Luna is an adequate name for this Cuban singer who, in addition to enchanting with her music, is pure sensibility. Her vocal registry can dazzle like the most aphrodisiacal night of the summer solstice.
Some time ago we heard her singing the theme “Soledad” (Loneliness) from her most recent series Bajo el mismo sol (Under the Same Sun). But Luna Manzanares had already been for some time among the Island’s good musicians, who have shown her the value of the authentic Cuban genres and of foreign ones. Names like Inti Santana, Haydée Milanés, Michel Herrera and Abel Calderón are only some of those who have left a trace in her most intimate profession.
This young woman first appeared in the world of music with the mention won at the JOJAZZ Festival. To examine her repertoire is almost a rhythmic feast, since she combines jazz, trova, Brazilian and U.S. music – a melting pot that leads to the interpretation of classic Cuban songs with contemporary arrangements.
And although her mind is giving the final touches to a recording production – first one in her career –where she will sing pieces by Decemer Bueno and Raúl Paz, she does not rest. Right now she is quite involved with the music of the Liverpool boys, those four rock geniuses who broke every rhythmic thermometer, free of schemes or brakes.
Together with pianist Alejandro Falcón, Luna has created the project “The Spirit of The Beatles”, a space to recreate the always beloved jazz, plus soul, rhythm & blues and Cuban music through the influence of the English group in the world music scene.
The piano-voice duet has surrounded itself by a band of young, talented instrumentalists like guitar player Héctor Quintana, bassist Aniel Someillán and drummer Julio César Gispert. The show, conceived for all ages and genders, seeks to gain followers of the most current sounds, those that marked a generational milestone.
All this activity has an intention. This year we celebrate half a century of the first success of the Beatles, which put them in all hit parades as a world phenomenon. “Some time ago, Enrique Carvalleda, Alejandro Falcón and I set ourselves out to celebrate this anniversary, and we did it not just on their behalf but because of their far-reaching music”. So defines Manzanares the purpose of this new project.
Next Thursday, August 30, at 7:00 p.m., the doors of the Fine Arts Museum Theater (Cuban Collection building) will open to dream again with Beatle sound. It has been foreseen to record the concert for posterity in a CD. Something like a transition between the novel “Bajo el mismo sol” (Under the Same Sun) and Luna’s first CD.
So we see that moons also refract a glance that cannot be easily pushed sideways. This “debt with myself” – according to Luna – of making the younger ones share the taste for the Liverpool boys is not a whim: it’s the passion to defend the heritage of an unprecedented sonority.
Author
Ingrid González Fajardo
