Jauretsi

On the heels of President Obama announcing a reconciliation effort with Cuba’s president Raul Castro, one of the first phonecalls I received after that Dec 2014 announcement was from recording artist, Questlove. His mission was to be one of the first American artists to enter Cuba under the new easing of restrictions under Obama… and so began our planning for a March 2015 visit, where Questlove donated his time and money with the mission of “bringing music to the people”.

Questlove’s 3 day itinerary included two nights of DJ’ing in Havana’s hotspot, La Fabrica de Arte Cubana. In addition to spinning, we made good use of his time in Havana, engaging in extensive cultural research both by digging up some classic Cuban vinyl and visiting the legendary EGREM studios, where most–if not all–of the classic sessions on those records were actually recorded — think Irakare to Los Van Van. Egrem is sort of the Motown of Cuba, producing decades of legendary albums, including the world famous Buena Vista Social Club. Questlove visited the studio to soak in the old spirits.

Credits:

Directors: Jauretsi & Daniel Petruzzi Cinematographer: Hector David Rosales Sound Technician: Adrian Garcia Editor: Jake Remingon Executive Producers: Dawn White & Daniel Petruzzi Produced by: Okayplayer, You and Me Inc. Havana 3am (formerly The New Cuba), and Edgaro Productor n Jefe. All Music Courtesy of: Edgaro Productor n Jefe & Maria Bacardi, MB Records

Short film originally published for OkayPlayer – Link here