The Kosa Cuba percussion-study program: A review
By Dan Richman -- April 6, 2018
On March 11, 2018, I completed a one-week percussion-study program in Havana, Cuba offered by Kosa Music, a Montreal-based music-education concern. I learned about the program through internet searches. On Kosa's site I found glowing testimonials, but even lengthy internet searching failed to turn up any impartial accounts of the program. I wrote this in hopes of at least starting to fill that gap.
It's not as though players have a wide range of choices for percussion study in Cuba. The late Los Angeles-based educator Chuck Silverman ran a very similar program to Kosa's for many years before he died in 2014. I was fortunate enough to have participated in that program in 2012, so I have some basis of comparison.
Esteemed music historian Ned Sublette, who literally wrote the book on Cuban music, runs regular music-education trips to Cuba, but they don't feature instruction and playing opportunities. They sound extremely tempting but seem mainly oriented toward listening and understanding cultural context. Same with Plaza Cuba.
There may be other study programs I don't know about. In any case, I am writing this account to help prospective Kosa participants better understand the program's pros and cons.
Some of this may have changed by the time you read it.
The company: Kosa and the Cuba program are led by co-founders Aldo Mazza, who is artistic director, and his wife, Ph.D. musicologist Jolán Kovács, who is project coordinator. Mazza is a drummer and percussionist with considerable touring and recording experience. A year ago he completed a book showing how to lay down Afro-Cuban rhythms on the drum set (ironically, the very thing in which Chuck Silverman also specialized). Kovács is a classically trained violinist and pianist who teaches at McGill University in Montreal.
Both Aldo and Jolán are warm, caring people who go out of their way to make participants feel welcome. Their three kids, ranging in age from 10 to 19, were a delightful addition to the trip, which coincides with their school breaks. They are self-possessed, curious and personable, and we all came to really like them.
Kosa has its fingers in a lot of pies and markets itself vigorously. The company has put on or assisted with music-education events in China; Cuba; Calabria, Italy; Miami; Montreal; New York; and Vermont. Some of these are ongoing. It offers customized music trips to Cuba and corporate drumming events. It sells Aldo's book and others, along with a handful of CDs, on its site. It rents percussion instruments in the Montreal area from a huge warehouse full of drums and gear. The company is even getting into music-book publishing.
Kosa sponsors percussion festivals including the Fiesta del Tambor, which is held in Havana on the roughly same dates as the annual Kosa program there. A second annual Cuban music-study program, this one in Holguin, is contemplated for October 2018.
The Cuba program -- basics: Kosa has run the annual program in Cuba for 23 consecutive years, though not always in Havana. This year's program, which began March 5, had 10 paying participants, ranging in age from 19 to 87, from Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland. One was a full-time percussion student, one was a music therapist and orchestra member, and the rest were hobbyists or semi-professional musicians. Skill levels ranged from absolute beginner (not even a percussion player, though a trained musician) to intermediate.
Everyone in the group was interesting, interested and at least somewhat musical. It was terrific to be among affable people who knew what clave is and shared my love for Afro-Cuban music.
Most people traveled to Cuba on Sunday, March 4, in time to arrive for a group dinner that evening. Most left Sunday, March 11. The program itself began Monday, March 5, and continued through Saturday evening, March 10.
Flying from the U.S. is not a big deal. Neither is getting U.S. permission to attend the program. Kosa's preferred travel agent, DMC Travel in Miami, did an excellent job arranging flights and the requisite visa.
We all stayed at the Hotel Palco, a large four-star (out of five) hotel in the Miramar area of Havana. In terms of cleanliness, quiet and amenities, it was excellent by Cuban standards and perfectly fine by U.S. standards.
(Free bonus tip! Never put anything in a Cuban toilet unless it has passed through your body. Put used toilet paper into the little trash can. It's gross to us but will cut the odds of the huge embarrassment and inconvenience that will occur when your toilet overflows.)
Power in the hotel confusingly can be 110v or 220v, and the outlets may accept only plugs made for one or the other, or both. Consider bringing adapters and a transformer, though neither proved necessary to charge my iPhone or Nikon camera battery.
The Hotel Palco is a 15- to 25-minute ride, costing 10-15 CUC, from just about anywhere, including old Havana and many music venues. (A CUC is a Cuban non-natives' peso, roughly equal today to $1 US.) That made it pretty inconvenient and required taking taxis everywhere.
