Direct from Havana, for the first time in Brisbane, Cuban super-group Los Van Van will bring the music that has created legions of fans throughout the world to QPAC´s Concert Hall stage.

Known as the The Rolling Stones of Latin Music, the 17-piece Los Van Van orchestra will be joined by special guest dancer Eric Turro Martinez, (choreographer and soloist - Bar at Buena Vista & Buena Vista Social Club), Brisbane´s own 11 piece Afro – Cuban Salsa sensation, Chukale and DJ Cubanito.au.

Formed just 10-years after 1959, Los Van Van has remained the biggest name in the history of Cuban dance bands ever since. At the vanguard of Cuba´s music scene, Los Van Van has kept the people of the Caribbean nation dancing for 36 years with an infectious musical message capable of encouraging and inspiring everyone and anyone through good times and bad.

Under the direction of founder and bassist Juan Formell, affectionately known in Cuba as ‘Saint Juan´, Los Van Van revolutionized dance music. Genre-blending Cuban son and rumba with rock - funk, hip hop, jazz, disco, merengue and salsa, the Van Van sound came to be known as songo (based on the songo rhythm), which laid the base for the later development of Timba.

Unlike the Ry Cooder/Nick Gold led project, the Buena Vista Social Club, which gave long overdue respect to a group of ‘old guard´ performers of classic Cuban repertoire, Los Van Van have been a constant evolving presence on the cultural scene since their formation in 1969. Los Van Van is a band that has lived with the people of the island providing each person with a soundtrack to their lives.

Outside Cuba, whole generations of musicians and music fans venerate Formell´s group for the originality of its approach, the power of its music and its contribution to the evolution of the salsa idiom.

Los Van Van have produced over 30 albums including five of the most important Timba albums of all time - featuring the anthems, Esto Te Pone La Cabeza Mala and Sandungera. Los Van Van picked up a Grammy in 2000 for Best Salsa Album for Llego Van Van adding to this irrepressible Cuban super-group´s glowing – and lengthy - legacy.