In the end of the 80’s and the beginning of the 90’s, young musicians gathered in the corner of the streets 13 and 8 in Vedado, Havana. A new sound was created during the worst years of the crisis, by mixing existing Cuban music styles with international influences. Hard to put a name on, the musicians themselves called it “rockason”, “timbaconrock”, “rumbaconfunk” or “congaconpop”.

The group Síntesis had since earlier played pure afrocuban music mixed with more electronic elements and paved the way for new groups such as Habana Abierta, from which various solo artists have originated, among them Kelvis Ochoa. X Alfonso, son of the director of Síntesis, is another example of an artist who has grown up with this fusion of music styles.

For those who have seen the movie “Habana Blues”, the sound might be familiar. Some of the musicians that you hear in this programme played in the movie. Here you can have a taste of a genre that is very popular in Cuba, but that in the rest of the world has been overshadowed by the salsa.