Sunday, 28 March 2010 22:35
David Calzado & Charanga Habanera
The director of Charanga Habanera always had clear goals for the group since its creation in 1998: success, providing joy to dancers everywhere, and finding popularity all over the world.
The group is more than an orchestra: it is a spectacle, and its power lies in the strength of its orchestrations, its repertory, the energy of its musicians (especially the singers), in the relevance of its lyrics, and in the explosive image of the musicians.
These are the definitive elements of the group, in my opinion. David Calzado is constantly working on developing, innovating, improving the band’s sound, all within the genre that has guaranteed the band’s success.
Musicologists have recognized the fact that Charanga Habanera has given Cuban popular music a new expressive form, since it uses a true harmonic innovation, as well as impressive polyrhythm. I also think that having played with the likes of Kool and the Gang, Donna Summer, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Steve Gonder truly left a mark on the band’s style. David Calzado has a keen talent for choosing musicians, searching for professionalism,intelligence, and of course energy on the stage.
Charanga Habanera is very popular in Cuba: dance lovers follow all of their performances, copy their albums and videos, and I even think that some young people try to dress and act like them, considering themselves "charangueros”.
They recently played several American cities to great acclaim, where they hadn’t performed in 10 years. If you are in Havana, you must take advantage of seeing Charanaga Habanera live. But I also urge you to seek them out if they are performing in the city where you live. You won’t regret it.
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