Listen to tunes from Cuba at concert in South Mumbai

Gianluca Liberatore

We have heard a lot of gigs being played in Mumbai, but never before have we come across one that is dedicated entirely to Cuban music. It's a sound that's as rare in this city as we assume Indian ragas would be in Havana. But now, a concert at a SoBo venue promises to introduce the audience to songs from the Latin American nation.

Julia Werner

The five-piece act that will be performing it consists entirely of teachers at a music school in Lower Parel. They are vocalist Julia Werner, pianist Christos Yerolatsitis, percussionist Saurav Ghosh, drummer Aron Nyiro, and Gianluca Liberatore on upright bass. But what does Cuban music entail? We ask Liberatore and he tells us, "It's a really interesting mix of certain Afro-Caribbean and South American rhythms. We will play some music from the repertoire of the Buena Vista Social Club [an ensemble that was set up in 1996 to revive music from Cuba]. But apart from some contemporary Cuban artistes, we will also look at other traditional songs."

He continues, "The dialogue between drums and percussions is essential to the music from the country, and Saurav will thus be playing the güiro, conga and shakers, and maybe even timbales, with Christos and I adding the strings section."

Liberatore adds that the reason behind this concert is the fact that Cuban music is hard to find in Mumbai. "We all share a passion for world music. In fact, in a few more weeks, we will play a concert which has the same concept, except that the music will be Brazilian," he reveals, indicating that when it comes to the SoBo venue where the gig will be held, South America is the flavour of the season.

On: February 3, 9 pm
At: The Quarter, Girgaum
Call: 8329110638
Entry: '999

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, current affairs from Mumbai, local news, crime news and breaking headlines here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go