Cuban Musicians to Play Longest Changüí in Guantanamo

The festivity is part of the 9th Changüí National Festival ”Elio Reve Matos”

With the interpretation of the longest Changüí in the world, the penultimate day of the Changüí National Festival ”Elio Reve Matos” takes place in Guantanamo, eastern Cuba, today.

From 6 in the afternoon of this Tuesday until dawn on Thursday, a score of musical groups participating in the event will try to stay for more than 30 uninterrupted hours playing Changüi, to break the established record, while the dancers aspire to overcome the 28 hours of dancing

Tradition and modernity mark this ninth edition where the most representative of that genre in the country, along with young exponents, such as the popular Elito Reve and his Charangon, Oderquis Reve, Juan Guillermo (JG), the group Concert Air, The Crusade, Zona Franca and pianists Ernesto Oliva and Alejandro Falcón, 2013 Cubadisco Award, have delighted fans.

The Changuisera Route from the municipalities of El Salvador to Yateras, which began with cultural activities and parties along the route of those Guantanamo municipalities, was another important moment of the event, where there were many lectures and talks about the genre, its essence and vitality.

Theoretical events which highlighted the figure of Luis Morlote and Eduardo Goulet Lestapier (Pipi) representatives of the rhythm, the influence of that sonority in jazz, analyzed by the American Benjamin Lapidus and the contributions to Cuban culture and the renewal of that autochthonous rhythm, born in the mountains of Guantánamo.

The Jose Marti Park and its surroundings served as a stage for the meeting of Changüí dancers belonging to the project Changuiseros Unidos por una Sonrisa(Changuiseros join by a smile), from the municipality of El Salvador and the Colmenita de Guantanamo(little beehive), as a sign of continuity and roots in the new generations.

The books Guantanamo has his Changüí, by Yaremi Estonel and Vamos a Tocar Changüí, by Ramón Gomez Blanco were presented

Elito and his Charangon returned to their origins and in the popular district of Loma del Chivo, where this orchestra was born under the baton of maestro Elio Reve. The repertoire included such songs as ‘La cuchara’ and ‘Agua pa’ Yemaya’ which were enjoyed by the dancers.