Various - Havana Jam

Como le van a dar promoción si habían policias revisando las Credenciales 5 calles antes dek teatro. Yo fui xq me consiguió entradas el DIR del Intur, a mi y 3 amigas. Pero fue fantástico!!

I was there......From ?? USA with love....

This was a more than historic moment and, having been aware of the intent to produce this documentary in 2009, I am very happy that it is being pursued. There were, in retrospect, several other amazing projects during that period. One was the visit by Típica 73 in 1978, that resulted in the 1979 release "Típica 73 en Cuba: Intercambio Cultural" and featuring the participation of Felix Chappotin, Niño Rivera, Juan Pablo Torres, Richard Egües, Guillermo Barretto, and Tata Güines from the Cuban side, and very young versions of José Alberto "Canario," Alfredo de la Fé, Mario Rivera, Dandy Rodríguez and others from the US, or "out" side. To the best of my knowledge this represented the first time during the modern (post-revolutionary) period that there was a collaborative recording between Cuban and (mostly) US-based artists, and that record is a masterpiece. Also then, the example of Batacumbele in 1980, all or nearly all of whom were based in Puerto Rico at the time (although Cachete Maldonado I believe was born and raised in the Bronx.) Giovanni Hidalgo was 16 at the time, and he and the others hooked up with Los Van Van. That exchange had a defining impact on Batacumbele's sound, including what were basically re-dos of LVV songs with new names and lyrics - a tremendous tribute to Cuban music at that time. It is noteworthy that, while New York-based musicians were few and far between in Cuba in subsequent years (save perhaps some of the jazz festivals), many in Puerto Rico had no qualms about traveling to Cuba, as evidenced by appearances by Batacumbele, William Cepeda, Danny Rivera and others over many years.

Anyone knows the name of the first tune?

Historical, and histerical too..that good! I was sneaked in to the theater by my dad who with his crew was working for the Culture ministery and they were the ones in charge of moving Billy Joel's equipment's while in Cuba, needless to say, I had so much fun and could meet some of those idols of mine from childhood like Billy Joel himself, his bass player Doug, and his drummer Liberty with whom still have some contact through today; among other musicians and personnel. really cool!

Yo estuve allí el domingo por la noche. El Karl Marx estaba repleto. No me acuerdo de haber visto veteranos, pero sí me recuerdo del escándalo y el público cantando las canciones en cubanglish y pidiendo a gritos canciones a Billy Joel. Fan.tás.ti.co. Billy Joel, Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson.

Nice ?

Hi there again. I have been working on this documentary about the Havana Jam '79 for six years. My name is Ernesto Juan Castellanos and I am a Cuban filmmaker living in Miami, FL, but I started working on this when I still lived in Cuba, back in 2009, for the 30th anniversary of the three concerts. I interviewed all the Cuban musicians who played there and are still alive, but now I'm looking for the possibility of interviewing all the American musicians who played in Havana and are still around. I have also been struggling with copyright issues for the use of the songs played there. You can also see this trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtSwzcu5UkY, and I have also created a Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/havanajam79. I am also working on a book about the event. Can anyone help with ideas, suggestions, and contacts to get this documentary and book finished? You can reach me on my YouTube channel (ZuDhan Productions), on my Facebook page (Havana Jam '79), or email zudhanproductions@yahoo.com. This was the first time Cuba and the US shook hands for the first time after 20 years, and it has been one of the most important cultural events ever, which has been shelved for 35 years. Any help will be appreciated.

