Alexander Abreu & Havana D’Primera

Alexander Abreu & Havana D’Primera is Cuba's most popular salsa orchestra, and the band will perform in Oslo this late summer, specifically on August 16, to sway the audience with Latin rhythms!

The 16-piece band, founded by trumpeter Alexander Abreu, consists of Cuba's foremost musicians who play timba, the contemporary salsa music of Cuba. Abreu, who is also a vocalist, is known for his sophisticated and melodic voice, and the musicians play melodies that fuse salsa, jazz, RnB, funk, and Afro-Cuban folklore.

"Alexander Abreu and his musicians never forget their roots" - Havana Music School

Passaporte is one of the band's most popular albums, which portrays typical everyday life in Cuba. The album gained international recognition when it was named "Best Latin Albums of The Year" by National Public Radio in USA and "10 Best Latin Music Albums of the Time" by the Los Angeles Times.

Alexander Abreu, who is both songwriter and orchestrates the band's music, has stated the following about songwriting to the newspaper Prensa Latina: "Writing songs that create identity is complex, and not something one learns overnight. It's something that comes from the heart. It's a deep love for Cuba, the country I was born in and where I will die."

GLOBAL A GO-GO has written about Passaporte: "The band plays like the best jazz musicians, without forgetting that during each song, they must get the dancers moving. This is dance music at its most sophisticated, the way jazz music might have evolved had it not ended up as sit-down-and-listen music. Excellent!"

Since its founding in 2007, Havana D’Primera has released 6 studio albums and a live album. Their latest release is Pueblo Grifo from 2023, which is about Abreu's upbringing in the province of Cienfuegos. Highly danceable, with surprising rhythms like rumba and urban music references, and last, but not least: The very best of Cuban dance music!

Line up:

Alexander Abreu – Band leader and vocals
Amaury Pérez – trombone and chorus
Yoandy Argudín – trombone
Uyuni Martínez – trumpet
Lázaro González – trumpet
José Luis Hernández – saxophone
Yusef Díaz – keyboard
Raúl Gil – bass
Enrique Pérez – chorus
Bernardo Rodríguez – piano
Luis Miguel Sanchez – keyboard, chorus
Guillermo del Toro – percussion
Camilo Bonne – percussion
José Julián Morejón – percussion
Yasser Mejías – guiro
Bruno Nápoles – guitar

The concert is part of Oslo Jazz Festival
The concert is in cooperation with Radio Latin-Amerika