“Los Van Van's visit signals thaw in U.S.-Cuba cultural relations - Lexington Herald-Leader” plus 1 more

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Los Van Van's visit signals thaw in U.S.-Cuba cultural relations - Lexington Herald-Leader Posted: 01 Dec 2010 04:36 PM PST LOS ANGELES -- When legendary Cuban group Los Van Van played Miami in October 1999, about 3,000 angry anti-Castro Cuban American exiles pelted fans with eggs, soda cans and rocks. In 2001, the Latin Grammy Awards did a last-minute shift from Miami to Los Angeles to avoid any similar uproar over Cuban nominees like Los Van Van, who've been supportive of Fidel Castro's communist government. The scene is likely to be far more tranquil when Los Van Van appear Thursday and Friday evening at the Conga Room in downtown L.A. - except on the stage and the dance floor. That's where the controlled frenzy that is a Los Van Van concert hasn't calmed down in more than 40 years. Almost indisputably the most influential of post-revolutionary Cuban ensembles, Los Van Van also are among the island nation's most adaptable, helping them to survive nearly as long as brothers Fidel and Raul Castro. Led by its 68-year-old founder and bassist Juan Formell, the group layered brass, vocals, electric guitars and, later, drum machines and synthesizers over a traditional violin- and flute-driven charanga superstructure. Although still sometimes labeled a "salsa" band by neophytes, Los Van Van's music - especially as performed live, often in extended jams, sometimes accompanied by dancers - is better understood as a continuous series of flowing suites that merge jazz, blues, rock, hip-hop, disco and free-form call-and-response choruses. This week's gig marks Los Van Van's first L.A. appearance since a sold-out June 2003 show at the Sportsmen's Lodge. In a brief phone interview from his home in Havana, Formell, speaking in Spanish, said that the group had been scheduled to perform last year at the Hollywood Bowl but was unable to obtain a U.S. visa. Like many artists from Cuba, Iran and other countries on bad terms with the U.S. State Department, Los Van Van found themselves shut out of the United States during the latter years of the Bush administration. "It's much better with Obama," Formell said. "It's been almost 10 years that we haven't been given a visa. Practically no cultural exchanges occurred." That's been changing recently on both sides of the Straits of Florida. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra visited Havana last October, and Cuban stars such as pianist Chucho Valdes and Omara Portuondo recently have performed in the United States. Brad Gluckstein, the Conga Room's owner, said that when Los Van Van played at his club's former Wilshire Boulevard venue a decade ago, the event was part of brief diplomatic thaw that coincided with renewed interest in Cuban music sparked by the Buena Vista Social Club. "When we opened we were the West Coast hub for every Cuban band that came in," Gluckstein said. "It was really a fabulous period, and then it all stopped." Now, with cultural relations easing between the two countries and a younger generation ascending as taste-makers, Formell thinks it's a good time for the band whose name translates as "those they go, they go." "There are a lot of youth (in the United States), the same in Cuba, that the politics doesn't much interest them," he said. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

Kennedy Center Honors: Cultural treasures - Variety Posted: 03 Dec 2010 04:02 AM PST Awards come in countless varieties, but none are more prestigious to American performing artists than the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's ultimate lauding of living cultural treasures. This year's crop, the 33rd annual, includes country singer-songwriter Merle Haggard, composer-lyricist Jerry Herman, director-choreographer Bill T. Jones, singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and television personality-mogul Oprah Winfrey. Ceremony is Dec. 5 in D.C. Merle Haggard Singer-songwriter "Merle Haggard is such a remarkable artist when you think about where he started out," says Kris Kristofferson, a longtime admirer and friend of the honoree. "I can't think of anybody from San Quentin who came to where he has. And he's still writing great songs. He'll probably be creative until they throw dirt on him. I don't know anybody who's as broad-minded and fair-minded and still concerned about things that people our age don't always care about anymore." Paul McCartney Singer-songwriter "Paul McCartney is one of very few musicians who have excelled at all aspects of a musical life," says singer-songwriter John Fogerty, another musical icon of the 1960s. "It would have been enough that he possesses one of the best rock 'n' roll voices ever and one of the best ballad voices of all time, but he is overflowing with musical gifts. However, it is his songwriting that most inspires me. Paul's early songs with John Lennon and later as a solo artist have stood the test of time and are today revered as some of the most memorable and wonderful songs the world has ever known." Oprah Winfrey TV personality-mogul "There are certain archetypical personalities that people just connect with," Dr. Phillip McGraw (better known as TV's Dr. Phil) says, describing his friend and media mentor Oprah Winfrey. "You can't be around Oprah and not feel better than you did before. And over the last 25 years, people have this appointment television with her. Her show offers them humor, camaraderie, compassion. She has this impact on people; she lifts them up. And what she does is an art. She has become a one-stop shop for people to gain skills, information and inspiration in living their lives. This is a place that people can go every day for free and connect with somebody that makes their day better and makes their life better. She delivers that to people's living rooms every day for free. What a tremendous treasure she is to America, and to the world." Bill T. Jones Director-choreographer "Bill T. Jones' artistic achievements leave one amazed at the number of firsts and altogether stunning work that have come from this mind and body," says soprano and KCH laureate Jessye Norman, a friend and collaborator of Jones. "He is not of the thought that there is a physical standard for the body of a dancer, but rather that the soul is that portion of a being that is on display in dance, and that the physical self is but a conduit, a vessel." Jerry Herman Composer-lyricist "Nobody writes musicals like Jerry Herman," says actress Angela Lansbury, who won Tonys as best actress in two Herman shows, "Mame" and "Dear World." "He's written not one but probably 10 great songs. And though they belong to an era that is long gone, youngsters are learning a lot from his work, because his songs are so musically satisfying. They -- and he -- will go on forever." Contact the variety newsroom at news@variety.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

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