{"id":4760,"date":"2026-01-30T23:20:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T03:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/?p=4760"},"modified":"2026-02-05T23:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:36:08","slug":"epicenter-of-cuban-jazz-ruly-herrera-at-bellas-artes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/epicenter-of-cuban-jazz-ruly-herrera-at-bellas-artes-30012026\/","title":{"rendered":"Epicenter of Cuban Jazz: Ruly Herrera at Bellas Artes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final days of January coincide with the International Jazz Plaza Festival, and as part of the program, percussionist Ruly Herrera \u2014 founder of the band Real Project \u2014 gave a concert this Wednesday at the theater of the National Museum of Fine Arts, joined by several guest artists.<\/p>\n

True jazz devotees turned out despite the 18-degree temperatures, and the response was so strong that the venue exceeded its official capacity.<\/p>\n

For a jazz concert, it was striking that the evening opened with the purely Afro-Cuban rhythms of two guest percussionists, the energetic Yaroldy Abreu and Kevin Dedeu. Yet, because the blending of sounds lies at the heart of the genre, it did not take long for the piano \u2014 in the hands of \u00c1ngel Toirac \u2014 to enter the mix, followed quickly by the bass lines of Osniel Moro Regal. Trumpeter Christian Figueredo and trombonist Diansy L\u00f3pez soon joined them, before the night\u2019s central figure, Herrera, took his place at the drum kit.<\/p>\n

That convergence of instruments launched the session with maximum intensity. \u201cEleggua\u201d opened the concert \u2014 titled Epicenter<\/em> \u2014 on a powerful note. Herrera later explained that the title reflected his desire to explore different Cuban rhythms through the language of jazz, a goal he pursued over nearly an hour of music.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Among the pieces most warmly received by the audience were \u201cJazz Plaza 41,\u201d dedicated to the festival of the same name and to those who make it possible, and a modernized rendition of \u201cChan Chan,\u201d the classic by Compay Segundo, whom Herrera described as \u201cone of the musicians who internationalized Cuban music and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program also included \u201cNostalgias y Recuerdos,\u201d infused with danz\u00f3n rhythms and dedicated to Havana \u2014 a city that evokes memories of yesterday \u2014 as well as \u201cEn misa y en procesi\u00f3n,\u201d from his most recent album, and \u201cAlgo Pasa,\u201d from 2025. Between pieces, Herrera thanked the audience for devoting their time to jazz and for their ongoing support.<\/p>\n

Rooted in classic Cuban rhythms \u2014 from congas to danzones \u2014 the concert showcased some of the best that contemporary Cuban jazz has to offer. Many of the compositions paid homage to the past, yet elements such as dreamlike synthesizers and the occasional reverberation or distortion of the wind instruments firmly anchored the music in the present, blending the strongest elements of tradition and innovation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Bellas Artes theater lends itself naturally to this kind of performance, offering an intimacy that suits the pulse of jazz perfectly. The atmosphere is further enriched by the musicians\u2019 evident enjoyment of what they do \u2014 visible in the way they play their instruments, in their exchanged glances, laughter, and shared complicity \u2014 which brings spontaneity and something that always serves music well: humanity.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the energy that filled the evening, and the sheer enjoyment of the concert, can best be summed up by a brief exchange between Herrera and one audience member. After asking whether they had enjoyed one of the pieces and receiving an immediate ovation in response, he declared himself satisfied, saying that he and the musicians had already won. From the auditorium, a spectator shouted back that, more than that, with the experience they had all just shared, everyone present had won.<\/p>\n

Written by Gabriel Hern\u00e1ndez Artiles<\/em>
\nPhotos: Aline Marie Rodr\u00edguez<\/em><\/p>\n

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final days of January coincide with the International Jazz Plaza Festival, and as part of the program, percussionist Ruly Herrera \u2014 founder of the band Real Project \u2014 gave a concert this Wednesday at the theater of the National Museum of Fine Arts, joined by several guest artists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1064,1081],"ppma_author":[7],"class_list":["post-4760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-cuba","tag-41st-jazz-plaza-international-festival","tag-ruly-herrera"],"authors":[{"term_id":7,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"cmbq-radio-enciclopedia","display_name":"CMBQ Radio Enciclopedia","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4760"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4769,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions\/4769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4760"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radioenciclopedia.cu\/cultural-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}