The project was masterminded by Australia’s leading reggae-dancehall producer, Byron local Jake Savona (aka Mista Savona), brought Jamaican legends Sly and Robbie, Boopee and Bongo Herman to Havana, where they joined Buena Vista Social Club musicians Barbarito Torres and Rolando Luna, alongside Cuba’s most influential percussionist Changuito (Los Van Van) and so many more to create an album of mostly original songs as well as covers of Cuban material. This happened over 10 days in June 2015, and now the show is being presented live, right here in Byron Shire!
Jake, what initiated your interested in reggae and dancehall?
I grew up in Melbourne and began playing the piano at six years of age. I quickly became obsessed with music. I studied composition and performance at university and soon after got into hip-hop and dub production. I spent a short time living in Brixton in my early 20s, which really awoke me to the power of Jamaican music and soundsystem culture. I recorded and released two albums in Australia between 2001 and 2003 and then travelled to Kingston in 2004 to better understand the culture and history of reggae and dancehall music. That was an incredible trip and my third album was born, Melbourne Meets Kingston. After numerous trips to Jamaica and three more albums recorded there, I first travelled to Cuba in 2013. And the rest is history.
Tell me about your ambitious project of bringing Sly and Robbie, Boopee and Bongo Herman to Havana to play. How did you manage to orchestrate this? What happened?
The album is called Havana Meets Kingston and will be released worldwide on 3 November.
The album is exactly that, a meeting of some of the greatest musicians from Cuba and Jamaica. I have been to Jamaica many times since 2004, and each trip built stronger connections. I did a great session at Tuff Gong (Bob Marley’s studio) in 2013 and that was the first time I recorded with drummer Sly Dunbar. Percussionist Bongo Herman was also in on the session, and so without knowing it this was really the session that paved the way for the Havana Meets Kingston project. Soon after that I travelled to Cuba for the first time, and it was there that the idea for the project was born. I was sitting in a cafe in Havana, a great place called Chanchurello. They were playing a CD of rumba music (traditional Cuban music), mainly percussion based. I was daydreaming and imagining how the sounds of Nyabinghi drums from Jamaica would sound mixed with the rumba. I realised it would be very special to mix the two styles, and wondered if it had ever been done before. When I returned to Australia I did some research, and realised there had never been a project bringing Jamaican musicians into Cuba (or vice versa). So I started to think how it could be done.
After a lot of planning I flew back into Kingston in 2015 to pick up Sly and Robbie, Bongo Herman, Bopee and Bugzy and we spent ten days at Egrem Studios in Havana, where Buena Vista Social Club was recorded 20 years ago. Some of the very best of Cuba’s musicians came though the studio to sit on sessions, including members of Los Vana Van, Buena Vista, Havana Cultura, Afro-Cuban Allstars and more. It was an incredible ten days and the album is something really special.
These artists are getting on. What was it like being a young music producer working with people with this kind of experience and profile?
There are actually more than 60 musicians who perform on this record, from both Jamaica and Cuba, ranging in age from 18 to 80! I was careful to represent young talent from both islands, as well as elders such as Changuito and Barbarito from Havana, and Ernest Ranglin and Bongo Herman from Kingston. It may sound like a cliche but great music is timeless, ageless. I have the greatest respect for these musicians; they are musical father figures and it was a great honour to be able to work with them. In the studio, however, age and gender and nationality disappear; we just all became immersed in the music and experience.
What did they teach you?
Music is a universal language. And one of humanity’s greatest gifts to each other, and to the universe.
What did you teach them?
Australian slang! And maybe that it’s okay to bend the rules sometimes. The ten days at Egrem were a wonder to behold: more than a hundred musicians passing through, everyone so talented. We recorded many of the jams between sessions; there is a lot of gold there. We recorded more than two albums’ worth of brilliant material, and I’m already working on the second album.
Tell me about the Havana Meets Kingston Soundsystem Show with Randy Valentine, Solis and yourself. What will you be presenting?
A high-energy show that’s a new mix of Cuban and Jamaican sounds and styles. This will be the first time music from the project will be presented live. We have so much material to play!
What should we expect for your local show?
A high-energy show! Randy Valentine is on fire at the moment, quickly becoming one of the top reggae artists in the world. And Solis brings a unique sound and style directly from Havana. It’s rare we have Cuban musicians of this calibre touring in Australia. Bring your dancing shoes.
This will be an incredible show.
Havana Meets Kingston Soundsystem Show featuring Randy Valentine (JA) and Solis (CU)
Friday 27 October 2017 | Bangalow A&I Hall | Start time: 6.30pmTickets: $35 + BF presale, $40 on the door
Tickets available from: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/havana-meets-kingston-tickets-37030308650
This show is also featured at Island Vibe at Stradbroke Island over 26–29 October. Tix and program info on islandvibe.com.au.
