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Habana Abierta
At the beginning of the 90’s a new generation of composers, interpreters, plastic artists, writers, actors, etc. emerged with their own identity in Havana, although some creations were already known some years back among the cultural groups of the island.
The hopes, thoughts, restlessness of our generation, transformed into culture, keep earning a spot in Cuba’s cultural panorama, as well as that of the world, through the interest that our culture awakens in it.
Habana Abierta belongs to that generation of creators, and its music is part of Cuba’s cultural inheritance.
In order to know Habana Abierta it is imperative to talk with Gema and Pavel, who adopted as a personal project something they had been contemplating for several years: make a compilation disk of what they and their colleagues had austerely been doing in different locales in Havana.
The group’s debut record, under the name of Habana Oculta on NUBENEGRA Records, was done by Luis Alberto Barbería, Pepe del Valle, Carlos Santos, Boris Larramendi, Superávit, Andy Villalón, Kelvis Ochoa and José Luis Medina.
On July 1996, with the exception of Carlos Santos, Raúl Ciro and Alejandro Frómeta ‘Superávit’ they traveled to Spain to perform their music on the stage of some festivals and salons, immediately awakening the interest of the public and the press, even including artists and Spanish musicians of recognized prestige.
Ana Belén and Víctor Manuel, together with ‘Ketama’ were the first to become interested in a slow and enriching interaction with Habana Abierta, and began performing with them in Spain.
Ketama and Ana Belén recorded together “Tú Me Amas” by Andy Villalón, included in Ana Belún’s record “Mírame” and in Ketama’s “Sabor”. Later on artists such as Tomasito, Ana Torroja and Raimundo Amador became interested in Habana Abierta’s works, including them in their own records.
Soon A&R members of record companies became interested in them, which resulted in a recording contract with BMG-Ariola. The label put Gema and Pavel in charge of a project that would include a group of writer-artists with entirely different individual peculiarities, but expressing jointly that diverse unity that continues being the Cuban culture in general and its music in particular. Vanito Brown and Alejandro Gutiérrez then joined what became Habana Abierta, and recorded a new album with the same title.
In 1997 they had more than 80 shows throughout Spain, 50 of them in Madrid. This created great hopes for 1998, when they recorded a new album with a reduced membership – Andy and Barbería had left the group with plans of going solo.
Habana Abierta’s second album “24 Horas” continued the group’s eclectic line, foretold in some of the cuts of their prior records, defining more strongly the fusion between Cuban popular music, the new song and the funk, reggae and hip-hop airs.
Cuban rock and pop, with proud live national roots: Frank Fromel’s Van Van, Chucho Valdés’ Irakere or José Luis Cortés’ NG la Banda, choruses borrowed from Matamoros riding upon Red Hot Chili Peppers or Rolling Stones riffs.
Conga-Funk, timab-rock, bolero-hop, chachachá-blues, son y pop....
24 Horas, more basic and direct than its predecessor, reflects in many of its songs not only the nostalgia for Cuba but the experiences of what they learned in two years of rushing through the Spanish stages.
An invitation to intense diversity facing the world’s contemporary homogeneity.
After six years in Spain they returned to Cuba in January 2003 for a series of greatly successful individual shows which ended with a great performance by Habana Abierta at a sold out “La Tropical” temple of great artists like Van Van, NG la Banda, Irakere, etc. where more than 10,000 came to see them. From this revival came the documentary film “Habana Abierta” directed by Jorge Perugorría and Arturo Soto, which is presently showing in various film festivals.
In October of that same year the eight original members of the group went to Miami, invited by producer Nat Chediack and Miami Dade’s College for shows at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. Their success was resounding, sold out, before an enthused public.
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