Aldo said the program used to use a van but it proved too cumbersome. The taxis were also cumbersome, and each group trip required waiting for them to arrive, at both ends. We took taxis each day for the short rides to and from the Havana Club, where the lessons were taught, and to all music venues.
There was little to see near the hotel and few interesting places to walk nearby. The giant pool was a nice touch. We ate every breakfast at the hotel, and the buffet was decent. Custom-made omelettes were available. The staff were friendly and helpful and spoke some English. The money-changing service around the corner from the bar reportedly gives slightly better rates than the front desk. The bar is open and serves food 24 hours.
I paid $2,085 US for the program and $909 for visa and airfare on American Airlines from Seattle via Miami. I spent another $300 or so while in Cuba, but I think many others spent less. The program cost included breakfasts and dinners but not lunches (you can make your own lunch at the breakfast buffet and smuggle it out in a napkin, and several of us did so). The price also included all taxi rides and admission to all concerts. It didn't include tips or non-group taxi rides. To me it felt like a good value. To other program participants it felt like a splurge.
Staying connected: Internet access is available only with use of a Wifi card (5 CUC for one hour) usable only at a hotspot or in the Palco lobby, not by the pool or in the restaurant, and the minutes count down fast. You'll want to compose messages in advance so as not to waste air time. Several 10-second video clips I sent uploaded in less than five seconds each, which seemed reasonable. I don't think there was Wifi at the Havana Club. You are not going to have an ongoing internet connection in cars, out on the street, etc., unless you happen upon a hotspot.
Aldo provides his Cuban cell phone number and the Palco phone numbers in advance, so you can forward them to your people as emergency contacts. As to your own cell service, check with your carrier. Verizon currently offers voice service for $3 a minute, outgoing texts for $.50 each and incoming texts for $0.05 each.
You can make operator-assisted phone calls from near the front desk, but they're nearly as expensive as Verizon calls. Someone suggested asking a friendly cab driver to use his cell phone for a local call.
WhatsApp, a free smartphone app, allows voice calls over Wifi, and the voice quality is excellent. Both parties to a conversation must have it installed and must have connected in advance.
For getting around Old Havana and seeing where we were while in taxis, I downloaded a Havana street map on Google Maps and successfully used it offline, though the pinpointed locations I had identified beforehand and carefully saved weren't available offline. I also downloaded a Havana street map within the Gaia GPS app, and that seemed to work even better offline, though it didn't (seem to) allow saving locations. Someone said Maps.me is also good.
Speaking Spanish in Cuba is said to be great, because the dialect there is especially zesty. For those who don't, like me, iTranslate worked great. It can function offline (for a minimal monthly charge), accepts and outputs the spoken word and was usually accurate (or at least didn't produce results Spanish speakers found laughable). It's certainly better than a phrase book.
What to expect in Havana: It's best to put aside concerns about personal vehicular safety while being driven in Havana. The charming old American cars you see so in many pictures have been pressed into service as taxis (as have ancient, decrepit Russian Ladas and Moskvitches, which are distinctly lacking in charm), and Kosa uses them exclusively. Though newer cars also function as taxis, we never took any.
The beaters, many of which been fitted with diesel engines, are pretty horrible to ride in. The seats are large and springy, but the cars have no seatbelts. The windshields probably aren't even safety glass. The creaky doors rarely open from the inside, have no locks and might well pop open in a crash.
Happily, Cuban drivers are pretty sane for a macho country, but you are definitely taking a chance, and there's no other option offered. Your odds of safe arrival are pretty good if you take only one or two taxi trips during a visit, but we took two to six every day. We were crammed in for every ride, two in the front and three in the back. We experienced no accidents.
The exhaust fumes on the road are horrendous. Even if your own car isn't emitting them (which it is), every other car on the road is belching huge clouds of black, stinking exhaust, and the experience is choking. Short of bringing oxygen, I can't think of a fix for this. If you're asthmatic or just enjoy breathing, be forewarned.
Others in the group said they really enjoyed all the rides.
A related matter: check whether your medical insurance covers you outside the US. My Premera Blue Cross plan didn't. I bought insurance through RoamRight for $204 that seemed like it would have been adequate protection if anything had gone wrong, which it didn't.
