Havana Jam
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Havana Jam | |
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Genre | |
Dates | 2–4 March 1979 |
Location(s) | Karl Marx Theatre, Havana, Cuba |
Years active | 1979 |
Founded by | Bruce Lundvall, Jerry Masucci, Cuban Ministry of Culture |
Havana Jam was a three-day music festival that took place at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana, Cuba, from March 2 to March 4, 1979. The event 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 American acts such as
History
Background and planning
In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Cuban President Fidel Castro started to loosen the political tension between the two countries and opened Interest Sections both in Havana and Washington, D.C. 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.
In April 1978,
After months of discussion, Lundvall signed 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
This event, spontaneously entitled Havana Jam, was set for March 2 through 4, 1979. For assistance in the planning of the event, Lundvall brought aboard Jock McLean and Phil Sandhaus of Columbia's artists development department, who then enlisted Showco (a Dallas-based concert production company) and Studio Instrument Rentals to help organize the event.
By early February, the Lundvall and his team had organized the roster for the event. 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, a group conceptualized by Lundvall which was scheduled to feature more than 20 top jazz artists on the label.
As the event came closer, other
Record producers
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
The festival was hardly mentioned in the Cuban press, and thirty years later not many Cubans know it ever existed.
The festival
Friday, 2 March 1979
With the hall filled to capacity,
.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 going later than expected, and people began to leave the hall because of the midnight public transportation curfew. Hence, when the
Saturday, 3 March 1979
Leading off Saturday evening's entertainment was the first grouping of the CBS Jazz All-Stars, composed of Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Jimmy Heath, Arthur Blythe, Woody Shaw, Hubert Laws, Bobby Hutcherson, Willie Bobo, Cedar Walton, Percy Heath and Tony Williams.
The stage was then turned over to the Trio of Doom, including luminaries John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius, and Tony Williams. 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 considered the highlight of the festival, the 25-member
After a percussion set, Cuba was treated to its first taste of
Irakere then closed the show. The group was joined by Rodney Franklin, Richard Tee, John McLaughlin, Willie Bobo, Stan Getz, Jaco Pastorius and others, then 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
Aftermath
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[citation needed].
The event is recollected and revived in Ernesto Juan Castellanos's 2009
See also
- List of historic rock festivals
- Woodstock festival
- Monterey Pop Festival
References
- ^ "Havana Jam '79". www.festivalfocus.org.
- ^ "Havana Jam - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
- ^ "Rare Photos: Billy Joel at Havana Jam 1979". Billy Joel Official Site. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- Hewitt, David W. (2021). "The Havana Jam in Cuba 1979: The Cold War, Where American and Cuban Stars Play in Peace". On the Road: Recording the Stars in a Golden Era of Live Music. ISBN 9781493056187.
- "CBS Beefs Up Cuba Festival Talent". Billboard. New York City. Feb 10, 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- Storhoff, Timothy P. (2020). Harmony and Normalization: US-Cuban Musical Diplomacy. ISBN 9781496830913.
- Hewitt, David W. (2021). "The Havana Jam in Cuba 1979: The Cold War, Where American and Cuban Stars Play in Peace". On the Road: Recording the Stars in a Golden Era of Live Music.
External links
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNejMMGc94
- https://www.facebook.com/havanajam79/
- http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073162,00.html Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- http://www.clickcaster.com/items/havana-jam--1979
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070625091350/http://www.shio.org/BJ/concerts/#1979
- http://www.radionuevitas.co.cu/2009/03/28/cultura_280309_2.asp[permanent dead link]
- http://www.cubanow.net/pages/loader.php?sec=4&t=2&item=6547[permanent dead link]
- https://web.archive.org/web/20091001165845/http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/playlists/havana-jam/playlist-375406.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20091210230916/http://billyjoel.es/WordPress/?m=197903 (in Spanish)