Alexander Acosta released his solo CD "Desafio" in November 2012 and has been touring this summer to promote the new CD. I caught up with him at a concert in Stockholm where he was collaborating with Yuly & Havana C, a band for which he was the first singer and also author of one of the songs on their first album. Alexander was born in Santa Clara and sang with bands such as Charanga Forever, Pupy y Los Que Son Son and Elito Revé y Su Charangón before going solo.

Here is a short interview with Alexander, including some video from the concert in Stockholm July 12, 2013, which was produced by Club Mambo an El Barrio. You can still catch Alexander during the summer tour season at the Latinossegor festival in Hossegor, France. I've been there and it's a beautiful location and a great festival so don't miss it! "Desafio" is available at iTunes and Amazon , as well as in hardcopy at the concerts. So take some extra cash!

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                                     photos by Tom Ehrlich-Yoshi's SF-2010

The master turns 71 today and is still cranking out the hits. No other figure (except Pupy) has managed to stay so consistently on the cutting edge with generation after generation of young audiences. For a trip down memory lane, check out our History of Van Van and our comprehensive Los Van Van Discography.

From the 2013 DVD "Van Van 40" by director Ian Padrón

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Septeto Santiaguero is back in Europe and their tour begins with a concert tomorrow in Nice, France at Festival Latino de A a Z. The list of confirmed concerts has been uploaded so look for a concert near you . The band's last CD, "Vamos pa' la fiesta", recently won at Cubadisco 2013 in the Traditional Tropical Music category. You can check out Bill's review here . Below is their excellent version of the classic Van Van hit "Qué le den candela".

Qué le den candela - Septeto Santiaguero

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The members of Interactivo during the filming of Interactivo La Película

If you are already familiar with Interactivo, just skip down to the trailer for the documentary below. If you are not yet familiar with Interactivo, allow me to take this opportunity to introduce you. Interactivo is best described as an open project or collective of young musicians under the direction of pianist Roberto Carcassés. They have released two CDs: “Goza Pepillo” (2005) winner of Cubadisco 2006 in the categories Opera Prima, Fusion and Gran Premio and “Cubanos por el mundo” (2010), the subject of a documentary by Cuban filmmaker Tané Martínez. 

Many of the names of musicians that have worked with Interactivo will be familiar to you, such as Roberto Carcassés, Yusa, Telmary, Rodney Barreto, Yaroldi Abreu, Carlos Rios, Raul Verdecia, Julito Padrón, Francis del Río, Oliver Valdés and, Melvis Santa among others. Whereas turnover of musicians is generally a negative thing for timba bands, which are better able to consolidate their sound when the same musicians have been working together for years, it has actually been a strength of Interactivo. The experimental, fusion nature of their music benefits from the constant flow of new ideas as older members leave to do their own projects and new members enter with their own unique influences and visions. Roberto describes their music as “timba funk”.  It really seems to be a fusion of whatever the bandmembers find interesting, building on the musical heritage of everything from  Afro-Cuban traditional music to timba to jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop.

Thanks to Facebook, I stumbled across a link to “Interactivo La Película”, which is available at Vimeo. The documentary is about the release concert for “Cubanos por el mundo” and follows the band from rehearsals through the final show, including interviews with key members as well as cameos by guest artists such as X Alfonso and Rodney Barreto. I contacted Tané Martínez and asked her how the documentary came about.

The project of making “INTERACTIVO La Película” arose when Roberto Carcasses saw my documentary TENGO (2008) on the NYC-based Cuban singer Xiomara Laugart. From there, Roberto proposed that I document the release of their 2nd album "Cubanos por el Mundo" and I immediately started working with them. The social presence that I found in the lyrics of the songs really caught my attention. I wanted to make a movie about Interactivo and the release of the album, but also as a filmmaker I wanted to tell a story of migration, freedom and Cuban music.
Tané Martinez

You can check out the trailer below. The full 70-minute documentary is found at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ilp/20517029

Note: the trailer is subtitled, but the full documentary is not.

Interactivo La Pelicula Teaser 1.40m from colorbox on Vimeo.

SYNOPSIS
Interactivo, is a Cuban band directed by Roberto Carcasses. The release of their 2nd CD, “Cubanos por el Mundo”, leads us to a deep analysis of migration, freedom and Cuban music. 

CAST
Roberto Carcassés, Melvis Santa, Julio Padrón, Francis del Río, Oliver Valdés + Interactivo. 

TECHNICAL DATA
HD 720, NTSC, Color, 70min
CUBA/USA 2011 

A Colorbox Productions Inc. Production
Director: Tanè Martìnez
Producer: Ivonne Cotorruelo
Script: Zulema Clares, Tanè Martìnez
Música: Roberto Carcassès & Interactivo
Director of Photography: Sveinung Bokn
Audio: Abel Calderòn
Editing: Tanè Martìnez
Post-production of Audio & Mixing: Rocio Garcia Pazos
Post-production of Images: Inti Martìnez
Still Photography: Denise Guerra
Graphic Design: Idania del Rìo

BIOGRAPHY
Tané Martínez (1981, Cuba) 
Director, Producer and Editor.
Studied “Performing Arts” at the Cuban National School of the Arts (ENA) and later studied "Film Direction” at the Training Center  of Cinematography of Mexico (CCC). 
Directed the fictional short  “Malos días mi amor” (2005) and the documentaries "Paquete Familiar" (2004), “Tengo lo que tenia que tener” (2008), “Interactivo La Película” (2011) and “Caminando Aragón” (2012). She is a partner and founder of Colorbox Productions Inc.

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