HOT SALSA : Charanga Habanera

Pa'que se entere La Havana (photo Magic Music)

Sample from
El Temba
in
Pa' que se entere
La Havana
(Magic Music ; 1996)

CD selection :

Hey, you, loca !
(Magic music ; 1994)

Pa' que se entere
La Habana
(Magic music ; 1996)

About fifteen musicians dressed with motley American clothes, Nike shoes, Reebok or Adidas for a spectacular stage performance where dominates a strong sexual provocation: Charanga Habanera offers an aggressive salsa in which musical subtlety, sometime approximate, is mitigated by a maximum effectiveness.

The braggingly brass section, the power of rhythmics, a desire to take root in the daily life of Cuban youth ensured an enormous success in their native island. Those incorrigible children remind the turmoil associated to rock'n'roll, and their integration of the rap allures the young Cubans - who live the regime like a choke - in their aspirations to the American products and the US way of life.

The lyrics are in the tone, and this accuracy in their manner to feel the time make them the spokesmen of a youth in distress, without present or future, and which they recognized.

For this reason, they are the worthy descendants of NG La Banda, which opened some breaches a few years ago.

Always on the red line, they are at the same time courted by the "establishement" and are exposed to the annoyances of the regime, as at the time of a concert within the framework of the very official 14^th World Festival of Youth in Havana in August 1997, and of the scandal which followed.

In foreign countries, their scenic presence, their torrid and very visual concerts in general leave without voice a public not informed.

In 1998, the band splits : David Calzado, leader and owner of the name, and Michel Marquéz (one of the singers) found a new Charanga Habanera with new musicians. The others go away by their side, rallied under the name of Charanga For Ever.

(See the special edition on the Charanga Habanera affair).