The year Primera Base moved to the networks

I want it to be clear, I came to Havana for music. In January of this ill-fated year, after 16 hours of waiting and more than 300 kilometers, I arrived at the Jazz Plaza Festival. It was a frenetic week, of concerts at all hours and days of never ending. Havana never rests and without leaving that last concert by Tank and the Bangas, Trombone Shorty Foundation, Cimafunk and The Soul Rebels at the Salón Rosado in La Tropical, a flyer from Havana World Music (HWM) came into my hand.

I remember that La Sintaxis, my Havana gang, made me swear that I would return in March. Fingers crossed, I said yes. It was then a difficult promise, but by February the circumstances brought me back and with an indefinite stay. With all certainty, the Havana World Music 2020 would be my welcome with pomp and honour.

The gods laugh when mortals speak of the future. The coronavirus skipped continents, imposed quarantine and with it, silence. Of course, it paused existence, but not life. The HWM, in which friction is mandatory and crowded, had to reinvent itself and wait. And I swore to be in it.

From March we passed to July and part of what would happen at the José Antonio Echeverría and the Pabellón Cuba went to the networks to reconnect with a distant audience. Thus, the Primera Base contest, a platform for noble projects with great ambitions, had three days of competition on-line —one per division—in which each band had the opportunity to arrange their set and show themselves under a style and production that complemented their musical proposal.

The Milky Monkeys, winners in the Youth category. Photo: Courtesy of the Havana World Music Festival.

The international feedback of the public -always essential- was translated into online votes that not only determined winners, but also speak volumes about the notoriety of this contest that presents new talents.

The opening on the 16th was in charge of the youth. Before reviewing more, I want to say that if this is the future to come, great things await us. Los Monos Lácteos won me over with their intelligent and fresh lyrics, and their attractive, diverse and complex sonority, which shows signs of happy creativity and insightful, virtuoso production.

Cuadrigales failed in the selection of pieces to compete. Only the warhorses are taken to a joust of braves and they chose two equal themes in cadence, style and possibilities. Perhaps, if they had left the schemes of the vocal ensemble, the girls would have been an adversary to fear.

Ah, Misifuz and his samurai cats, in which the bass follows a flute that in the end does not adorn but leads. Misifuz, that when everything looks like jazz, rap surprises; where drums and keyboards converge without disturbing each other. Misifuz, who had me repeating kimono katana kimono katana a good time. The birth of a princess he went to other waters and demonstrated the versatility of a band that, if they put their minds to it, can go from promise to jewel.

The youngest and most abundant division of contenders closed with TóPop, in which country, jazz, rock and funk converge. It was missing, I must say, for the camera to break its stillness and accompany the tremendous energy they project. Those of us who attend the presentation ―screen through― need a more complete, attractive experience that somehow banishes nostalgia and distance. Suggestions aside, I ended up watching them convinced they can make a crowd dance (and get fat!) non-stop.

Raulito Prieto, winner in the Seniors category. Photo: Courtesy of the Havana World Music Festival.

On July 17, the elders had their moment. Raulito Prieto, with a sound and aesthetic very typical of early 2000's pop rock, unites collective images and symbols. In his speech are the marks of different generations, the contradictions of those who are aware of the complexities of their reality but from simple and attractive resources.

Akira Colarte and Habana on Me decided on the freedoms of a more jazzy sound, with which they managed to articulate creative individualities in a group. There was no instrument or performer subservient to another and certainly their energy felt more like a live show than a planned or canned presentation. However, the sound quality marred its performance which at times was sloppy and obscured its vocalist, perhaps due to the lack of a general direction.

I must confess that I danced from my room with LA Pimienta as if I had seen them live, up close and beer in hand. However, I still have that feeling of attending something that I have already heard, that I have already seen. His proposal lacks maturity and has plenty of momentum. I have no doubt that when you balance style and intent, it will crystallize your talent.

On the 18th and to close, First Base gave way to DJ Producers. Leonardo Milano from Cuba, very given to cuban groove, experiment with samples by voice tracks, the loop machine and elements of house. Milano understands that a DJ is not just a simple editor of samples but a goldsmith of rhythms. He is an architect of sound dramaturgy, who knows how to arrange his transitions, climax, anticipation and turns. Can you make electronic changüí? He has the answer.

Jaidpit followed him with dub-step and house. With remarkable execution, he could have done more. Its camera in close shot to its console and the little variation between its two themes made it less attractive to a presentation that could have been better. In electronics, repetitive by default, saturating the listener is a deadly sin.

Kill the Party was surprising because it was disconcerting. The same theme goes from trap, to rock, to dub-step, back to the trap and then to house. To support this generic mix, the band achieves organic, fluid and subtle transitions. His secret, I suspect, is the construction of orderly chaos.

Kill the Party, winner in the DJ/Producer category. Photo: Courtesy of Havana World Music.

I will not talk about winners or vote counts, which will be the subject of others. More than an award, the First Baseman rescues talents that perhaps, because they are out of the mainstreamThey would have been left out. Those who achieved the approval of the jury, will be able to show off in the HWM edition in 2021 and, those who did not, at least were granted the gift of notoriety.

This edition had a lot of improvisation and trouble, but those who compete should no longer think of themselves only as a musical proposal, but as a complete product. The presentations on-line, for better or worse, are an important part of the future of live music in the post-pandemic world. Those who compete under these circumstances in a not too distant 2021 (just in case) will have to do so with the premise that audiences are no longer only sold a sound, but also an image, and with it movement.

It is also important that each condense their identity and essence in their presentation, because every detail is a trump card. To get past first base and get to a home, talent is not enough: you have to give the extra of the champions.

We will return to the revelry of the crowds, to that electrifying atmosphere that always complements live music. We all miss that happy communion, but the 2020 edition of First Base was more. It had to be.

That the effort has beaten the pandemic, that the music has jumped – again – every barrier, is the best proof I have that Havana does not believe in pauses. I enjoyed this diverse and complete contest, I who of outsider I became a happy spectator. In the end, I always say, music brought me to this city. And for her I stay.