Cuban musician Juan Formell received the Doctor Honoris Causa of the Higher Art Institute for his contribution to the sound heritage of the island and a trajectory that follows the tradition and open to the new trends.
The investiture of the title was held at the Auditorio Amadeo Roldan theatre – for generations considered a temple of the classic music – and, therefore, it acquired a symbolic character by mixing the classic music with the popular music in a single aesthetic category, deleting fake borders.
Formell is the director of the orchestra Los Van Van that is becoming four decades of work this year. He started the celebration of the forty anniversary of his group since the end of 2008 with the recording of the CD Arrasando, which had the participation of his son and daughter Samuel and Vanessa, with his own pieces as well as tracks written by other authors, such as the Panamanian Ruben Blades. The album included new artists such as trumpet player Alexander Vargas and guitarist Elmer Ferrer, two great jazz musicians with Latin and Afro Cuban roots.
Since 1969, the orchestra is undefeated in the taste of the Cubans, whose identity they reflect with a deep rooted stile in the Cuban musical heritage, absorbing in a continued renovation, the rhythmic and expressive power of Los Van Van.
Translation: Rodney Lopez (Cubarte)
Source: PL/Cubarte
Author: World Music Central News Room
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