By Gabriel Hernández

 

This concert, full of love and gratitude, is dedicated to that great being of strict goodness and sublime heart that I had the happiness and fortune to have as a father. 

 

Unquestionably he has been the mirror through which I have traveled the paths of life, influencing both my musical world and my personal life.

 

Fortunately, I was born into a family that comes from music, by father and mother. My father was my first teacher and he is the person I have always admired most musically. He was a specialist playing traditional Cuban music, which starts from the Contradanza, then the Danza for piano, the Danzón and the Son Montuno, and the Guaracha. Listening to him was exquisite. I grew up absorbing all this range of traditional Cuban genres that are played in a “sacred” way, and that he performed incredibly well.

 

Apart from some songs that I wrote inspired by him, I’m also going to play that type of repertoire: the real Cuban Danzones, the Contradanza for piano, the Danza, all the range of genres that have been mostly forgotten by many of the young people today.

 

The flute part is also going to be incredible because these danzones are played with a wooden flute that has only 5 keys, which is no longer in style. Maestro Ricardo Benítez, pillar of the Cuban flute and personal childhood friend, will be a special guest. 

 

Broadly speaking, the concert is about reviving that essence of traditional Cuban music as my father did it, with the values he always respected in that music.

 

We will present original themes and compositions, some of them of his preference and others that I wrote for him.

 

I will also share the stage with the extraordinary musicians Yaima Gutiérrez, Kimani Carrazana, Victor Monterrubio, and Rubén Olvera.

 

Gabriel Hernandez, Pianist.

 

Cuban pianist based in San Miguel de Allende

 

At an early age, he was named by the UNEAC as one of the Personalities of Cuban Art. He was also awarded the Best Orchestration Prize by the EGREM label.

 

He has participated in different jazz festivals around the world such as Montreal Jazz Fest, Danubio Jazz Fest, Israel Jazz Fest among others, and has held concerts in France, England, Poland, Spain, and at Blue Note USA.

 

He has played with world renowned artists such as Pablo Milanés, León Thomás, Roy Hargrove, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Buena Vista Social Club, Afrocuban All Stars, and Cubanismo, among others.

 

 

Ricardo Benitez, Flutist.

 

A native of Camagüey, Cuba, he studied at the National School of Arts in Camagüey. He was a flute teacher at the Vocational and Professional School of Arts. He also attended the Higher Institute of Art. He was concertmaster of the Camagüey Symphony Orchestra.

 

His discography is: Charanguero, Pa ‘Malanga, Danzoneando.

 

He was musical director for Susana Harp. He has participated in the Afro-Caribbean festivals in Veracruz, Festival Cumbre Tajín, and Festival Forum of Universal Cultures in Monterrey.