Cuban Groups Find More Acceptance Touring In U.s.

MIAMI‹Last year, Cuban artists toured the U.S. in numbers unprecedented since the early '60s. They were received with widespread critical and popular acclaim.
Now further bolstered by expanding sales of their records in the U.S., Cuban acts are coming in droves this spring to the States, where audiences across the country will have a chance to sample the island nation's versatile musical artistry.
Some of the island's best-known stars who will be crisscrossing the U.S. are the venerable dance band Juan Formell Y Los Van Van, innovative salsero Isaac Delgado, and famed Afro-Cuban group Jesús Alema˜y's Cubanismo.
One of Cuba's most renowned ensembles, folkloric percussion and dance troupe Los Mu˜equitos De Matanzas already have reached the final stages of their 16-city U.S. trek in April.
Los Mu˜equitos are scheduled to play Saturday (18) and April 19 at the Houston International Festival; April 23-25 at the University of Washington in Seattle; and April 28 at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. Qbadisc has just released "Los Mu˜equitos De Matanzas Live In New York," cut during the band's groundbreaking 1992 U.S. tour.
Headlining the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts on Friday (17) in Northampton, Mass., is Delgado, who records for RMM, all-female orchestra Camerata Romeu, a cappella group Gema 4, pianist Jos Mar"a Vitier, and La Charanga Habanera, which performs a frenetic dance music that is all the rage among young audiences in Cuba.
"The level of excitement and professionalism of the Cuban bands is remarkable," says Donald T. Sanders, director of the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, who traveled to Havana last year. "I immediately wanted to get them over [here]."
An outstanding group of Cuban jazz musicians is touring with soprano sax/flute player Jane Bunnett and her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer. Among the dates they are booked to perform are May 8 in Chicago at Hothouse; June 11 in Boston at Sculler's; and June 12 in New York at the Knitting Factory. Bunnett's latest studio collaboration with Cuban talents, "Chamolongo," is out on EMI-Blue Note Canada.
Cuba's longstanding leading dance band Juan Formell Y Los Van Van caused a sensation when it appeared at last year's Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles. The act is slated for a repeat performance June 14 as part of a U.S. tour recently announced by Bill Graham Presents. On June 15, the group is set to play at Humphrey's Concerts in San Diego. On June 19, the band will be joined at San Francisco's Fillmore by WEA Latina a cappella group Vocal Sampling and Hannibal/Rykodisc act Cubanismo. The three groups are slated to perform together, as well, June 20 at New Orleans by the Bay Festival.
Other venues scheduled for Los Van Van are House of Blues in Chicago (June 23); Massey Hall in Toronto (June 25); Hammerstein Ballroom in New York with Cubanismo, as part of the JVC Jazz Festival (26); Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va. (June 27); Saratoga (N.Y.) Arts Center (June 28); and the Roxy in Boston (June 30). Metro Blue recently put out Los Van Van's latest album, "Te Pone La Cabeza Mala."
The U.S. trade embargo on Cuba prohibits musicians from the island from receiving payment for their U.S. appearances. Cuban nationals must arrive in the U.S. as part of a cultural exchange, and they often give workshops, along with their shows, to meet that requirement.
But except for a few isolated cases, Cuban musicians have experienced little difficulty entering the U.S. Since 1988, the exchange of cultural goods, including music, has been exempt from the embargo.
One city not included on any Cuban act's tour itinerary is Miami, home to the largest number of Cubans in the country. The chilling effects of protests and violent threats by extremist anti-Castro Cuban exiles have so far deterred major public appearances by musicians from the island.
The absence of Cuban acts in Miami is expected to change, however, in August, when MIDEM Latin American and Caribbean Music Market is expected to showcase Cuban artists.