Raucous Afro Cuban All-Stars Electrify Finney

Playing to a packed house of Oberlin students and "All Roads Lead to Oberlin" prospective students, the Afro Cuban All-Stars pulled off one of the liveliest Finney Chapel concerts in recent memory. After a warning not to dance in the aisles because it was a fire hazard, the inter-generational 16-piece ensemble led the high-spirited crowd in hand clapping, swaying, and, of course, dancing in the aisles. Throughout the show, the bulk of the ground-level audience remained on its feet, while many fans from the balcony rose as the show progressed.

The Afro Cuban All-Stars alternated between lively dance numbers and slower, though equally danceable, crooners. Pumping their trumpets in the air, improvising footwork with one another, and leaving the stage to mingle with the crowd, the group never once let their energy slacken.

Passion for playing: Last Friday's performance by the Afro Cuban All-Stars energized the largest crowd at Finney Chapel in recent memory. The group danced, shook and sang for over an hour. (photo by Alyssa Tomasi)

While the grand tapestry created by the full band playing was impressive, to say the least, some of the show's best moments came when individual band members were given a chance to showcase their unique talents in solos. 1960s singing sensation Mañuel "Puntillita" Licea Lamot (now over seventy years old) treated Finney Chapel to his timeless charm in a number of moving songs, including "Amore Verdadero."

Though one of the younger members of the group, pianist David Alfaro Garcia nonetheless matched the group's senior members in intensity and finesse. Founding band member Juan De Marcos González soloed on the tres, a three-stringed guitar; and Regla Caturla, the "golden voice" on the famous Las Estrellas de Areito albums, danced, sang, and shook a chekere (a gourd wrapped in a beaded net).

After one encore, the Afro Cuban All-Stars left the stage to booming applause. Seat pounding and chanting continued for several minutes before it was apparent that the group had called it a night and were headed for a well-deserved rest.

The Afro Cuban All-Stars were brought together by Juan De Marcos González in 1995. Since then their mission has been to revive classic pre-Revolutionary Cuban conjunto tunes, but with fresh energy and new inventiveness. The band is comprised both of an exhaustive list of Son music legends and of up-and-coming contemporary Cuban musicians.

North American interest in Cuban music has surged in recent years as a result of the U.S. easing, ever so slightly, its Cuban embargo.

The International Music Network credits Cuba's new appeal to "the romantic notion that [Cuba's] isolation has made it a time capsule." As a result of projects like the film Buena Vista Social Club (that contained many musicians from the All-Stars), Cuban music has reached a broad American audience. Many Cuban groups are now touring the country and have made their impact felt at the Grammys and elsewhere (the Afro Cuban All-Stars' debut album was nominated for a Grammy award).

For anyone who has not heard Cuban music before, the Afro Cuban All-Stars' stems from the unique fusion of musical traditions that has defined Cuban music since early colonial days. Born on the eastern end of the island, the music of the Afro Cuban All-Stars (and similar groups like Cubanismo) has its roots in a combination of the music of British-imported African slaves and of Spanish colonists. Some of Latin America's dominant musical forms were formed from this alchemy. Rather than being a "time capsule" these forms have constantly evolved.

In Cuba, these forms have changed much even since the Revolution. It remains to be seen what kind of life this art will take on in North America. Examples of Cuban music/hip hop experimentation are already attracting attention in New York and elsewhere. Bigger innovations are sure to come and, if the Afro Cuban All-Stars's show at Finney means anything, prospects for the future are very positive.