Septeto Santiaguero: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST 2023

For the third consecutive year, NPR teamed up with globalFEST in January 2023 for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions hosted by African pop star Angélique Kidjo. Now, we're posting all the sets from our festival as individual Tiny Desk (home) concerts. To see the translations on these videos, please click the 'CC' button.

Septeto Santiaguero was founded in 1995 by members of Melodías de Ayer, a group formed in the early 1960s, together with the Estudiantina Invasora and the Cuarteto Patria, had for over three decades animated many a day and night at the Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba. In 1993 and 1994, a number of young musicians from other septets — such as Sones de Oriente and Septeto Luz — joined Melodías de Ayer, and Fernando Dewar, a tres player, took over the leadership of the group. Seeking to return to their roots, the group decided to give up the mambos and stick to the discipline of the traditional septet: guitar, tres, bongo, clave, maracas, acoustic bass and trumpet, with the addition of the drum, which it retained in honor of Arsenio Rodríguez. In the Santiago de Cuba style, the two singers maintain the first and second harmony with equal emphasis. The group preserves and pays homage to one of Cuba's most important musical forms, with a vitality demonstrating that the septeto tradition is still fresh and alive in Santiago de Cuba today.

SET LIST

• Inocencio Heredia Castillo: "Y Sigo Pa'lante"
• Rudens Matos Matos: "Recuerdos del Ayer"
• Ignacio Piñeiro: "La Meneadera"

MUSICIANS

• Fernando E. Dewar Webster: tres, vocals
• Giraldo Bravo: güiro, vocals
• Inocencio Heredia Castillo: maracas, vocals
• Rudens Matos Matos: guitar, vocals
• Dairon Robert Salazar: bajo
• Gabriel Montero González: conga low, conga high, jam block
• Carlos Danger Plana: bongos, cencerro, tools
• Alain Brito: trumpet, vocals

CREDITS

• Producer: ALLEGRO Productions, Yanni Labori, Alexander Legro
• Assistants: Yasmany Dutel, Gustavo Savigne, Vivian Puebla
• Audio: Fernando Dewar Romero, Norge Matute Pelegrin, Damian Busqueta Mineto
• Director of Photography / Camera 3: Adrian Rey
• Camera 1: Ray Mila Vega
• Camera 2: Freddy Miguel
• Special thanks to Salón del Son en Santiago de Cuba, Centro de Patrimonio Cultural de Santiago de Cuba, Centro del Libro de Santiago de Cuba, EGREM Santiago de Cuba, Centro Cultural Interactivo ALLEGRO

TINY DESK TEAM

• Creative Director: Bob Boilen 
• Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin 
• Series Producer: Bobby Carter 
• Editing: Joshua Bryant
• Tiny Desk Team: Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer

GLOBALFEST TEAM

• Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer and Bill Bragin
• 2023 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin and Meera Dugal
• Event Producer: Ian Thake
• Host: Angélique Kidjo
• Legal Services: Tamizdat
• Legal Services: Duane Morris
• Video Production: Karim Tabbaa

FUNDERS:

• The Mellon Foundation
• The National Endowment for the Arts
• NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

SPECIAL THANKS:

• Ken Umezaki
• Fabian Alsultany
• Steven Kirkpatrick
• David Komar

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.