There is no musician in Cuba today who is under more pressure than Samuelito Formell…. The reasons are obvious: on top of leading the future of the band Los Van Van, it is his responsibility to oversee the stability of a symbol and the survival of a legend. So this reporter approached him to bring our readers up to date about the celebrated band. Samuelito…what do you think was the greatest lesson that you learned from your father for the day when you would be leading Los Van Van? The greatest lesson was watching him, from the time I was a child, setting up numbers, directing the albums, composing at home, arranging…. From a very young age, I loved the music that my father made. I studied music and chose percussion, and then I was always following Changuito…. I think that was the greatest lesson, the natural one, the one that influenced me, that has stayed with me all of my life. After he decided that I should lead the band, it was also about being with him all the time, and him giving me the opportunity to watch him direct the production of so many albums, not just of...

In 1969, Juan Formell founded the band Los Van Van, thus procuring the space that he needed for innovations that he had begun years earlier, and which had drawn attention during his time with the band Orquesta Revé. The 1960s brought the 20th century’s biggest change to music and, of course, to society. This was also the case in Cuba, where changes came as the culmination of an epic struggle that changed our reality. However, the worldwide repercussions of rock, pop and other types of music that gained the broadest audiences during that time, especially among young people, also brought uncertainty and questioning to Cuba regarding the issue of identity. Juan’s accomplishment was to find the road to being both modern and Cuban, a formula that he followed throughout his career and that guaranteed his greatest triumph with his band, Los Van Van. Right at the start, he achieved changes to the instrumental format and established a model for constant renovation of the charanga-type music band, which was his starting point; electronic instruments replaced acoustic ones, bringing greater richness of timbre, and trombones were included subsequently to ensure intensified medium tones. But more significant was what he did with all...