Time for a little history…

The music on this album was borne during troubled times. A country was at war with itself. Sides were being taken. Conditions were poor and escape through the radio, hearing the sweet majestic sounds of homegrown rhythmic Cuban outfits who were reinterpreting the music of their neighbouring South American countries and the jazz sounds coming out of the US was essential. The natural rhythm of the Cuban people would in turn inspire others and travel back to the US where it would metamorphose into yet another musical hybrid, creating a revolutionary sound that would draw people back to its roots.

Despite and probably because of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar this music has a unique edge to it, an uplifting groove, an escape from the mundane and the ordinary.

Batista was an admirer of America and his dominance in the country was completed with supported from the communists. No mean trick in itself. He became President of Cuba in 1940 and was initially seen as a popular leader who made many social reforms but, by 1952 he was leading a military coup to run the country and generally seen as an authoritarian dictator.

America withdrew their support and eventually the communist connection also began to short circuit as they recognised that the underground resistance of Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Mario Chanes de Armas, which had begun plotting against Batista as early as 1953, were growing in stature and popularity.

By 1957, the 26^th Of July Movement of Castro had swelled to 800 men with a second division led by Che Guevara. A US TV crew followed their progress and in interviews with The New York Times Castro was painted as a romantic figure fighting against an unjust government. The momentum was theirs and an attempt to assassinate Batista was made. So confident were they of success, they dispatched the student anti-communist Revolutionary Directorate to take over the Havana radio station to tell people of the revolution.

But the music never stopped. The Latin grooves and rhythms of El Gran Fellove, Justi Barreto’s Batanga, the vocal harmonies of Cuarteto D’Aida and the jazz-tinged dance sounds of Turma Da Gafieira and Djalma Ferriera still continued to swing, their unique, hypnotic sounds spiced with percussion kept the country oblivious to the siege at Havana Radio, where the rebels suffered numerous losses after the assassination failed.

Within 12 months, opposition to Batista was such that even his own army turned against him during the battle at Santa Clara, a provincial capital where Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfugos led the attack. During fierce house to house fighting Batista realised the end was in sight and fled to the Dominican Republic.

In January 1959, Castro arrived in Havana to take power and unfold his democratic version of communism. The speech at the start and end of this CD are from Castro’s inaugural speech on his arrival in Havana, the original album included a booklet of propaganda that underlined the movement’s undying belief that they would win.

During ’59 Castro and his advisors visited the US but were refused an audience with President Eisenhower, which led to Castro developing a relationship with the USSR and Nikita Khrushchev. In Cuba the music stayed pure and isolated. The influences of America ceased, time stopped. The emergent rock ‘n’ roll of the States didn’t infiltrate the country and the Cuban rhythm stayed pure, the artists on this album staying a well kept secret until many years later.

TRACKLISTING

1 La Declaration De Habana  Fidel Castro

2 Jarro da Saudade            Turma da Gafieira            Turma da Gafieira

3 Oye Mi Ritmo            Cuarteto D'Aida           

4 Carnaval - Mulata Assanhada - Voce Nao Quer nem Eu            Djalma Ferreira           

5 Profecia            Cuarteto D'Aida           

6 Otro Coco            Justi Barreto           

7 Nosotros Los Hombres                        Justi Barreto           

8 Tumba-Le-Le            Turma da Gafieira           

9 Como Usted            El Gran Fellove           

10 Totiri Mondachi            Cuarteto D'Aida           

11 Concerto de Outono                        Djalma Ferreira           

12 Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Voce            Djalma Ferreira           

13 Saudades da Bahia            Turma da Gafieira           

14 El Yoyo            El Gran Fellove           

15 Batanga N°.4            Justi Barreto           

16 No Se Que Voy A Hacer            Cuarteto D'Aida           

17 Foi a Noite            Turma da Gafieira           

18 Ya No Me Quieres            Cuarteto D'Aida           

19 Nao Diga Nao            Turma da Gafieira           

20 A word from our sponsor            Fidel Castro           

“Revolution first, elections later.” Fidel Castro