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Music, Politics, and the Liminality of the Havana Jazz Plaza Festival in the Obama Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2020

TIMOTHY STORHOFF
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Abstract

After the Obama administration (2009–17) began authorizing musical exchanges with Cuba in 2009, Havana's music festivals became a primary site for transnational interactions and a public face for US-Cuban engagement while politicians worked towards normalization in secret. This article uses field research from the Havana International Jazz Festival, interviews with festival participants, and media coverage to explore Cuban music festivals as politically liminal spaces where musical and political life commingled to reflect the changing US-Cuban relationship. While diverse lineups attracted international tourists, artists faced bureaucratic challenges to legally traverse the Florida Straits and create music in the context of intercultural dialogue. Despite these difficulties, Havana as a festival space encouraged musicians to defy genre conventions, explore cultural commonalities, and negotiate social differences on stage during the Havana Jazz Plaza Festival. These transnational interactions culminated in Arturo O'Farrill's album Cuba: The Conversation Continues, which was recorded by US and Cuban musicians in Havana during the 2014 jazz festival and is characteristic of festival exchanges in its representation of a more harmonious international relationship.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Society for American Music , Volume 14 , Special Issue 1: Music Festivals , February 2020 , pp. 70 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Music 2020

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References

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Storhoff, Tim. “Beyond the Blockade: An Ethnomusicological Study of the Policies and Aspirations for U.S.-Cuban Musical Interaction.” PhD diss., Florida State University, 2014.Google Scholar
Turner, Edith L. B. and Victor, Turner. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. 1978.Google Scholar
Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process. Chicago: Aldine, 1969.Google Scholar
Washburne, Christopher. “Latin Jazz, Afro-Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Cubop, Caribbean Jazz, Jazz Latin, or Just … Jazz: The Politics of Locating an Intercultural Music.” In Jazz/Not Jazz: The Music and its Boundaries, edited by Ake, David, Garrett, Charles, Goldmark, David, 89–107. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Summers, Deanna. “Cuba: Music Brings Us Together.” It's All Good with Sierra Scott. YouTube video, 27:01. August 25, 2013. https://youtu.be/oa2VZik1px8.Google Scholar
Lisa Hittle, interview with author, September 27, 2013.Google Scholar
Will Magid, interview with author, January 10, 2013.Google Scholar
Isaac Peña, interview with author, January 13, 2013.Google Scholar
The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 (Helms–Burton Act, Pub.L. 104–114, 110 Stat. 785, 22 U.S.C. §§ 6021–6091), 1996.Google Scholar
Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Comprehensive Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in Travel-Related Transactions Involving Cuba.” Washington, D.C.: US Department of the Treasury, September 30, 2004. https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Documents/cuba_tr_app.pdf.Google Scholar
Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Comprehensive Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in Travel-Related Transactions Involving Cuba.” Washington, D.C.: US Department of the Treasury, April 19, 2011. Internet Archive. Internet Archive Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20110423025620/http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_tr_app.pdf.Google Scholar
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Sullivan, Mark P. “Cuba: U.S. Restrictions on Travel and Remittances.” US Congressional Research Service. RL31139. Updated November 16, 2018. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL31139.pdf.Google Scholar
US Department of the Treasury. “Treasury, Commerce, and State Implement Changes to the Cuba Sanctions Rules.” November 8, 2017. https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_fact_sheet_11082017.pdf.Google Scholar
US Department of the Treasury. “Treasury and Commerce Implement Changes to Cuba Sanctions Rules.” Press Release, June 4, 2019. https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_fact_sheet_20190604.pdf.Google Scholar
US Interests Section Havana. “USINT Honors Jazz Luminary Arturo O'Farrill.” December 18, 2012. Internet Archive. https://web.archive.org/web/20130331015935/http://havana.usint.gov/arturo-reception.html.Google Scholar
The White House. “Fact Sheet—Reaching Out to the Cuban People.” Office of the Press Secretary. April 13, 2009. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/fact-sheet-reaching-out-cuban-people.Google Scholar
