Description
Byron Bay based Jake ‘Mista’ Savona is the producer behind Havana Meets Kingston. After the project’s debut album release in 2017, a version of the band — combining musicians from these two musical powerhouse Caribbean islands — toured twice. Then came the pandemic. By then, Savona was well into creating a follow-up album —Havana Meets Kingston, Part 2. But after a pause the work continued, and now the follow-up album is here. It’s an ingenious, varied and rollicking set of tunes featuring some extraordinary artists, including the legendary Jamaican rhythm section Sly and Robbie, and Cuban funk rising star Cimafunk.
Beautifully produced. Great performances.
Mostly recorded at Egram Studio in Havana over 10 days, where the Buena Vista Social Club recorded.
In Jake’s words “I’ll never forget the first session. I did simple charts like jazz charts, just chords. I didn’t want the musicians to be too locked into anything. Just give them a structure and allow them a lot of freedom. But anyway, no one could speak the same language. The Cubans speak zero English. And the Jamaicans spoke no Spanish. But as soon as everyone sat down… Musically there was such a high amount of listening and awareness, and so much respect”.
