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The tres is a three-course chordophone of Cuban origin. The most widespread variety of the instrument is the original Cuban tres with six strings. Its sound has become a defining characteristic of the Cuban son and it is commonly played in a variety of Afro-Cuban genres. In the 1930s, the instrument was adapted into the Puerto Rican tres, which has nine strings and a body similar to that of the cuatro.
Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho Valdés, is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands.
Habana Abierta is a Cuban band. They are a member of a generation of composers, musicians, sculptors, authors, actors, etc. which emerged in the early 90s with its own identity in Havana, even though some of their creations had already been well known for some years in the island's cultural circles.
Orquesta Riverside was a highly successful Cuban big band that was amongst the most popular ensembles of the 1940s and 1950s. Founded in 1938, it was originally directed by local musician Enrique González Mantici until 1945. Other directors were Antonio Sosa (1945–47), Pedro Vila (1947–57), Adolfo Guzmán (1957–62), Argelio González and Nelson Arocha.
William Vivanco is a Cuban composer and musician. Vivanco learned to play guitar by visiting Casa de la Trova on Calle Heredia in Santiago de Cuba. He busked in the streets and performed with a professional children's choir.
Descemer Bueno is a Cuban singer, songwriter, and record producer. His first professional gigs were playing bass with Cuban troubadour Santiago Feliú.
Guillermo Barreto was a Cuban drummer and timbalero. He was a major figure in the Cuban music scene for more than fifty years and one of the first drummers in Cuba to play Afro-Cuban jazz.
Kelvis Ochoa is a Cuban author, composer, and singer.
Haydée Milanés is a Cuban singer. She is the daughter of the important “Nueva Trova” figure Pablo Milanés. Haydée Milanés is part of the Cuban fusion new scene. Her style is often compared to that of Norah Jones: shy, sultry, and jazzy.
Kumar is a Cuban musician who was born in Havana in 1984. He also appeared as an actor in Benito Zambrano’s movie Habana Blues, and his song "No Se Vuelve Atras" is featured in the movie’s soundtrack.
Yasek Manzano Silva is a Cuban trumpet player and composer in Marianao. He has performed with Celia Cruz, Los Van Van, Irakere, Bobby Carcassés and the British bands Manic Street Preachers and Simply Red.
Roberto Carcassés is a Cuban jazz pianist. He was born on May 19, 1972, in Havana, Cuba. He has collaborated with many musicians, such as Chucho Valdés, Changuito, Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, and Descemer Bueno. He is the bandleader of the Interactivo collective.
Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodríguez, better known as Peruchín, was a Cuban pianist specializing in jazz-influenced Cuban popular music. He was an important figure in the 1950s descarga scene in Havana, and one of the most influential Cuban pianists of the 20th century.
Julio Gutiérrez was a Cuban music director, pianist, composer and arranger. He was one of the main figures in the music scene of Havana in the 1940s and 1950s, and a pioneer of the descarga. As a songwriter, he is remembered for his 1944 bolero "Inolvidable", which has been performed by numerous artists.
Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature is the debut album by Cuban double bassist Cachao, released in 1957 by Panart. The album is composed of descargas, improvised jam sessions with Cuban themes. It was the fourth installment in Panart's Cuban Jam Session series after Julio Gutiérrez's Cuban Jam Session Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and Niño Rivera's Vol. 3. Unlike the other installments, Cachao's session comprised short improvisations instead of extended jams. The album sold over a million copies and became "a Latin music milestone". In 2013, it was induced into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry.
Mercedes Valdés Granit, better known as Merceditas Valdés, was a Cuban singer who specialized in Afro-Cuban traditional music. Under the aegis of ethnomusicologists Fernando Ortiz and Obdulio Morales, Valdés helped popularize Afro-Cuban music throughout Latin America. In 1949, she became one of the first female Santería singers to be recorded. Her debut album was released at the start of the 1960s, when the Cuban government nationalized the record industry. She then went on hiatus before making a comeback in the 1980s with a series of albums entitled Aché, in collaboration with artists such as Frank Emilio Flynn and rumba ensemble Yoruba Andabo. She also appeared in Jane Bunnett's Spirits of Havana and continued performing until her death in 1996.
Francisco Fellove Valdés, also known as El Gran Fellove, was a Cuban songwriter and singer. A prolific composer of the feeling generation, he is well known for his particular style of scat singing known as chua chua. He is the author of the famous guaracha-pregón "Mango mangüé", recorded by Machito and Celia Cruz among others. He was the cousin of conga drummer Carlos "Patato" Valdés.
Alexander Otaola Casal is a Cuban-American actor, social media influencer, and political activist. Otaola is the host of the web show Hola Ota-Ola!, an informative and satirical program that covers entertainment, news and politics. His show debuted on Cubanos por el Mundo: a cross platform media initiative, website, and YouTube channel that covers politics, news, and celebrity culture in Cuba and the Cuban exile community. Otaola is a vocal opponent of the communist regime in Cuba denouncing its human rights violations and crimes in all of his shows. In addition, in 2023, Otaola registered his candidacy to run in the Miami-Dade mayoral elections.
Leonardo Torres Álvarez known professionally as Leoni Torres, is a Cuban singer, composer and music producer. He has recorded six albums as part of his career as a soloist and has collaborated with musical figures such as Rosario Flores, Pablo Milanés, Willy Chirino, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Beatriz Luengo, Carlos Varela, Cimafunk, Francisco Céspedes, among others. He is a member of The Latin Recording Academy and his compositions have been recognized by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
