Guitar player at Jazz Cafe
Centrally located, in front of two big Hotels, the Riviera and the Melia Cohiba, and less than 150 meters from the Malecon, at the intersection of Avenida Paseo and 1st Street, on the top floor of the Galerías Paseo Shopping mall in the Vedado neighborhood, the Jazz Café is for jazz lovers, the music of musicians, (I include myself in this category, I confess). It is an exclusive temple and unique place for jazz. Here you can see for yourself that Cuban jazz is alive and well.
The best Cuban jazz musicians, from the young and promising to the older and award-winning, play here, with little formality, from 9:00PM to midnight.
I must say that the younger generation of jazz musicians plays with their own personality and style, while still recognizing the heritage of Cuban and foreign jazz forms that have influenced them. Successive generations of Cuban jazz musicians, whom you can listen to in the Jazz Café, demonstrate a preference for contemporary trends with modern sounds, as well as complex chord structures. Some examples are: Gonzalito Rubalcaba, Pucho López, Ernán López-Nussa, Miguel Núñez, Oscarito Valdés and Oriente López, who have breathed new life into Cuban jazz, although some don’t currently live on the island.
I should also add that the “new guys” show a vitality and originality worthy of mention and recognition; their style may not fit strictly within the limits of what is considered Latin jazz or Afro-Cuban jazz, and there are faithful examples of the use of the language and codes of “jazz fusion”, also called electric jazz; some musicians who fit in this category are the bassist Felipe Cabrera, the pianist Aldo López-Gavilán Junco, the drummer Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, the saxophonist César López, the keyboardist Pucho López, and groups like Temperamento, Miguel’s Trío, Julio Barreto Cuban Quartet, Habana Sax, and others. I cannot forget to mention other figures like the pianist Roberto Fonseca, the saxophonist Germán Velazco, the guitarist Jorge Luis Valdés “Chicoy”, the saxophonist Carlos Averhoff, the drummer Dafnis Prieto, and the guitarist Élmer Ferrer.
The list of musicians could be a lot Langer, but for space reasons I can’t mention them all, but there are many who are keeping the genre in an excellent position, to the pleasure of all jazz lovers. The Jazz Café opens its Doors starting at noon, with a full menu, from lighter fate to excellent meat courses, as well as an excellent cocktail list.
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