Sierra Maestra returns to Australia

By Roberto Jorquera Sierra Maestra, a nine-piece Latin dance orchestra, is again bringing the essence of Cuban dance music to Australia after its successful tour in 1995. Since its formation in 1978, Sierra Maestra has played throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Band member CARLOS PISSEAUX spoke to Green Left Weekly about their music and Cuban culture. The band plays a style of music known as Son Habanero, whose basic structure is salsa, with its 3/2 clave beat deriving from the original trio of clave, bongo and tres (nine-string guitar). The trumpet and base were added when Son arrived in Havana in the 1920s from the eastern provinces of Cuba, particularly the mountainous regions. Pisseaux commented that many people ask why they named themselves Sierra Maestra. The struggle that occurred in the Sierra Maestra mountains is synonymous with the birth of the Cuban Revolution. "Though this is not the main reason we decided on the name, we are a group that has been created out of the revolution", Pisseaux said. "The central reason for the name is because the Sierra Maestra mountains are where one can find the roots of the music we play". He added, "Our music is filled with passion that brings with it intrinsic movement and even moves people without them realising it". Sierra Maestra's music has been able to develop through the support and encouragement that the Cuban government has given to the music industry through the Cultural Ministry. Pisseaux says, "One of the major aims of the Cuban Revolution was to develop the cultural level of the population". The first major step in this process was the formation of the Cultural Ministry. Over the past 37 years the government has steadily increased people's opportunity to go to school, which has included much more of Cuba's own history of music, theatre and culture. Art schools and cultural houses provide the space for people to develop their talents in a range of different areas. "We and many other groups have been fortunate that the Cuban government has spent so much time and resources in developing Cuban culture", Pisseaux said. However, due to the continuing blockade by the United States and the collapse of the Soviet bloc, everything in Cuba has become harder, particularly in the economic sphere. "Culture is still developing. However, it could develop further if we had more resources. It would be good to have more resources for the schools and be able to organise more cultural workshops by the Cultural Ministry." Asked about the band's message, Pisseaux replied, "All forms of culture have an ideological aspect to them. In our case we are a group of people who have grown up as part of a revolution. We gave grown up in the context of a socialist state. Our culture, our music, is a product of this social system. Our music is part of our social surroundings. We talk about love, work, daily life which occur everywhere, but in this case it is referring to the situation in Cuba." Pisseaux says that their message is that of the revolution, and when they criticise, they do it in a constructive manner. "Criticism is a form of developing and modernising."
Sierra Maestra will be playing: Adelaide, Feb 23-25 at the Star Club, bookings (08) 223 7258; Melbourne Feb 29-March 1 at the Continental, bookings (03) 9510 2788; Sydney March 2 at the Metro, bookings (02) 264 2666.