If you are a lover of Latin jazz and salsa, prepare to free all your energy with “Raíces Habaneras.” It is time for you to find out where all that Cuban percussion that settles in New York with Chano Pozo, passes through the bands of Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente, and reaches Santana, came from. Or to say it with rumba [slang]: to find out how the coconut of Latin music gets its milk.

Track List

1. Elegguá (Traditional)
2. Raíces Habaneras (Guaguancó)
3. Columbia (Columbia)
4. Cantaremos y Bailaremos (Jiribilla)
5. Ave María Morena (Yambú)
6. Ocana “El Kikirikí” (Guaguancó)
7. Solo Mi Arte (Guaguancó)
8. Baba Areyo (Guaguancó)
9. Dame la Mano (Yambú)
10. Rembranzas de Pregones (Guaguancó)
11. Abakuá (Traditional)

• David Oquendo
• Pedro Pablo Martínez
• Pedro Domenech
• Vicente Sánchez
• Oduardo Díaz “Román”
• Deborah Avilés
• José Real “El Chino”
• Oriente López
• Ricky Salas
• Gene Golden
• Francisco González “Panchito”
• Carlos Córdova
• Clemente Medina
• Produced by Davíd Oquendo
  

Recorded at Sound Art Studios, Jersey City, October 2000.

Click Here for Group Bio //Clic para biografía del grupo

Raíces Habanera’s importance lies not only in its energetic presentation of Afro-Cuban traditional musics, including Lukumí, Abakuá, and the Rumba Guaguancó, Yambú, and Columbia. It is truly the product of a local confluence of powerful musicians and their loyal supporters in a small New Jersey city. Union City, along with its neighboring towns, has been a mecca for Cubans and other Latinos for many years.

The group was born spontaneously in 1996 at the small nightclub, La Esquina Habanera a the corner of Summit Avenue and 14th Street in Union City., the group has performed every Sunday in the club, which has become its home base. This consistent weekly performance has now become a tradition in the local community. It is known as “Los Domingos de la Rumba” (Rumba Sundays).

David Oquendo created Raíces Habaneras to rescue and preserve the pure form and essence of Cuban rhythms, and to pass on to newer generations this aspect of Cuba’s cultural heritage.