Cubanismo!

The hardest working band in Cuban music?

When a record like Buena Vista Social Club can go platinum, it's apparent that Cuban music is enjoying its highest profile since the 1950s. It means more than a thing 'cos it's got that swing - in fact, it's got it all. Jazz chops, killer rhythms, and the beat to move the feat. Cubanismo!, the group led by trumpeter Jesus Alemany, has helped kick in the zeitgeist with three tremendous albums, the most recent of which is Reincarnacion.

"In the last two years we've played together so much that the communication between us has grown."

They draw on the old Cuban styles, most particularly the son, the main song and dance form of Cuba, and the root of salsa, keeping it hotter than a five-alarm chili, both on record and on their frequent tours.

Alemany trained at the conservatory in Cuba, but his real apprenticeship came when he learned the traditional styles from famed instrumentalist Lazaro Herrera, before going on to join Sierra Maestra, a young band that followed the classic traditions, at the age of fifteen. "I started professionally with Sierra Maestra," Alemany explains. "But eventually I had a different musical idea. I wanted to extend my possibilities as a soloist, and to have a band that could play any style of Cuban music." That was Cubanismo! "And so far it seems to have worked. In the last two years we've played together so much that the communication between us has grown. Bascially, the band on this new album is the touring band. Not all, because there twenty people on the record. [Pianist] Alfredo Rodriguez isn't with us any more - he's doing his own album - but we have a great young musician, Ignacio 'Nachito' Herrera. Every track is a different rhythm, a different concept, without losing the flavor and the typical sound of Cuban music."

Why, you have to wonder, is Cuban music enjoying such a resurgence at the moment? The popularity of swing has obviously helped, but that only goes so far. "People have the chance to hear it," Alemany muses. "It's being promoted. You can read about it, hear it on the radio. And without that, most people aren't going to know anything about Cuban music. Secondly, there's the energy, and the soul, of the music. We feel it, we transmit it to our audiences, and all Cuban bands do. It's very powerful. There are also the rhythms, which are a very important part of our culture. People are looking for the roots of Latin music. There are rhythms that have been popular over the last fifty years - the mambo, the rumba, the cha-cha - and their roots are in Cuba. And the message we pass on, apart from educating people about our music, is that this is to be enjoyed, to dance and sing. Maybe it'll also help with Cuba's political position in the world, help reunite families and people."

In a world where Cuban albums of varying quality are appearing by the vanload, where every band with a double bass and saxophone is tossing a rumba into their set, Cubanismo! stand out as the real deal. They're cafe con leche to everyone else's Nescafe, and - most importantly - they stay good to the last drop.

This article first appeared in CMJ New Music Monthly