Alexander Abreu Viene a Sofocarte
con Havana D'Primera

The long-awaited Swedish debut of Havana D'Primera took place in Stockholm on March 25th, 2010 courtesy of SELAM. It was held at Kägelbanan which is one of three stages that are part of Södra Teatern. The venue is long and slim with the main stage on one end and the bar and a smaller stage at the other. Before the show a salsa class was held by Stockholm Salsa Dance in the bar and attended by what appeared to be a group of people who regularly frequent the world music events held by Södra Teatern. After the class DJ Soto-Mayor and DJ N'Rike kept the audience dancing until the concert began at 9:00pm.

I know that it is not really possible to convey in words the feeling a concert by Havana D'Primera gives you. I would have to compare it to a state of ecstacy. I can't even tell you what it is about this band that differs from others, but there is some special connection that Alexander makes with his audience that I haven't experienced with any other band, and I've pretty much seen them all. That said, I will still do my best to give you all a sense of the concert, knowing that if you've seen them no explanantion is necessary and if you haven't, no explanantion can really do them justice.

The concerts always begin with "Resumen de los 90", with the metales first and Alexander entering when the first guía begins. Just as on the CD this song is  a great opener because it's fast and hard-hitting and gets your adrenalin pumping. Alexander said that each time he goes on stage he gives all his energy as if it were his last performance, because the fans and the music deserve this. Maybe that is what makes his concerts so special.

They followed the song order from the CD with "Ahora que buscas" as the second song. Of all the concerts I've filmed this must be the shakiest video yet, because I really couldn't stop myself from dancing and singing along the whole time. To set up a new coro Alexander started by explaining his philosophy about women. He said "women are roses, women are  the emissaries of God on earth, women are peace, women are light, women are poetry, women are song...men give an applause for the women. But you know something, when they are bad..." into the new coro Mami no sueñes con aviónes que tu permiso de salir ya se venció followed by his first trumpet solo of the evening.

Qué buscas

The only new song this evening was "El palo más duro", which Alexander always takes time to explain was written at the request of a religious person who wrote to him about 1 year ago. The song moves from a guaguancó intro to a soft cuerpo back into a rumba percussion break and then gets duro with the first coro with the religious refrain awé son awé tú vez, es la pura realidad and followed by the catchy el palo más duro del monte soy yo. During the bomba Uyuni performed a very nice trumpet solo. The muele was Alexander setting up the next coro by saying that the band has been together for two years and that there are always those who like it and those who it hurts  Entonces a quien le duele... cuál es tu problema, cuál es tu dolor, con lo mio no, yo soy palo vencedor.

As if the palo más duro wasn't duro enough, Alexander hit us with "Las cosas de un amigo", famous for being the song with the arrangement that nearly caused Kevin to crash his car the first time he heard it. This time it was Yuniesky's turn to play a trumpet solo. One thing that fans may not  know about Alexander is that he is quite a good dancer. He can dance casino, rumba and despelote. On stage he does a little of each and plenty of meneando during the bomba. It's not Charanga Habanera but it's real and sabroso and it's another part of what makes sharing the concert experience just a little more fun. Alexander is clearly enjoyng the music both as a musician and as a bailador.

"Mi música" has quickly become a new anthem of Cuban music. This is the song that really started Alexander's singing career, and it is perfect example of the brilliant lyrics that are his sello. The cuerpo is beautifully melodic with a heartfelt expression of what Alexander aims for with his music while the coros and guías give a clear sense of his pride in Cuban music but also his  disappointment that Cuban musicians and music are not always treated with the respect they deserve. The song is even more poignant when he sings to his grandfather whom he credits for starting him down the road that has taken him into the hearts of timba fans around the world.

In concert "Mi música" has three solos: trombone, piano and percussion. Here is a little clip showing bits and pieces of the song as performed this night with Tony Rodríguez on piano solo and Keisel Jiménez on the timba solo.

Mi música collage

"Cuando el rio suena" is one of my top favorites from "Haciendo Historia". I like that little soft jazzy intro, the cuerpo which is so well-suited to dancing a nice son, the montuno where the gears kick in, and as always I love the lyrics. Alexander always starts this song with a long trumpet solo, that is different from show to show. The seamless transtion from the solo to the song intro is a thing of beauty.

The video here is again just sections of the song which was 22 minutes long, and I cut down to just over 11 minutes The live version has several coros that aren't on the CD but I couldn't include them all. I also decided to leave out Napoles guitar solo because the audio from where I was standing was mostly from the monitors and the guitar solo didn't come through too well in my video. It's a shame because it was a hot solo! But I did include the coro tengo una noticia que darte pa' que camina la Habana entera, vengo a sofocarte con Havana D'Primera. If you watch closely you can see at some of the guys from Calle Real and La Tremenda enjoying the song from the audience and you can hear how we fans all sang along in our best desafinación. The relationship with the audience is really at the center of Alexander's concerts.

Cuando el rio suena

It must sound pretty repetative to keep saying "one of my favorite songs", but for me "Haciendo Historia" was the best CD of 2009, so of course I love all the songs. "Después de un beso" is special though since it's a son montuno and it's just such a cute and fun song about a guy whose attempts at winning a girl's heart are being hampered by her friend who doesn't approve of him. It makes a nice break in all the hardcore timba, although you know they still throw in a touch of bomba for the despeloteras.

After "Después de un beso" the audience started shouting "otra, otra!" and Alexander said "Voy pa'llá con fuerza!" and set a really fast pace for the already fast-paced song "Oni oni". It leaves you breathless. The encore was "Historia verdadera" another of the fast tropical mix songs from the album.

I think it is worth noting that the audience was more than 50% Swedish. For people who think that you have to be Cuban to "get" timba, just look at the audience in the little glimpses from the video clips. And the Swedish musicians were out in force with members froma Calle Real, La Tremenda,  La Liga Habanera, La Jugada, and Yanesito from Soneros All Stars. All in all Havana D'Primera concerts are charaterised by humanity, warmth, love and sincerity. As Alexander sings tengo una noticia que darte, pa'que camina La Habana entera, vengo a sofocarte con Havana D'Primera. Those are true words. If you haven't seen them yet, please do yourself a favor and make a point of finding them on their next tour.