Cuba: Island of music

"A film by Gary Keys"

The film is a behind-the-scenes look at Afro-Cuban music's role in the daily life of Cubans. Filmmaker Gary Keys (Memories of Duke and Dizzy's Dream Band) brings the audience into the heart and soul of Havana, through a vibrant mosaic of street musicians, big bands, dancers, religious rituals, and classic cars. Keys shows us Afro-Cuban music in New York City, with the music and commentary of jazz legends Billy Taylor, Candido Camero, and Chico O´Farrill. 

Filmmaker and scholar Gary Keys directs the digital-video documentary Cuba: Island of music  for Gothamjazz Productions. A long time fan of jazz and Afro-Cuban music, Keys quickly accepts a university position in Havana teaching film and music. This documentary is a direct result of his experience wandering around Cuba and looking for high-energy street musicians and dancers. He also includes random shots of everyday life, including baseball players, women rolling cigars, and children playing in the street. Keys narrates the film himself from the front seat of his convertible while driving around New York City. Including music and commentary from Chico O'Farrill and Dr. Billy Taylor, Cuba: Island of music  premiered in 2003 at the Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. 

Gary Keys went to Cuba not just as a filmmaker, but as a representative of Columbia University, teaching a masterclass. The director came back with Cuba: Island of Music, a souvenir he could share. 

The movie delivers on the title, showing all aspects of Cuban music and dance, from Afro-Cuban jazz performers to Chinese musicians in Havana to bolero in a nightclub, and the joyous reactions of spectators. Young musicians learning to play also get a few minutes in the spotlight. Interspersed with these scenes, there are glimpses of Cuban life, such as players standing for the national anthem at a baseball game, socialist billboards, chess players, and outdoor markets. 

Each section of Cuba:Island of Music, is introduced by Keys as he drives his car around New York City, and there are a few people -both in Cuba and back in New York- commenting on the Cuban love of music or the longtime U.S. embargo of Cuba. Keys keeps them short, mostly showing his story instead of telling it, thus creating a more powerful portrait of the Cuban people.

Keys shows viewers a land in which music permeates everything -even on the beach, with bathers dancing on the sand- through the musical montages which form the bulk of Island of Music. His blending of visuals and music gives the film a feeling of energy and gets viewers involved, not just in the music, but in the lives of the people he filmed. Among the more interesting scenes are an old car catching fire on the street and a woman buying a meager portion of meat in a butcher shop. These scenes of everyday reality, contrasted with lively crowds at performances, show that strong will Keys tells us about in a way no narration could.

There are some quibbles -the verbal portions of the movie include one slightly muffled interview segment, the names of the people Keys interviews could be shown on the screen, and there must have been some extra footage that could have been included- but it's a musical journey that'll leave an impression.

Carlos E. Velasquez said, The Buena Vista Social Club, phenomenon appears to be slowly fading away, but Cuba is still there, continuously generating and exporting great music to the world. And, still there, too, are producers and filmmakers that travel to that island to see what this is all about. The vibrant and aptly called Cuba: Island of Music is another passionate attempt to explain the immense musical treasure that Cuba represents.

Right at the beginning of the documentary, we meet Gary Keys -its director-, in New York City, where he speaks about the origins of the film. He indicates that he was going to teach a class in Cuba. Once there, he realizes that everybody is playing music, and tries to understand the reason for that. For this purpose, he interviews some of the players -some music legends- in New York City and Cuba, such as composer Chico O'Farrill (before his death), jazz pianist Billy Taylor, and percussionist Candido Camero. We enjoy O'Farrill with his band playing at New York's Birdland, and Camero and Taylor doing the same at a different venue.

The movie moves back and forth between Cuba and New York, and Keys captures music in almost every corner of the island. We witness, for example, -and sometimes under a lot of rain- street rumbas, a festival on the Chinesse presence in Cuba, Afro-Cuban religious chants and rituals, a trip to Cuba's "Instituto Superior de Arte" and "Universidad de las Artes", and more. And, of course, there is the music, and Keys got a lot of that. We enjoy partial performances by renowned Orquesta Aragón, Grupo Cohiba, Jóvenes Clásicos del Son, Manolín (el Médico de la Salsa), a new version of the legendary  Los Zafiros, and others. Keys also takes us to some of the island's famous night clubs, such as La Cecilia, Palacio de la Salsa, Dos Gardenias, and La Zorra y el Cuervo. And then, there are the beaches and lots of girls.

Cuba: Island of Music is truly a labor of love, from somebody that really loves music, and Gary Keys rightfully concludes by saying, "I am not going to allow my joy of life to be ruled because you are trying to oppress us." And that's the way it should be, carajo!. (USA, 2004, color, 72 min). Exclusively reviewed on October 12, 2011 by Eric Gonzalez.

Watch the online documentary

"Underneath the ebullient surface of this musical documentary is a plea for an end to the United States embargo on trade with Cuba. The movie, which jumps back and forth between Havana and New York and offers a musical mosaic of Afro-Cuban styles, mostly salsa based, could be described as a basic course: Afro-Cuban music 101. Besides the director, the most articulate of several commentators is the jazz pianist, composer and educator Billy Taylor, who has been a long-time champion of Afro-Cuban music. The movie's cheerful view of contemporary Havana is markedly different from Wim Wenders' elegiac 'Buena Vista Social Club'."

Stephen Holden

(The New York Times)

Qué Tengo Pa´Tí
2014