In January my husband and I spent two weeks in Havana. We’d never seen Cuba before, but we decided to limit this first visit to the city, mainly because of its music scene. We heard great stuff, most notably Roberto Fonseca playing jazz piano with his quartet Temperamento, at La Zorra y El Cuervo. But the best and most unexpected discovery was a vocal quartet called Armonia Viva. I was wandering around Havana Vieja one night, when I heard some utterly lovely singing harmony. I followed the sound for two blocks, to the restaurant Torre de Marfil, on Mercaderes Street. There I found four young singers—all with obviously classically-trained voices—singing their hearts out for an absurdly small audience. They mostly sing a cappella, but occasionally the tenor/director Carlos accompanies on a keyboard. The arrangements are his, and excellent. The music is an unusual mix of “canto cubano popular,” with an occasional African American spiritual with a Cuban twist. If you happen to also like classical music, they may oblige. Yeseney, the soprano, sang an Ave Maria for me which had me in tears.
If you want something truly lovely and unique, go hear these guys! Jamile, the mezzo-soprano speaks the best English. But they are all very friendly and eager to talk. Please tell them you heard about them from Lynne and Jim.

Current venue ( as of March 2011) :
Torre de Marfil, #115 on Calle Mercaderes.
Armonia Viva performs 6-10:30 PM, on M, W, Th, Sat and Sun.
Email: carmen.wilson@infomed.sld.cu