In early March, the weather was sunny and warm every day, except for one evening of rain. I sometimes carried an small folding umbrella. I brought a light sweater for early mornings and evenings but never wore it. Excessive air conditioning is not a problem.
Musical events usually started on time. Cabs were usually late. Making arrangements and fixing problems was an ongoing trial. For best results, suspend your impatience and accept that the American/Canadian way is not the Cuban way.
You might consider bringing business cards with your complete contact info. Cubans are eager to connect, though I've had a lot of trouble actually contacting them by email.
It's a poor country, and things we take for granted are precious there. I'm talking about good-quality plastic bags, toilet paper, tampons and bottles of aspirin and ibuprofen. To add an extra feel-good element to your trip, consider researching what Cubans need most and how best to get it to them. (Hint: Leaving a bunch of stuff for the maid at the end of your stay isn't the best way.)
It's recommended never to discuss politics with or among Cubans. Keep your observations to yourself and don't get Cubans involved with your questions. Some of them may be outspoken, but it's still dangerous for them.
A typical day: The program began oddly late every day. Breakfast at the Hotel Palco is served starting at 7 a.m., but we'd typically rendezvous in the hotel lobby only at 9:30. We'd pile into two or three taxis for the 15-minute ride to the Havana Club, a lovely beachfront private club where all the lessons were given. The lessons typically lasted from 10 am to noon, followed by lunch at the club and another two-hour session starting at 1 pm. At 3 pm, we either jammed or went out to hear music. During breaks it was possible to sunbathe and swim in the Caribbean or the pool.
Then dinner, always at a restaurant rather than a paladar. The meals were uniformly just OK except for the final dinner, at Bella Ciao, which was excellent. After dinner, always a concert at the Fiesta del Tambor, organized by the Mazzas' old friend PIloto, founder of the timba band Klimax, a celebrity in Cuba and a monster player (essentially the Cuban equivalent of Steve Gadd). Cabs back to the hotel, usually by midnight. All these times were very approximate, off by as much as an hour.
Most of the music at the Fiesta del Tambor was son or timba. There was a rumba party every evening after the main performance, outside next to the theatre. One night the concert featured Brazilian music, which was a nice change of pace.
Moving around, eating, and functioning generally as a group got really old really fast, but there was no end to it. You can of course break away from the group to hang out on the beach or walk around Old Havana. But then you miss instruction or concerts.
There were some afternoon or evening concerts aside from the Fiesta del Tambor, but not many. The program's idea, after all, is to synch the program with the Fiesta as a built-in source of evening entertainment. But there is so much music happening around Havana! It would have been great if Aldo had had a list of who was playing where and when each night (not easy information to collect), so that we could have had the option to go hear bands whose music we've loved for years. We did get a chance to hear Los Van Van.
Instruction: The instruction was, overall, good. On the first morning, a somewhat rambling lecture on Cuba's musical history by ethnomusicologist Olavo Alén Rodriguez laid a good foundation for the week's study. But participants will benefit much more from the program if they've spent a few weeks (and preferably several months) beforehand reading Sublette's book and listening to the music he recommends.
Of course we've all experienced players who can't teach and teachers who can't really play. Someone who can do both, like the young and musical conga instructor Adel Gonzalez, is rare and wonderful. More of the teachers were good at showing off their chops but not as skilled at explaining how they fit in and how to execute them. Their "classes" were closer to sparsely narrated recitals.
Among the program instructors were:
-Amadito Valdés (Buena Vista Social Club), timbales
-Adel Gonzales, conga
-Enrique Pla (Irakere), drum set
-El Peje (Chucho Valdés' Afro-Cuban Messengers), drum set
-Miguelon (drum set)
-Jim Riley (master class) (drum set)
-Aldo (review, guiro, maracas)
It was cool to see an instructor we'd had that morning on stage that evening.
All classes were taught to the entire group, with no attempt to segment us by skill level. So total beginners were in the room with fairly advanced players. Sub-optimal. There was only minimal one-on-one instruction during the lessons.
Fortunately there were no experts in the program, because they would have been bored. (Another participant disagreed, saying even experts could likely be accomodated.) I've been playing for a long time but still was able to learn or refresh my memory about even basic things like conga stroke techniques. Yet I wished for more challenges and opportunities to play with others.
