Cuban band Los Van Van weathers political controversy and changing musical tastes by continually getting listeners on their feet.
By LISSETTE CORSA
Published June 26, 2003
[AP photo: 1999]
Los Van Van was greeted by Cuban-American protesters at its show in Miami in 1999. The promoter of its Tampa concert says he has received only a few negative calls about tonight’s appearance.
In 1999, Cuban band Los Van Van's Miami performance caused thousands in the exile community to protest outside the concert venue and harass concertgoers as they made their way through aisles cordoned off by police. Band members were searched by police, sniffed by bomb dogs, interrogated by reporters and denounced by the mayor.
The episode touched off a culture war between hard-line exiles, who insist that the band is a mouthpiece of Castro, and second-generation Cuban-Americans, young people who love their music.
On its current tour, Los Van Van is skipping Miami. It performs tonight in Tampa for the first time.
There have been rumblings about the show from local Cuban-Americans, but concert promoter Alex Gonzalez, 27, said that of the hundreds of calls he has received about the booking, only a few have been negative.
Gonzalez had been trying for years to get Los Van Van to perform in Tampa, a task made more difficult by the U.S. government's post-Sept. 11, 2001, restrictions on issuing visas.
"It finally came together on very short notice," Gonzalez said. "Trying to bring them here has been very tough."
Politics aside, Juan Formell, who started the band in 1969, looks forward to showing off Los Van Van's style of Cuban music in Tampa. Since the band started, making people dance has been the motivation for the band's musical fusions.
"We will always continue to mix different styles," Formell, 60, said by phone from Havana before embarking on the tour, which is taking the band to Puerto Rico and eight U.S. cities. "We've always wanted to play in Tampa. When it was finally confirmed, it made us very happy. I don't think Cubans in Tampa have that degree of aggression" the band found in Miami.
For three decades, Los Van Van has dominated Cuba's dance music scene by continuing to adapt to the demands of a highly sophisticated dancing public.
Formell adopted the band's name as a joke after Fidel Castro failed to increase the island's sugar harvest to 10-million tons. The slogan for workers was "The 10-million go; that they will go; they will go." The phrase "de que van, van" caught on, and the music of Los Van Van became a soundtrack for the realities of life in Cuba: harsh, yet never lacking in humor.
Formell created "songo," an electrifying mix of traditional African rhythms, Cuban son and American pop set to synthesizers, an amplified bass line, rock-heavy drums, traditional Latin percussion, a beefed-up brass section and sophisticated violins and flute. And when timba, Cuba's more contemporary polyrhythmic whirl, exploded in the '90s, Los Van Van shifted gears.
In 1999, Los Van Van garnered a Grammy Award for best salsa performance for its album Llego Van Van (Van Van Is Here). Formell describes the exhilarating album as universal but not remote from all things Cuban.
"We are in a very good position at the moment," Formell said. "For a while, hip-hop has been at the forefront in music among young Cubans, and what we were doing took a backseat. But now we're entering a new phase."
Los Van Van has reshuffled its lineup a bit in the past two years.
The band's brilliant keyboardist/composer, Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso, left to form his own outfit. He was replaced by Roberto "Cucurucho" Carlos. The 24-year-old classically trained pianist is a nephew of Chucho Valdes, Cuba's most renowned piano export.
Singer Pedro Calvo left to pursue a solo career. Taking the lead in vocals are Yeni Valdez (formerly of NG La Banda), the band's first female singer, and Abel "Lele" Rosales.
Formell's son, Samuel, replaced legendary Los Van Van drummer Jose "Changuito" Quintana.
The infusion of so much young blood has had a major impact. "In our next album, I'm thinking of mixing timba with hip-hop," Formell said. "I think at the moment mixing is essential for the longevity of any band."
Los Van Van always has had a faithful following among world music fans outside Cuba, but record sales continue to be a problem, largely because of the difficulty in cracking the ever-more-programmed U.S. radio market.
"We haven't been able to sell the amount of records I would like, but we remain hopeful," Formell said.
But dancing, not sales, remains Los Van Van's prime mission.
"As long as we can make people dance, we'll keep on making music," Formell said. "The best way for the public to demonstrate their love for us is by dancing, especially Cubans, because it's not easy to make a Cuban dance. We are very selective when it comes to dancing."
PREVIEW: Los Van Van, 9 tonight, West Tampa Convention Center, 3005 W Columbus Drive, Tampa. $30-$35. (813) 786-6638.