The White House. “President Obama Delivers a Statement on Cuba.” December 17, 2014. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/photos-and-video/video/2014/12/17/president-obama-delivers-statement-cuba.Google Scholar
Acosta, Leonardo. Cubano Be, Cubano Bop: One Hundred Years of Jazz in Cub. Translated by Daniel S. Whitesell. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2003.Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, Larry. “Rumba Interrupted: The Bush Administration Breaks Up the Long-Running Dance between American and Cuban Musicians.” Village Voice, January 18, 2005. http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-01-18/music/rumba-interrupted/.Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, Larry. “NYC Pianist Arturo O'Farrill Finds Himself in Cuba, and Brings His Father Home.” Village Voice, February 23, 2011. http://www.villagevoice.com/music/nyc-pianist-arturo-ofarrill-finds-himself-in-cuba-and-brings-his-father-home-6430123.Google Scholar
Cantor-Navas, Judy. “Chico O'Farrill to Be Laid to Rest in Cuba.” Billboard, November 11, 2016. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7573478/chico-ofarrill-cuba-funeral-jazz-pioneer.Google Scholar
Crandall, Russell. The United States and Latin America after the Cold War. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Du Graf, Lauren. “Visa Troubles Aside, Jazz Flows Freely at a Cuban Festival.” New York Times, January 24, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/arts/music/cuba-international-jazz-plaza-festival.html.Google Scholar
Dudley, Shannon. Music from Behind the Bridge: Steelband Spirit and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Fernandes, Sujatha. Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagedorn, Katherine. Divine Utterances: The Performance of Afro-Cuban Santería. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.Google Scholar
LeoGrande, William M., and Kornbluh, Peter. Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matos, Orlando, and Sesin, Carmen. “Despite US-Cuba Tensions, More Americans Attend Havana's Famed Jazz Festival.” NBC News, January 19, 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/despite-u-s-cuba-tensions-more-americans-attend-havana-s-n839246.Google Scholar
McAuliff, John. “How Long Must We Wait?” The Havana Note, June 22, 2011. Internet Archive Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20111126054327/http://thehavananote.com/2011/06/how_long_must_we_wait.Google Scholar
Moore, Robin. Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Picard, David, and Robinson, Mike. “Remaking Worlds: Festivals, Tourism and Change.” In Festivals, Tourism and Social Change: Remaking Worlds, edited by Picard, David and Robinson, Mike, 1–31. Tonawanda, NY: Cromwell Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Riedl, Matt. “All-Female Cuban Jazz Group Brings Unique Perspective to Friends Fest.” Wichita Eagle. February 16, 2017. https://www.kansas.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/keeper-of-the-plans/article133203229.html.Google Scholar
Scott, Ron. “Havana jazz festival swings with a cultural beat.” Open Sky Jazz, February 2, 2015. https://www.openskyjazz.com/2015/02/havana-jazz-festival-swings-with-a-cultural-beat/.Google Scholar
Sheridan, Mary Beth. “Obama Loosens Travel Restrictions to Cuba.” Washington Post, January 15, 2011. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/14/AR2011011406748.html.Google Scholar
Smith, Valene L. “Introduction.” In Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism. 2nd ed., edited by Smith, Valene L., 1–17. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Stoeltje, Beverly J. “Festival.” In Folklore, Cultural Performance, and Popular Entertainments, edited by Bauman, Richard, 261–71. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
Storhoff, Tim. “Beyond the Blockade: An Ethnomusicological Study of the Policies and Aspirations for U.S.-Cuban Musical Interaction.” PhD diss., Florida State University, 2014.Google Scholar
Turner, Edith L. B. and Victor, Turner. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. 1978.Google Scholar
Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process. Chicago: Aldine, 1969.Google Scholar
Washburne, Christopher. “Latin Jazz, Afro-Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Cubop, Caribbean Jazz, Jazz Latin, or Just … Jazz: The Politics of Locating an Intercultural Music.” In Jazz/Not Jazz: The Music and its Boundaries, edited by Ake, David, Garrett, Charles, Goldmark, David, 89–107. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Cuba: The Conversation Continues. Motéma Music MTA-CD-179, 2015, compact disc.Google Scholar
Machito. Afro-Cuban Jazz—The Music of Chico O'Farrill. Verve Records MGV 8073, 2005. Reissue of Clef MGC 689, 1951.Google Scholar
Summers, Deanna. “Cuba: Music Brings Us Together.” It's All Good with Sierra Scott. YouTube video, 27:01. August 25, 2013. https://youtu.be/oa2VZik1px8.Google Scholar