemonium broke loose as people screamed “Bil-lee Yo-el” and rushed the stage. Everyone agreed that this was one of Billy's best sets ever, filled with originality and fire.
Havana Jam was a musical triumph from start to finish and will also be reserved through the many stories told by those fortunate enough to attend.
In 1979, Columbia released two double albums of the festival performances, Havana Jam and Havana Jam 2. The Fania All-Stars
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
's set was released later that year as Havana Jam on Fania. The Trio of Doom performance was released in 2007 as Trio of Doom.
The event is recollected and revived in Ernesto Juan Castellanos
Ernesto Juan Castellanos
Ernesto Juan Castellanos, born in 1963, is a freelance author, translator, journalist, filmmaker and researcher who lives and works in Havana, Cuba. In 1996, he started organizing the Cuban Beatles conventions, which opened doors to the world of writing...
's 2009 documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
Havana Jam '79
Havana Jam '79
Havana Jam ’79 is an hour-long documentary written, produced and directed in 2009 by Cuban author, journalist and filmmaker Ernesto Juan Castellanos....
.
External links
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNejMMGc94
- http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073162,00.html
- http://www.clickcaster.com/items/havana-jam--1979
- http://www.shio.org/BJ/concerts/#1979
- http://www.radionuevitas.co.cu/2009/03/28/cultura_280309_2.asp
- http://www.cubanow.net/pages/loader.php?sec=4&t=2&item=6547
- http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/playlists/havana-jam/playlist-375406.html
- http://billyjoel.es/WordPress/?m=197903 (in Spanish)