Day 10-Little Havana & 4 Hours of Cuban Son Music

Today was very eventful. I walked around Little Havana for a few hours exploring on the main street of Calle Ocho. The first time that I was in Little Havana a few days ago, I did not really spend much time exploring or talking to the "locals". This second excursion was much different and I met a lot of very interesting people as well as found some very nice shops. I found another fantastic Cuban music record store called "Casino Records" as well as a store that only sold DVD's in Spanish. I felt like I was in NYC buying bootleg DVD's on the street when I entered this establishment. Everything looks as if they are bootlegs, and the prices reflect that; $10/per DVD. Regardless of the look and legality of the discs, I purchased a few of them because the type of film recordings that this store offered are not available anywhere else; such as an hour's worth of videos from live performances of Beny Moré in Cuba. After purchasing some items at the music and DVD stores, I walked into a few Cigar shops to see Cigars being made and to find out a little bit more about the Cuban-made Cigars in Little Havana (I know absolutely NOTHING about Cigars). It was kind of funny when I watched some Cigars being made, because the man who was making them was not the "stereotypical" Cuban-Cigar maker. In my mind, the stereotype is of an older Cuban man, dressed in an antique/old guyabera (white button down shirt), making the cigars. The man who was making the cigars in Little Havana had a designer t-shirt, stylish belt, greasy hair, and only spoke in spanish...Very different than what I expected. While I was talking to one of the clerks in this cigar shop, I mentioned that I was a piano player and that I was in Miami to study Cuban music. Right away, the clerk told me to follow him next door to a café. He knocked on the door and the owner let us in (because they were closed). When the doors opened, I walked right into a Sound Check with a piano player and singer; they were performing that night in the café. Everyone was so gracious...I stayed and listened to the soundcheck for 5 or 6 tunes, chatted with the piano player and singer, and was offered a free cup of cafe cubano (Cuban Coffee...which is a REALLY strong shot of espresso with A LOT of sugar). The musicians told me I should come back at night for the concert, and I told them that I would be there. As I was walking back to my car, I passed by an establishment that looked like a Cultural Museum, yet it had a full bar. There were old books, art work, and furniture inside, as well as a baby grand piano and a nice size stage. Only the owner and the cleaning crew were inside, but they let me in and gave me a tour and talked with me for a few minutes. They informed me that at night there would be live Cuban Son music from two different bands (sets at 9PM & 11:30PM). While I told the other musicians at the café that I would come to their show, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to hear authentic Cuban Son music (this is the traditional music of Cuba, which is not always readily available in Miami). The name of this establishment is Cuba Ocho.

Thus, I returned to Cuba Ocho around 9PM at night for the show, and there were only a few people inside. I was somewhat perplexed, because earlier on when I was there the owner told me that they would get pretty crowded. I asked the bartender if there was still going to be live music, and she told me yes, but at 10PM. So, I decided to sit down and have a drink. I thought about what to order for a minute and then decided to have the full Cuban experience. I ordered a Mojito. This was probably the strongest and sweetest Mojito I have ever had (it probably took me 2 hours to drink haha). On a side note, I really need to embrace "Cuban Time" (as so many Cubans call it here). This way, I will not have to wait an hour for a concert or for some other engagement. It's alright....I'm slowly learning.

Closer to 10PM, I took my drink from the bar and found a seat up close towards the music. I started up a conversation with an older Cuban woman sitting a few seats over from me and we spoke in spanish for a little while. Ironically, she teaches Spanish at the University Level in Tucson, Arizona (in Miami on vacation), thus she was more accustomed to hearing slightly-incorrect spanish (after all I'm still learning). She encouraged me to continually speak to spanish-speakers in spanish and not to be afraid of making a mistake. I took her words to heart and shortly after she mentioned this, the show began. What followed was an incredible display of Son music. This band consisted of two guitar players, upright bass, percussion, voice and a flute player. They did a few of my favorite Cuban Sons (El Carretero, Chan Chan, etc.). It was incredible because the one guitar player had his right hand amputated, but was still able to strum the guitar, while voicing chords with his left hand, as well as singing at the same time. He was one of the older members of the group, so I decided to talk to him after their set. He was a very sweet man and does not speak much english. I did my best to explain my research project to him in spanish and tell him that I wanted to interview him about his experiences with Cuban music and education. Luckily, he was a Professor of Music back in Cuba. He told me to call his brother José on Tuesday at 5PM because they were having rehearsal together at that time, and they would give me directions on where they are so we can do the interview (at least that's what I gathered from our conversation...the only thing I am very clear about is calling them on Tuesday at 5PM, the part about meeting that same day I am not 100% sure about). The major problem with trying to speak spanish at this concert was that the overhead music was very loud during the set-breaks, so it was hard to hear (whether it be english or spanish).

The next band to perform had 2 percussionists, violin, electric bass, piano, voice, flute, and guitar. This band had a slightly more "modern" and "electric" sound, however they were fantastic! They played mostly son tunes with the occasional bolero. Throughout their set, musicians from the first band would randomly come on stage to sing a verse of the current song and then they would get off stage. Everyone was smiling and having an enjoyable time on stage. The musicians were not worried about their individual playing or their egos, they were just worried about making great music, no matter who got on stage or not. I was able to take a few videos of some people getting up and dancing in front of the stage; they looked like they were having SO much fun and that the music was just flowing through them (I'll post those videos when I can access a fast internet connection; the connection here is sooo slow, I can't even what a youtube clip, without waiting 10 minutes for the video to load).

On one of the set-breaks I started talking to an older Cuban man who was in the audience and we talked about music and life for about 10 minutes. He came from Cuba to NYC many years ago and then came to Miami. I love being able to talk with so many Cubans about their life so openly. I started speaking to him in spanish and then we "converted" to english so we could both understand each other better. I can't reiterate enough how friendly the Cuban people are. Whether I start a conversation or they start one, the interactions are always very enjoyable.

4 Hours later....The concert was over and I was ready for bed (2AM!). I came back to my hotel and went to bed (not having any energy to write this blog...which is why I am writing it the next evening!)