Photo: Sven Creutzmann

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The descendants of Haitian immigrants that settled in Cuba until the late fifties, The Creole Choir of Cuba is a ten-piece ensemble of voices and percussion who sing the music of their ancestors in a highly personal manner. Singing in Creole (Haiti’s second language), their lyrics speak about their history and heritage. Some songs were written centuries ago, while others, like “Tande,” were composed to talk about the cruel years of the Duvalier regime. Read the rest of this entry »

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Master percussionist,  maestro and drummer Bobby Sanabria might come from a classic Latin jazz background (he played with both Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente and was a featured musician on the soundtrack for the 1992 film “Mambo Kings”), but that doesn’t stop him from innovating within the format. A clear example of this is “Multiverse,” which takes the music into unexpected directions starting from a very interesting take on Don Ellis’ “The French Connection,” which was the main theme for the Gene Hackman movie of the same name. Read the rest of this entry »

Ricardo Lemvo

Sound Culture Center for Global Arts is a bit of a misnomer; the center, in fact, is mostly just one guy, David Chavez, working tirelessly to keep Chicago’s international music scene flourishing with high-quality performances.

“For the most part, it’s my blood, sweat and tears,” says Chavez, along with “contributions of a lot of people that have helped me along the way.” About three years ago, Chavez says he saw a void in the city’s music scene. The HotHouse, where he had been a program director for years, had closed down, and Chicago was missing an active agent for promoting both international touring artists and Chicago-based international music artists. So Chavez, a longtime DJ, started Sound Culture, which brings artists to town, books local artists, and organizes acoustic series and music festivals. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Liberto Peiro

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For bandleader Bruno Garcia (who is better known as Sergent Garcia—a nickname taken from Zorro’s clueless foe), music is one of the few mediums that has the power of erasing national borders. Through his career, the French-born guitarist has collaborated with musicians from Cuba, Jamaica and other countries that have influenced his sound. Read the rest of this entry »

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When vibrationist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Christian Scott and saxophonist David Sanchez traveled to Cuba for a music festival, they met up with several local musicians, including pianists Rember Duharte and Harold Lopez-Nussa, and began rehearsals. The chemistry was so great that they wound up recording nine songs in a tiny Havana studio, and “Ninety Miles” is the result of that encounter.  Not surprisingly given the nature of the project, improvisation permeates the record. Read the rest of this entry »