• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 09 / 07 / 2010

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The most authentic Cuban and Caribbean rhythms (son, changui, chachacha, rumba and others), interpreted with an enriching, very contemporary sound, as it is produced by the group To’Mezclao, received the welcome of thousands of British people who came to the nine concerts offered by this group in different cities from the United Kingdom, including the most important festivals from this summer.

This success is not casual. It is sustained in the freshness and mastery on the piano by Yusi González; the versatility in the guitars (electric, electro-acoustic and tres) by Julio Montoro (also making the arrangements); the distinctive touch by Yona González in the flute, saxophone and every small percussion; the support of a well used percussion set (drum, timbale, bongo, tambora, for the meringue) by Yan Regueiro and the peculiar voices by Yoandri Castro “el Conejo” and Luis Alberto Vicet “la Crema”.

Its general director, DJ and composer, Lyng Chang, points out that To’Mezclao has opened up its own space in very demanding stages such as the British one “because we have demonstrated that in order to make authentic, fresh, rhythmic and catchy music, we do not have to use banality in the lyrics or unfortunate musical genres. We simply move to the best roots of a great variety of musical styles in Cuba and other parts of the Latin Diaspora, which we combine with the influences of contemporary western world.”

For Lyng “the strength of To’Mezclao lies in the authenticity, energy and freshness of its arrangements, increased by the timbre wealth of its interpretation, which never loses sight of the Cuban roots of the band, despite the fact that it comes out with a pop sensitivity that maintains the catchy and powerfulways without being a routine.”

“For us the most important formula is to preserve the autochthonous aspects of music of our Caribbean country. Aiming for that we have taken to our musical proposals the cadence and tumbao of the Cuban eastern region –whether with tres or with the piano, following the style of Pachy Naranjo, from Manzanillo,-to a more modern and contemporary rhythm, which may be understandable, as it is the case of many other international genres (merengue, soca, ballenato, etc...).”

“That is what we want –said Lyng- to do with Cuban music, but a step forward, with a touch of modernity, directed specially towards young people, but preserving our national roots, because there is the true success of the catchy Cuban rhythms, which identify us since last century all over the planet.”

He explained that they used this visit to London to present their most recent album production called Hibrig, which contains 12 themes under the label Tumi Music, a recording company with more than 20 years of recording experience in Cuba, who has promoted on an international level the best musicians from our Caribbean nation, among them professor Chucho Valdes, Celina Gonzalez, Jovenes Clasicos del Son and Juego de Manos.

Lyng Chang expressed that the English market is very strict. “Some visiting artists have been able to perform just in small stages, because in their great festivals they do not open their doors easily to singers from other parts of the world, and this time we received the high honor to be able to perform there in such important festivals such as the one from Liverpool, and that is very important not just for us but also for other Cuban musicians who play this sort of fusion.”

After the successful results of their international tour, To’Mezclao says goodbye now to the summer with performances for the Cuban youth in different regions of the country, among them the cities of Las Tunas, Bayamo, Holguin and Manzanillo, where they will animate their popular festivities.

By Amado de la Rosa Labrada

Cubarte Translation Staff