Most of the instructors spoke only a little English, and Aldo, despite years of experience at this, often seemed unable to translate accurately and fully. He was also frequently absent during parts of the lesson, usually on the phone, so chunks of instruction went untranslated.
In fairness, an assistant who often takes care of administrative details was unexpectedly absent all week, so Aldo was overloaded. And, as noted, everything is so complex and difficult to arrange in Cuba, because resources are so limited, that everyone must be patient and flexible. Almost nothing goes as planned.
Even though an initial questionnaire asked which one instrument we wanted to concentrate on -- drum set, congas, bongos or timbales -- nothing in the program reflected our choices. Most of the two-hour lessons focused on drum set. There was some focus on congas and a less on timbales. Bongos got summary treatment -- a few minutes on the last day. That was disappointing to me, as I love bongos. We also got brief instruction in how to play maracas, guiro and clave (the instrument, not the rhythm. Work on the all-important clave rhythm was intense and continuing throughout the program, as is appropriate).
I appreciate how difficult it is to bring instruments down to Cuba, and Kosa has done a lot of that. Few instruments of any quality are made there, except for smaller ones like maracas and guiros. But there were not even close to enough real congas for each person to get two, and the portable Ludwig congas mounted on snare stands, of which there were more, lack bass tones and moved around when played hard. For the entire group there was only a single pair of timbales, a single five-piece drum set and three sets of bongos.
There was no time or space for personal practice, which would have helped drive home techniques and rhythms we'd just learned.
Most importantly to me, there was far too little opportunity to jam with each other and, even better, with Cuban musicians. Occasionally the lessons would turn into jams, which was great. But only once were a Cuban bass player, keyboard player and conga player brought in specifically to jam with us. My idea of musical heaven would be to have many, many hours of that, including guided jams where Aldo would point to one of us to solo for 16 bars and we could really internalize this complex, wonderful music.
And how about spending part of the week working up a concert piece that we'd present to a group of Cubans? Fear is a great motivator!
Every group probably has one or two people who are well intentioned but disruptive, and so did ours. Aldo did a good job keeping him from dominating every jam with loud, inappropriate and out-of-time playing.
Aldo himself didn't play much for us, but he has heart and a sense of humor, and he proved to be articulate when discussing musical concepts, feel and tempo. He's also humble about how difficult and complex Cuban music is.
Aldo warns against making videos without the instructors' permission, but none of them refused and most didn't seem to care. Making videos of the concerts is universal.
More general considerations: Some inaccuracies about the Cuba program appear on the Kosa website:
- The food is of the same quality as in North America. Not in my experience. Quality is worse. Vegetables are limited in variety and usually overcooked. Meat can be scary or just boring. Even the fish isn't guaranteed to be good. Our meals were adequate, nothing more (except for the last night). I've found that typical of Cuba.
-The water in Havana is perfectly safe. Also not true, from what I've read. I always drink only bottled water there, because who wants to find out the hard way? I wouldn't even rinse my toothbrush with tap water. Oh, and by the way: you'll have to fend for yourself in laying in a stock of big bottles of water, because the program doesn't provide them for you and didn't make much of an effort to help us buy it at a store, where it is much cheaper than at the hotel (and available in bigger bottles, so you're not contributing so heavily to the plastics waste stream. There is little if any recycling in Cuba).
-This program is open to persons of all levels and interest. Classes are given in a group context and all levels are addressed, from the total novice to the advanced professional." As noted, in my view, the advanced player would probably get little from these classes, though others disagreed with that assessment.
Coping with excellence: I asked Aldo for some advice on how to avoid discouragement because so many Cuban players are so much better than I feel I'll ever be. He had some wisdom to share: "Stay on the path, be who you are, remember you have something to contribute. Do your homework and know your limitations. Don't ever be discouraged."
Overall, the Kosa Music program in Havana would likely be a positive experience for all but the most advanced student of hand drums and/or drum set. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good. My notes and videos of the lessons will provide me with many hours of practice and inspiration. And I won't soon forget the great people I met. I highly recommend this program.
Recommended reading:
Aldo's textbook is mandatory. I'd suggest also reading at least one biography of Fidel, one history of Cuba, and Sublette's book.
