The story of the Juan de Marcos González-led Afro Cuban All Stars is inseparable from that of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club. It was González who brought together a group of Cuban musicians to record three outstanding albums at the Egrem Studio in Havana in 1996. The first Afro Cuban All Stars album, A Toda Cuba Le Gusta, was followed by Buena Vista Social Club and Introducing… Rubén González. But this, of course, is history... The present is less nostalgic, as Cuban music draws from more than its own golden age. Under González's leadership, the 14 musicians of the Afro Cuban All Stars span three generations and pay tribute to classic songwriters like Miguel Matamoros and Arsenio Rodriguez, while also evoking the evergreen hits of the Buena Vista Social Club. Though one might say they represent a bridge between the Cuban dance music of the '50s and the present day, the band is about much more than that: the Afro Cuban All Stars, as 'specialists in every Cuban style', embody the island nation's entire musical history. This is testimony to the fact that Cuban dance music - regardless of the prevailing fashion or sales figures - has always been irrepressible. Not not to mention 'absolutely alive' - as the title of the Afro Cuban All Stars' most recent album suggests.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest