Cuba: Jazz Plaza Festival Starts Tonight
HAVANA TIMES – The music of Arturo O’Farrill (from the US) and the young Cuban pianist Harold López Nussa, will open Jazz Plaza 2013 at Havana’s Mella Theater. The festival runs through Sunday, December 22.
According to Prensa Latina, a total 34 Cuban groups and soloists along with 14 guests from Switzerland, Bulgaria, Bermuda , Spain , United States, Austria, Argentina, Holland and Canada will take part in the festival.
O’Farrill, son of the famous Cuban composer and arranger Chico O’Farrill, returns to Jazz Plaza in this edition, which will feature Cuban showman Bobby Carcacés and the groups Havana Jazz, Jazz Tumbata, Son Jazz, NG La Banda, etc.
Venues for the festival include the Mella Theater, the Plaza Cultural Center and the Rumba Palace. There will also be jam sessions at La Zorra y el Cuervo, Jazz Café, Café Miramar and Casa del Habano at the Hotel Meliá Cohiba.
For all those naysayers that criticize me that I never have anything good to say about Cuba, keep reading: For a poor country of only 11 million people, Cuba does JAZZ very well. I wish I were in Cuba to attend this festival.