By Liz Braun,
Toronto Sun. Friday, May
11, 2001
Music as a universal language is the heart and soul of Spirits Of Havana,
a documentary about Canadian musicians in Cuba.
Jazz giants Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer -- it's a marital and musical
partnership -- are frequent travellers to Cuba. In Spirits Of Havana, they
travel the country, followed by the camera as they look up old friends and make
new ones in the world of music. Bunnett hauls her instruments around to play
music with the locals everywhere from town squares and someone's kitchen to the
recording studio.
Along the way, Bunnett and Cramer capture the essence of complex Cuban
music, which is a mixture of various elements. Tata Guines, a well-known conga
maestro in his country, talks about playing music from age six onward. "The
teachers were the street corners, where everything passes by. Because then, what
black person went to school?"
Spirits Of Havana starts off in a laid-back fashion, much of it carried on
Bunnett's warmth and personality. But then it sort of sneaks up on you, moving
from interesting to totally engrossing courtesy of the music, the people, the
landscape.
There are, the documentary explains, some 25 conservatories in Cuba today,
though the kids studying music do not have ideal conditions. In one school, 14
students share a single flute.
Bunnett and Cramer, as part of their regular visits to Cuba, are joined by
Canadians Peter Noy and Courtney Westcott in the Spirits of Music program -- a
program that sees Noy and Westcott bringing donated instruments to Cuban
students from Canadians. The duo also goes on site at schools to repair
instruments while Bunnett and Cramer teach.
There are several musical outfits in Cuba that have existed so long that
children and grandchildren of the original members are now making music. Los
Munequitos de Matanzas, featured in Spirits Of Havana, is one of them; Bunnett
et al also encounter Los Naranjos and such musicians as Guillermo Rubalcaba,
Pancho Quinto and singer Bobby Carcasses. Our personal fave in the movie was
Desandann, an a cappella choir that sings mournful and magnificent songs in
Haitian Creole.
Spirits Of Havana is an eye-opener with regard to the music of Cuba and the
country itself. How the general populace embraces music is frankly thrilling to
look at. We reckon the film should be required viewing for music students,
especially those who balk at lessons.
SPIRIT OF HAVANA
Time: One hour, 34 minutes
Rated: G
Directors Bey Weyman,
Luis O. Garcia
Stars:
Jane Bunnett, Larry Cramer
'Sneaks up on you'
Sun Rating: 3 1/2 out
of 5
Copyright © 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership. All
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