Havana Jam

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Havana Jam
Genre
Dates2–4 March 1979
Location(s)Karl Marx Theatre, Havana, Cuba
Years active1979
Founded byBruce 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

Sara González, Pablo Milanés, Manguaré, and Orquesta Aragón
.

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,

Afro-Cuban jazz band Irakere
.

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

Grammy with the album Irakere, recorded at their Montreux Jazz Festival and Newport Jazz Festival performances. Then, 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.

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

CBS Records personnel began working to organize it. Rehearsals were scheduled 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

Record Plant NY
.

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 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,

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 going later than expected, and people began to leave the hall because of the midnight public transportation curfew. Hence, when the

, and more.

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

Frank Emilio
and his quartet.

After a 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 band that included Bonnie Bramlett and Mike Finnigan. Stills gave a sampling of his various popular songs, and then jumped into the audience with his remote-control guitar and sang a salute to the audience entitled Cuba Al Fin
.

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

Sara González sang several numbers accompanied by Pablo Milanés y Grupo Manguaré.[citation needed] Then came the festival's finale, Billy Joel. Unlike most of the other acts, Joel's performance was not recorded or videotaped.[3]

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

documentary
Havana Jam '79.

See also

  • List of historic rock festivals
  • Woodstock festival
  • Monterey Pop Festival

References

  1. ^ "Havana Jam '79". www.festivalfocus.org.
  2. ^ "Havana Jam - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  3. ^ "Rare Photos: Billy Joel at Havana Jam 1979". Billy Joel Official Site. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2018.

External links