Bozemanites needn’t book an international flight to enjoy the Pearl of the Antilles. Enjoy a night of culturally rich music with CUBUSA who will host “An Evening in Havana ~ Montana” on Sunday, May 19th. The event will be held at the Baxter Hotel ballroom and begins with complimentary salsa lessons at 6:30pm. The performance will follow at 7:30pm.
Montana~Havana Bridge Project’s CUBUSA (Koo-Boo-Sa) is a growing intercultural writing and recording project between musicians living in Cuba and the United States. Participating musicians are dedicated to strengthening the bond and trust between the citizens of both nations through collaboration and co-creation of a new fusion of Cuban and American compositions, drawing from respective musical influences.
This grassroots project has grown to over 50 musicians representing both nations, and hopes to double in size by the end of this decade. Though the project already features many recognized and talented professional musicians supporting the effort, their goal is to build a wider audience, spanning a full range of genres and popular music through an international collaboration of artistry at the highest levels.
Since his first trip in 2011, founder Doug Wales has networked throughout Cuba with some of their finest musicians and artists. With the very fortunate relationships he has made within Cuba’s music and art community, Wales has been compelled to share the richness of this experience by leading the creation of this intercultural music collaboration to share with his community in Montana and throughout the USA and Cuba. He has been involved in all aspects of this project including percussion, song writer and video editor in addition to project production.
CUBUSA released their debut studio recording, Swapping Tracks, in 2021 as well as a number of follow-up singles including “Feeling Good” and “Ragga Matador.” The currently 53-member ensemble has been invited to perform at the annual Festival del Caribe in Santiago de Cuba this summer, which will serve as their first performance as a complete group. Alongside Wales, CUBUSA features a number of stellar local musicians including Paige Rasmussen, Kali Armstrong, Jake Fleming and John Roberts (of Pan Blanco), among others. The group also plans to produce a documentary highlighting the project and its efforts.
Advance tickets for ‘An Evening in Havana ~ Montana’ are $28 and available at www.cubusamusic.com. Event-goers will be admitted for $35 at the door as availability allows. Visit the host website to learn more about the project or to make a donation. •
