By Daimarelys Pérez
In an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina, musician Arturo Soto Martínez (Tata Güines Jr.), son of the maestro, declared that rumba encompasses all genres and is at the forefront of all variants.
It is not that our rumba has or is against genres and styles, on the contrary, it is used in all current trends such as son and jazz; It is like a guide to what is currently happening, he said.
The purest rumba is in today’s events and an example of this is all the festivals, throughout the world, not just in Cuba, he emphasized.
Saying that word here means someone immediately taking out their handkerchief, shaking it in the air, playing with a cajon and that’s it, the rumba was formed, the musician commented, a little jokingly, but seriously, when referring to this event and, in particular, to his dad.
Tata Güines Jr. stated that rumba in Cuba and the Caribbean is very well identified.
In fact, at the end of the press conference, organized to announce the contest, the members of his group came out and began to play the drums and sing, he noted.
This is proof that Cuban rhythms, especially rumba (Intangible Heritage of Humanity/2016), can be heard in every square meter.
Not by chance, he added, when out of nowhere someone picks up an object simulating the Cuban clave, another makes a second voice or starts playing a can or whatever, it is said: “the rumba was formed,” and that happens in the street, in a citadel, why? Because we are in Cuba and because it is a rhythm born here and carried in the blood, he considered.
From June 26 to 30, the event will take place that, like every year, pays tribute to the legacy of the percussion master Tata Güines, as well as to all rumberos.
The Jardines del Mella, an emblematic space in Havana’s Vedado, will be the headquarters of this international festival, now a regular venue for rumba, but there are also the Paseo del Prado, the Cuba Pavilion and the Callejón de Hamel.
Tata Güines Jr. assured this media outlet that his group defends, and will always do so, his father’s legacy.
What is now in my group is only what my old man created, fighting for the traditional, maintaining in the youth that teaching of the most indigenous, our roots, he indicated.
We would like the new generations to hear the rumba, that is, those who feel it; There are very strong schools for children and several children’s rumba projects there, he added.
I think he is in very good physical and emotional condition, gender, to use a metaphor, suits him well, he concluded.
During the festival’s duration, the public will also be able to enjoy performances by the Riverside orchestra, Los Tatagüinitos, founded in 1964 by the Cuban maestro, and a team of repentistas children.
The closing ceremony will be led by Obiní Batá, the first group of women in Cuba, and probably in the world, who play Batá drums professionally.
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