Though Havana is about 90 miles from Florida's southernmost tip, most Americans have never experienced its wonderful sights and sounds. Diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. ended more than 50 years ago, and trade and travel restrictions have existed ever since. But the ice has started to thaw, thanks, in part, to a partnership between jazz musicians in both countries.
After cutting through lots of red tape, three American musicians - vibraphonist Stefon Harris, tenor saxophonist David Sánchez and trumpeter Christian Scott - spent a week in Havana in 2010. There, they recorded an album called Ninety Miles with Cuban bandleaders Harold Lopez-Nussa and Rember Duharte. Harris and Sánchez will stop by the UW's Music Hall on Thursday, Nov. 29, as part of the Wisconsin Union Theater's Isthmus Jazz Series, along with trumpeter Nicholas Payton and a quartet of Latin jazz musicians. They'll share the fruits of this collaboration, which is known as the Ninety Miles Project.
The project's music is complex but very melodic, and it inspired me to join the Havana Jazz Experience, an eight-day excursion packed with music, art and other cultural opportunities. Led by the nonprofit tour organization Insight Cuba and cosponsored by Jazz Times magazine, this trip included meetings with Havana residents, including musicians. I recently chatted with Harris about his own impressions of Cuba and the experience of recording Ninety Miles.
Harris says the most striking thing about Cuba is how "music is part of the everyday culture." In this respect, the country is more similar to Brazil or South Africa than the U.S.
"It was a humbling thing, a revelation, to be someplace where music is such an integral part of everyday life," he says. "The place just throbbed with music."
Once in Havana, the Ninety Miles crew had one day to get acquainted, decide which songs to record and figure out how to arrange them. Harris describes that week as "incredibly intense" because there was so much to do. But that didn't hamper the group's enthusiasm. Though there were some language and cultural barriers to grapple with, Harris says egos were checked at the door.
Harris says each Ninety Miles musician contributed ideas to the project, and each song's arrangement became "a collective."
Though the songs were composed collaboratively, only the American musicians can bring them to the U.S., as Lopez-Nussa and Duharte are not allowed out of Cuba. This could change if other cultural exchanges continue to mend the rift between the two countries. Jazz fans can only hope.