2024-04-19 21:05:22
Photos: Jorge Luis Borges
Text: Karla Castillo
The news of the possible conversion of the Jazz Café, a famous Cuban nightclub, into a store in MLC (Freely Convertible Currency) shook social networks and protests were immediate, but with the recent announcement of a concert by Ruy López-Nussa and The Academy, fears dissipate and the well-known place returns to its activities.
At the beginning of November, the Cuban photographer Carlos Hueso, producer of the musician Polito Ibáñez and worker at the National Center of Popular Music, denounced on his Facebook page that this emblematic place, located on the third floor of the Tiendas Galerías Paseo building, in the capital’s Vedado , could be moved to another site, while the current one would be occupied for commercial sales within the shopping complex in MLC.
“He moves from place to place and flies his music and his live cultural air to another space that is still being studied. Now to occupy its area for commercial sales within the shopping complex in MLC. We would only have to wait and find out where that Cuban jazz space will go, since hardly any other has a view as attractive as those that its surroundings offered us,” he wrote at that time.
It was not long before other Cuban artists joined the complaints, one of them, the singer-songwriter Frank Delgado, questioned the decision towards the center, and wrote: “What a low blow, what a betrayal, will the temples of culture be disposable and provisional? Could it be that, taking advantage of the darkness that the pandemic has plunged us into, the unspeakable desires of the merchants are going to dismantle iconic temples of the mind?
In the face of all the protests, a Cuban official from the Provincial Government of Havana shared a clarifying message on Facebook, where he assured that according to the operators of the emblematic space, once the repair work was completed, its assembly and restoration would begin for the public service.
Luckily for Cuban culture, the club that has been located on the third floor of the shopping gallery for more than 20 years, with a privileged position in front of the Havana boardwalk and the Cohiba and Riviera hotels, will maintain its social function, and its essence returns after months of repairs with striking programming.
It will begin today with Ruy López-Nussa, and will continue on Thursday with Orlando Valle (Maraca), who stands out on stage for his contemporary style where he masterfully fuses his Afro-Cuban roots with jazz.
For Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st, Emilio Morales and his New Friends are expected, respectively, with a musical download mammal; and Emilio Vega who will give the night a different flavor, based on softer jazz.
The weekend will close, as the start of the Jojazz Days, with one of the winners of that award, the young artist Yasek Manzano, who is an experienced trumpeter and fuses jazz with electronic music creating a very contemporary sound.
