Cuban Group Las Flores del Changüí Share "Cuidao con la Lengua" from First Ever Comprehensive Box Set of On-Site Recordings from Guantánamo Changüí - The Sound of Guantánamo Available July 9 via Petaluma Records |
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Credit: Gianluca Tramontana |
April 28, 2021: Today Petaluma Records shares the third single from the upcoming CHANGÜÍ - The Sound of Guantánamo, a new 3 CD box set of on-site recordings of changüí music from Cuba’s Guantánamo region. “Cuidao con la Lengua,” performed by the all-female group Las Flores del Changüí, exemplifies the authentic sound of Changüí and its joyous tradition as captured by the collection. CHANGÜÍ - The Sound of Guantánamo will be released on July 9th, and is the first comprehensive collection of its kind, capturing the traditional music style that has existed in the Guantánamo region for more than 150 years. |
Listen: “Cuidao con la Lengua” Pre Order CHANGÜÍ - The Sound of Guantánamo |
In Guantánamo, changüí means party. The very word changüí is derived from the Congolese word for party and it’s easy to hear why: the musical tradition is a joyful bundle of hooks, riffs and foot-stomping choruses played for the sole purpose of celebration, togetherness and inclusivity. Women play a central role in changüí, often hosting parties and venues where the music is played. Members of Las Flores del Changüí have carried the tradition through generations as musical leaders in their community. Bandleader and songwriter Floridia Hernández Daudinot's grandmother was a changüí tres player, and her own daughter is continuing the family tradition by playing guayo in the group. |
Listen: "Inspiración de los Pueblos" New playlist: “Changüí: Roots of Cuban Music” (including tracks from the set and more) |
The recordings were collected by independent producer and music journalist Gianluca Tramontana, whose roots music expertise has been featured in numerous pieces for MOJO Magazine, Rolling Stone, NPR and BBC, and has been visiting Cuba since the 1990s. On one trip to Guantánamo in 2017, he observed that of the little documentation that exists of changüí, almost nothing had been recorded on location in the countryside or villages, capturing the authenticity of the music that is meant to be performed and enjoyed communally. Over the span of two years, Tramontana immersed himself in the largely overlooked 150-plus year-old culture of the rural, riff-based, mostly improvised music. He traveled around Guantánamo, a region of Cuba overshadowed by its geopolitical issues, capturing the music of changüíseros from the mountainous areas of Yateras, where changüí is said to have been born, to Guantánamo City, where it drifted in from the mountains in the early 1900s. It has been stated many times, that Cuban culture starts East and moves West, and Guantánamo Province is just about as far East as you can go. This area is the source of much of the Cuban music that has inspired the likes of Buena Vista Social Club, Celina González and Compay Segundo. Back in New York, Tramontana shared some of the recordings with four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Steve Rosenthal. Rosenthal, known for his archival and restoration work of Alan Lomax, Woody Guthrie and Les Paul, immediately recognized that Tramontana’s digital recordings were special — that they managed to capture the energy and excitement of the festivities happening in areas of the country not often explored. “Gianluca spent months in the countryside getting to know the people of the Guantánamo province,” Rosenthal points out, “so the musicians were completely at ease. We’re listening to a real snapshot of a unique gathering which makes any listener feel like they’re actually there.” With support from Petaluma Records, mix engineer Ed McEntee and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning mastering engineer Michael Graves, Rosenthal and Tramontana completed the production of this 50 track, 3 CD collection, curated from well over 200 recordings made in Guantánamo. GRAMMY® Award-winning graphic designer Barb Bersche created the physical design and layout for the packaging and the extensive booklet that accompanies the extraordinary box set, CHANGÜÍ - The Sound Of Guantánamo. |
“I fell in love with Cuba, its people and its music long before making the Buena Vista Social Club with Ry Cooder. The country, from Punta de Maisí in the East, to Maria la Gorda in the far West, the country has so much to offer that even after close on 30 years of traveling through the island, I feel I've only touched the surface and there is so much music to hear. This glorious set is a case in point. The Guantánamo region has so much culture to discover. Many musicologists consider changüí the predecessor of the 'son' we recorded on Buena Vista Social Club and I can hear it too." — Nick Gold, Executive Producer of Buena Vista Social Club "If music be the fabric of life in the rest of Cuba then Changüí is existence itself. It’s as if guantanameros were created solely for the purpose of sharing in the music of Changüí, to the betterment of the rest of the world” — Arturo O’Farrill, Founder of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra |
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Credit: Gianluca Tramontana Petaluma Records online: |
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