Bridging the divide

Bridging the divide

HAVANA — On April 1, the Baltimore Orioles became the first US major league baseball team to play on Cuban soil in 40 years. After the game, musicians from both nations danced the night away at an all-star concert to bridge the political divide.

"Cuba is way too cool! ... Big bad wolf, you look the fool!", sang US blues artist Bonnie Raitt in a number written for the occasion and performed with Cuban artists.

The packed concert, organised by Los Angeles-based Music Bridge and held at Havana's Karl Marx Theatre, was the culmination of a week of songwriting between nearly 100 US and Cuban musicians. The artists, who all performed for free, unveiled 24 songs in a mixture of languages and styles.

US performers included Jimmy Buffett, Lisa Loeb, Amy Ray from the Indigo Girls, Michael Franti from Spearhead and Joan Osborne.

[Abridged from "Compañero" at <companyero@mindspring.com>.]

From GLW issue 355