Mezcla is a music group from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Mezcla

Mezcla has been a part of the

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban mu ...

scene for the past twenty-five years. Mezcla was featured in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's documentary on

Latin Jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, whic ...

''La Combinacion Perfecta''. The band has participated in festivals throughout Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. At the jazz club La Zorra y el Cuervo, they have performed with musicians who are visiting for the Havana Jazz Festival. These musicians include

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

, Felipe Cabrera,

Steve Coleman Steve Coleman (born September 20, 1956) is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader and music theorist. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow. Early life Steve Coleman was born and grew up in South Side, Chicago. He started playing al ...

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

Giovanni Hidalgo Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" (born November 22, 1963) is a Latin jazz percussionist. Early years Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary education. His grandfather was a musician, and his father, José ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

, Dafnis Prieto, Orlando Sanchez, Yosvany Terry, and

Chucho Valdés Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho Valdés (born October 9, 1941), is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he fo ...

. A review at ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' said that the band's album ''I'll See You in Cuba'' combines jazz, blues, soul into a celebration of Cuban song and dance.

Pablo "Mezcla" Menéndez

Born in Oakland, California, guitarist Pablo "Mezcla" Menéndez is the son of blues and jazz singer

Barbara Dane Barbara Dane (born Barbara Jean Spillman; May 12, 1927) is an American folk, blues, and jazz singer, guitarist, record producer, and political activist. She co-founded Paredon Records with Irwin Silber. "Bessie Smith in stereo," wrote jazz cri ...

. As a resident of Cuba since 1966, he has worked with the Nueva Trova movement (

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his int ...

and

Pablo Milanés Pablo Milanés Arias (24 February 1943 – 22 November 2022) was a Cuban guitar player and singer. He was one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. His music, originating in the Trova, Son and o ...

), the jazz world (

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963) is an Afro-Cuban jazz pianist and composer. Early life Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The ...

), and Afro-rock group Síntesis (with Carlos and Ele Alfonso). He founded Mezcla in 1989. When Mezcla's visas were denied in 1993, U.S. public opinion and some members of Congress protested. Among the protesters was guitarist

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

, who stated in an interview with the ''San Francisco Examiner'' that Mezcla was his favorite band from Cuba. In 1999 he wrote two songs with

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

as part of the Bridge to Havana songwriting workshop. At the end of the week a concert was performed in which Menéndez performed the song "Cuba's Way Too Cool" with Raitt, actor

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

, and guitarist Rey Guerra. In 2005 Menéndez released a solo album, ''Havana Blues Mambo''. He has led a Cuban All Star band at venues in the U.S. In January 2009 he was invited to perform with

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

and

John Stowell John F. Stowell (born July 30, 1950) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, author, and lecturer. Biography Stowell, who plays electric and acoustic guitar, was born in New York and raised in Connecticut. He had private studies with Linc ...

at the Jazz Guitar Summit in Olympia, Washington.

Discography

* ''Somos Hijos De La Mezcla'' (Egrem) * ''Fronteras De Sueños'' (Intuition) * ''Cantos: Lázaro Ros Con Mezcla'' (Intuition) * ''Rocason!'' (1997) * ''Las Puertas Estan Abiertas'' (1999) * ''Akimba!'' (Khaeon, 2002) * ''Havana Blues Mambo'' (Zoho, 2005) * ''I'll See You in CUBA'' (Zoho, 2010) * ''Pure Mezcla'' (Tilford Productions, 2014)

References

External links

*
"Pablo Menendez: Our Cat in Havana" by Mike Zwerin, ''The International Herald Tribune'', 2002

* ttp://www.havanatimes.org/?p=13439 "Pablo Menendez and Mezcla Jams" by Irina Echarry, ''Havana Times'', 2009 {{Authority control Cuban musical groups