Grammy-winning saxophonist Ted Nash to perform in Cuba
2023.01.25 12:11
Grammy-winning saxophonist Ted Nash to perform in Cuba
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Ted Nash, a jazz saxophonist and composer from the United States who has won a Grammy, went to Cuba this week to perform with other musicians from the Caribbean island nation as part of a week-long jazz celebration in Havana, the capital of Cuba.
One of the most well-known contemporary jazz artists in the United States, Nash, will lead a project called Jazz X. He and several Cuban musicians will create new works that are inspired by visual art in Cuba’s National Museum of Fine Arts and then show them to the public in multiple sessions.
Nash will perform alongside well-known Cuban musicians Arnulfo Guerra, Ruy López Nussa, and Alejandro Falcón.
According to Nash, the project fuses creativity across cultures and mediums by bringing together artists from both countries and musicians.
Nash stated:
“For me, the present is the best time to talk about collaboration.”
The project, according to Nash, is not political, but any collaboration between Americans and Cubans, neighbors who have been at odds since Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, raises questions.
The majority of travel and official collaboration between the two nations has been restricted for decades by the United States’ economic embargo on Cuba.
Despite the odds, music has long served as a cultural bridge between nations, regardless of their political ties. Since the 19th century, Afro-Cuban rhythms like the habanera have been incorporated into Afro-American music.
Under exceptions to the travel embargo for educational visits, Havana’s jazz festival has long featured American musicians and attracted visitors from the United States.
Nash stated that he hoped his visit would continue that tradition, elicit new music and ideas, and further open communication between the two nations.
He stated:
“If this project can teach the world that people want to be together and that the barriers we build between us have nothing to do with music or people, that would be fantastic.”
