Cubanismo - Biography
by J Poet
¡Cubanismo! is a Cuban band based in London dedicated to keeping the sound of traditional Cuban dance music alive, albeit with an updated, modern feel. Their albums are all solid, but it’s as a live unit that the band really burns down the house.
Jesús Alamañy, arranger and leader of ¡Cubanismo! was born in Havana and picked up the trumpet as a child. As a child he studied with Lazaro Herera, the oldest trumpeter in Cuba and later studied at Cuba's Conservatorio Amadeo Roldan. He joined Sierra Maestra, another group that helped reinvent Cuban music at 16. Alamañy's trumpet was part of the Sierra Maestra sound for over ten years and recorded with them for Cuba’s national label Egrem. His trumpet is featured on the compilation album Sierra Maestra: Son Highlights from Cuba (1993 YVP Germany).
Alamañy left Sierra Maestra in 1992 and left Cuba shortly thereafter to settle in London. In 1994, he was asked to put together a band to support conga legend Patato Valdez on a European tour. He asked some of Cuba’s best session players to join the band. Hannibal Records head Joe Boyd saw one of the concerts and asked Alamañy record a descarga (jam session) in Havana with some of the same musicians. The sessions were released as ¡Cubanismo! (1996 Hannibal), with contributions from three generations of Cuban musicians. The all-acoustic recording captured the old fashion sound of the son-montuno, guaracha-son and other older styles. The album was meant to be a one off project, but its unexpected commercial success enabled Alamañy to take the band on the road.
For Malembe (1997 Hannibal) Alamañy returned to Cuba and after a few personnel shifts, emerged with another winning album. The band’s world tour ignited interest in Cuban music and made them stars on the burgeoning world music circuit. Reencarnacion (1998 Hannibal, 1998), the band’s third outing includes two descargas “Jamming in Nijmegen” and “En Las Delicias” extended improvisations that show the band bringing their own flavor to traditional dance music. In 1999 members of the band traveled to New Orleans to collaborate with a select group of R&B musicians and produced Mardi Gras Mambo (2000 Hannibal). It made explicit the connection between Cuba and New Orleans, mambo, rock’n’roll and rap. The blend of American standards like “Iko Iko” and “Mother in law” with compositions by the Cubans like Alamañy’s “Gumbo Son” is eye opening, to say the least.
After 9/11 the US government refused to renew the visas for most of the musicians in ¡Cubanismo!, afraid perhaps that their music would have a disquieting effect on the homeland. The Australian label AIM stepped in and funded Greetings from Havana (2007 AIM), which may be the band’s best offering yet. With another panoply of guests, the band lays down some of its most relentless grooves so far. The CD got a Grammy nomination for Best Tropical Latin Album of 2007, despite the fact that it hasn’t been picked up by an American label.