The 14th Guillermo Barreto in Memoriam Drum Festival kicked off in Havana with a night to dream and visit different musical genre. Musicians from Cuba and around the world gathered at Mella Theater to pay tribute to American researcher, Chuck Silverman, known by his contribution to Afro-Caribbean percussion rhythmic patterns und a friend of Cuba and defender of Cuban and dancing rhythms.

The opening night treated the audience with sample of “rumba” and “guaguancó” by the group Osaín del Monte, that cultivates Afro-Cuban, with guest battery player, Rodney Barreto, who has excelled as one of the island’s most important percussionists at present. The opening night also included the performance of the Crescent Band Project of the United States, made up of talented musicians under 20, who showed their mastery in the musical instruments they play.

Directed by maestro Caleb Chapman and joined by sax player, Jeff Coffin, and percussionist, Memo Acevedo, the band showed how important the drum is in classical and Latin jazz. The opening wound up with the performance of the Cuban band Afrocuba from western Matanzas and the group Yoruba Andabo, very well known by its version of the tune El necio by Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez.