Los Van Van return to the United States

Published December 29, 2009 12:12 PM

By Suzanne Kayian / LiveDaily Contributor

Cuba's Grammy-winning band Los Van Van will end a long absence from the United States with a Jan. 28 concert in Key West, FL, according to a Reuters report. The innovative salsa band will be welcomed to the country under new, relaxed Visa restrictions that are the result of a quiet resumption of Cuban cultural exchanges under the current US presidential administration.

Los Van Van driving force, band leader and bassist Juan Formell, told Reuters he hopes the appearance will exorcise memories of one of the group's last US appearances—a 1999 Miami gig during which anti-riot police were forced to keep angry Cuban exile protesters from harassing concert-goers.

Formell said the historic hostility against artists from the Communist-run island has eased in the US, specifically in Miami, the center of the Cuban exile community in the United States.

"Miami has changed a lot ... there is a new, younger generation that thinks differently," Formell told Reuters. "I was in Miami recently and nobody treated me poorly. On the contrary, people wanted to have pictures taken with me, they asked for autographs."

Los Van Van, often called the "Rolling Stones of salsa" reportedly will launch a full-scale, 70-date US Concert tour in April.

In related news, a new documentary film celebrating Los Van Van's 40th anniversary recently was released by film director Ian Padron. The film, "Eso que anda" ("The thing that moves"), follows the band performing across Cuba under the guidance of Formell.

Despite Formell's dedication, the 67-year-old band leader, who suffers from diabetes, is gradually stepping back from Los Van Van; his son Samuel is now leading a new batch of musicians as the current musical director of the band.

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JG: I was fortunate to attend a Los Van Van concert in Portland, Oregon. They brought down the house with their happy and mesmerizing beat. It was a huge success, and the applauding public did not have to deal with any of the idiocies of the anti-Cuba Miami fanatics.