The Copper Steel Band turns 30 this October 18 and is already a symbol of Santiago and Cuba "
If Santiago de Cuba is the Capital of the Caribbean with all its singularities, and the Feast of Fire is the moment where the most explosion of heat and colors radiate, the Steel Band of Copper could undoubtedly be one of the sounds that most Identifies this region of the American continent. Nearly three decades of existence merit this distinction, making it, moreover, the oldest steel orchestra in the country.
There is no other way to give credit to what the ears hear and the eyes see. One has to take a close-up because otherwise it is impossible to believe that there is such an art: the office of gods to draw music from angels of huge pieces of metal. The gleaming steel instruments do not give a hint of the sound they produce.
CiberCuba / José Roberto Loo Vázquez
Up close, the Copper Steel Band can become deafeningly annoying. Mounted in a truck, in the middle of the ceremony of the Burning of the Devil , in the Feast of Fire, is a delight amidst so much bustle, something like a breath of Caribbean culture. Where are all the cables, microphones and speakers, that maximize so unique sound? Nobody sees them because they do not use them, they do not need them, the combination of strong blows to the metal is pure music, a tremendously vibrant force.
It is said that there are only two such groups in Cuba. The Copper Steel Band was created in 1987 with drums arriving from Trinidad and Tobago on the initiative of the late intellectual and director of the Casa del Caribe, Joel James Figarola.
Since then have been seduced with his art Pope Benedict XVI, a president of the Dominican Republic and diplomats from different nations. In addition, the touch is the invitation to enjoyment among the locals of this site, who are the most grateful public in the middle of a town that moves more towards the trade of religious figures and objects than any other vocation.
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