lamentablemente ernesto no ha podido cumplir su sueño que es el de todos los que estuvimos alli y colaboramos con el en este demo. la salsa aun no habia llegado con fuerza a la isla e incluso el disco siembra no habia salido al mercado. ruben y casi todos los demas (creo que ahi estuvo wilfrido vargas el dominicano que si) eran deconocidos en la Isla, pero el elemento fundamental era que todo el mundo lo que queria era rock y algunos jazz. por eso casi todos lo que recordamos es a Billy Joel, quien en esa epoca comenzaba su reinado. lo que si me consta es que la promocion fue nula y por eso el carlos marx por poco abre vacio esa noche. pero como fue en cuba siempre aparecio el que conseguia las entradas y mucha, muchisima gente (yo entre ellas) resolvimos las entradas, sin ninguna extorsion y con el animo de ayudar a los amigos. el teatro se repleto y el dato es imposible comprobarlo, pero yo no vi ningun grupo de macheteros, a no ser los que aplaudiamos a rabiar. tuve la fortuna de grabarlo personalmente en una humilde grabadora de casette, lo que corrio de mano en mano por mucho tiempo. en resumen, no hubo casi ninguna promocion (solo un pequeño anuncio en la seccion cultural de juventud rebelde) y la sorpresa fue demasiado grande.

Hello, this is Ernesto Juan Castellanos, the filmmaker who started this documentary in Cuba for the 30th anniversary of the Havana Jam, that is, in 2009. Back then, the documentary was intended for a Cuban audience, where copyright for the foreign songs is not an issue. Now I live in Florida and the documentary is on hold while I get legal advice on how to proceed with the copyright of each of the songs included. Budget is also an issue. So I'm open to whoever is willing to cooperate with this project. You can reach me via zudhanproductions@yahoo.com.

Orfeo no podia contaminar a Morfeo. Cuenta Paquito D'Rivera en su biografia "Mi vida saxual" que el gobierno cubano llevo al teatro Karl Marx a los cincuentenarios de la zafra, unos ancianos que se quedaron dormidos a las 9 pm, acostumbrados a acostarse bien temprano para levantarse a las 4 am para ir a cortar canna. No se puede ser mas HP.

Hi Elizabeth, I am Ernesto Juan Castellanos, the filmmaker who is making the documentary about the Havana Jam. I saw in YouTube that you sailed to Cuba in 1979 for the event. Well I'd like to interview you if that is ok with you. You can reach me via email. Please write to zudhanproductions@yahoo.com. Best, Ernesto Juan

Mr. Castellanos:  This is a great piece, thank you.  FYI,  a number of Americans, including myself, sailed to Havana Jam from Key West.  We lived on our boats at the Barlavento Marina.  There were seven sailboats.  We got to attend all three nights and spent 10 days in Cuba, longer than we expected, because we had to wait for enough wind to sail back.  We had several glimpses of how restricted access was to this concert.  We made some friends in Cuba and, after we spent an evening eating and singing songs by the marina, they were arrested on their way home.  It was a terrible feeling.

Where do we get the music from this concert?

I bet I  have listened to the song Cuba al Fin on the cassette & later CD 1,000 times

No debemos descontextualizar las cortas declaraciones de un demo promocional que no muestra todo el contexto del tema que ligeramente tratan aquí. Primeramente el enemigo al que hacen referencia era el rock y el pop por ser generos musicales del enemigo del norte, pero no la fania...y la caseria que se menciona en otro contexto era en contra de la denominada salsa, que nada tiene que ver con ser caseria en contra de un enemigo en referencia a la fania, eso es falso.

El fracaso de la presentación de la Fania All Stars obedeció a una malisima escogencia de los temas a tocar. Lo anterior se corrabora cuando se comentó que la fania fué a bailar a la casa del trompo, algo que el mismo Ruben Blades ratificó publicamente en un programa suyo ya que Pacheco llegó con un repertorio de temas tradicionales y no los ineditos...esa es la verdadera razón por la cual el público abandonó el recinto, como lo confirmó la desaparecida cantante Sara Gonzalez.

Please listen very carefully to the statements contained here on presentation of the Fania in Cuba in 79 and can be counted as received him Cubans who value art. This destroys many malicious speculation.

Pongale mucha atención a las declaraciones que aparecen aqui sobre la presentacion de la Fania en Cuba en el 79 y se podran cuenta como lo recibieron los cubanos que valoran el arte. Esto destruye muchas especulaciones maliciosas.

"Fue una casería politica contra La fania..era el enemigo".

Wow.. Billy Joel. That must have been something.