ES / EN
- July 5, 2025 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
Home Culture

Rhythm Under the Skin

by
  • Tahimi Arboleya
    Tahimi Arboleya,
  • tahimi-arboleya
    tahimi-arboleya
August 5, 2018
in Culture
0
Francis del Río. Foto: David Garten.

Francis del Río. Photo: David Garten.

Photographer David Garten entered Cuban music together with Irakere. The first thing Garten heard in the late 1970s, when he was studying at New York University, was the mythical jazz band, and Cuban music became one of his passions. He started traveling to the island since 1994, and has accumulated a valuable register, some of his photos have been published in The New York Times, JazzTimes and OnCuba, as well as in ballet and contemporary dance books.

His photos have been the cover of records for Chucho Valdés (Irakere’s director), Los Van Van and Síntesis. He works in New York for Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, he has also illustrated two of the Cuban-American musician’s covers for three Grammy Award winning records.

“Rhythm Under the Skin” shows the Cuban passion for music. Eleven portraits of Cuban musicians playing live which provoke the senses, almost to the point of being able to hear them and feel their passion.

Why do you have a passion for Cuban music?

First you have to start with the rhythm, or the clave, which I believe belongs to the periodic table of elements, or the guaguancó, or the Batá drums, or the timba’s “mechanisms,” they make me feel very alive. Ever since I discovered it 40 years ago while I was at university, I thought that the percussionists deserve the Nobel Peace Prize because they are true pioneers.

Second, I believe that the synthesis of Africa and Spain has resulted in a very powerful hybrid that unites us to our universal roots.

Related Posts

Camila Rodhe. Photo: Taken from her Instagram profile.

Camila Rodhe: “My art has saved me many times”

July 3, 2025
Cuban saxophonist and composer César López. Photo: Taken from his Instagram profile.

A sanctuary for jazz in Cuba: César López’s dream

July 2, 2025
Cuban saxophonist and composer César López. Photo: Taken from his Instagram profile.

A sanctuary for jazz in Cuba: César López’s dream

June 29, 2025
Issac Delgado. Photo: Lied Lorain.

Issac Delgado: “Music only betrays you when you don’t believe in what you’re doing.”

June 17, 2025

And third, I love the omnipotence of daily live Cuban music, which exhibits a very healthy culture.

What do you take with you every time you travel to Cuba?

Above all I bring back inspiration. The times I’ve been in Cuba have given me a language, a culture, and people I didn’t have before. I find it is the antidote to many of U.S. society’s problems. If I contribute something, perhaps it is the link I offer between the people of Cuba and the people of my country when I make expositions and give lectures about Cuba in the United States. I try to pass on a present information about our neighbors with whom we lack so much contact.

  • Tahimi Arboleya
    Tahimi Arboleya,
  • tahimi-arboleya
    tahimi-arboleya
Tags: Chucho Valdéscuban musiccuban photographyDavid GartenDaymee ArocenaIbeyiphotography
Previous Post

A Different PaZillo

Next Post

Billboard: Retazos on stage

Tahimi Arboleya

Tahimi Arboleya

Licenciada en Microbiología, Universidad de La Habana. Master en Comunicación. Directora Editorial de OnCuba.

tahimi-arboleya

tahimi-arboleya

Next Post

Billboard: Retazos on stage

Photo: Claudio Pelaez Sordo.

ETECSA starts pilot test for internet on cell phones

Billboard: Summer in Acosta style

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

  • Flags of Cuba and the United States, seen in perspective in Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

    Trump reinstates hard-line Cuba embargo as Havana condemns US measure as “criminal”

    18 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 5
  • CIA documents revealing attempts to assassinate Fidel and Raúl Castro declassified

    48 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12
  • The Enchanted Shrimp of the Cuban Dance

    3057 shares
    Share 1223 Tweet 764
  • A sanctuary for jazz in Cuba: César López’s dream

    8 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • A visit to what we were

    8 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2

Most Commented

  • Photo: Kaloian.

    Private sector and tourism in Cuba. Why not?

    10 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}