Birmingham jazz band prepares for Cuban festival performance
Havana Jazz Festival was founded in 1979 by Cuban musicians and featured more than 100 performances last year.Grammy award-winner and organiser of the event Chucho Valdés described the vibe of the music at the event as "if it ain't got that swing, it ain't Havana".
Luxmoore will be returning to Havana after more than two decades and said she could not wait to connect with other musicians."That's the joy and excitement in it, it means potential new collaborations and it will take us down an interesting road," she said.The festival means the band can "connect globally with others through music", Luxmoore added, which was a "fantastic feeling".Babalola said that travelling to Cuba would give the band an opportunity to see people who "live the same lifestyle using the same music".
The band received funding from charitable funder PRS Foundation for the trip but did not secure enough for Marsh to attend. He said that while it was disappointing, he would be cheering them on from Birmingham."I'm really wishing them all the best for this festival, it's so exciting, the opportunities this will give the band is unmatched," he said.The band has set up a JustGiving page to raise funds to cover accommodation and transport.
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