Anderson, John Lee. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Gjelten, Tom. Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause
Mazza, Aldo. Cuban Rhythms for Percussion and Drumset: The Essentials
Sánchez, Yoani. Generacion Y (dissident blog)
Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music
Sweig, Julia. Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know
Quirk, Robert E. Fidel Castro
By Dan Richman -- April 6, 2018
On March 11, 2018, I completed a one-week percussion-study program in Havana, Cuba offered by Kosa Music, a Montreal-based music-education concern. I learned about the program through internet searches. On Kosa's site I found glowing testimonials, but even lengthy internet searching failed to turn up any impartial accounts of the program. I wrote this in hopes of at least starting to fill that gap.
It's not as though players have a wide range of choices for percussion study in Cuba. The late Los Angeles-based educator Chuck Silverman ran a very similar program to Kosa's for many years before he died in 2014. I was fortunate enough to have participated in that program in 2012, so I have some basis of comparison.
Esteemed music historian Ned Sublette, who literally wrote the book on Cuban music, runs regular music-education trips to Cuba, but they don't feature instruction and playing opportunities. They sound extremely tempting but seem mainly oriented toward listening and understanding cultural context. Same with Plaza Cuba.
There may be other study programs I don't know about. In any case, I am writing this account to help prospective Kosa participants better understand the program's pros and cons.
Some of this may have changed by the time you read it.
The company: Kosa and the Cuba program are led by co-founders Aldo Mazza, who is artistic director, and his wife, Ph.D. musicologist Jolán Kovács, who is project coordinator. Mazza is a drummer and percussionist with considerable touring and recording experience. A year ago he completed a book showing how to lay down Afro-Cuban rhythms on the drum set (ironically, the very thing in which Chuck Silverman also specialized). Kovács is a classically trained violinist and pianist who teaches at McGill University in Montreal.
Both Aldo and Jolán are warm, caring people who go out of their way to make participants feel welcome. Their three kids, ranging in age from 10 to 19, were a delightful addition to the trip, which coincides with their school breaks. They are self-possessed, curious and personable, and we all came to really like them.
Kosa has its fingers in a lot of pies and markets itself vigorously. The company has put on or assisted with music-education events in China; Cuba; Calabria, Italy; Miami; Montreal; New York; and Vermont. Some of these are ongoing. It offers customized music trips to Cuba and corporate drumming events. It sells Aldo's book and others, along with a handful of CDs, on its site. It rents percussion instruments in the Montreal area from a huge warehouse full of drums and gear. The company is even getting into music-book publishing.
Kosa sponsors percussion festivals including the Fiesta del Tambor, which is held in Havana on the roughly same dates as the annual Kosa program there. A second annual Cuban music-study program, this one in Holguin, is contemplated for October 2018.
The Cuba program -- basics: Kosa has run the annual program in Cuba for 23 consecutive years, though not always in Havana. This year's program, which began March 5, had 10 paying participants, ranging in age from 19 to 87, from Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland. One was a full-time percussion student, one was a music therapist and orchestra member, and the rest were hobbyists or semi-professional musicians. Skill levels ranged from absolute beginner (not even a percussion player, though a trained musician) to intermediate.
Everyone in the group was interesting, interested and at least somewhat musical. It was terrific to be among affable people who knew what clave is and shared my love for Afro-Cuban music.
Most people traveled to Cuba on Sunday, March 4, in time to arrive for a group dinner that evening. Most left Sunday, March 11. The program itself began Monday, March 5, and continued through Saturday evening, March 10.
Flying from the U.S. is not a big deal. Neither is getting U.S. permission to attend the program. Kosa's preferred travel agent, DMC Travel in Miami, did an excellent job arranging flights and the requisite visa.
We all stayed at the Hotel Palco, a large four-star (out of five) hotel in the Miramar area of Havana. In terms of cleanliness, quiet and amenities, it was excellent by Cuban standards and perfectly fine by U.S. standards.
(Free bonus tip! Never put anything in a Cuban toilet unless it has passed through your body. Put used toilet paper into the little trash can. It's gross to us but will cut the odds of the huge embarrassment and inconvenience that will occur when your toilet overflows.)
Power in the hotel confusingly can be 110v or 220v, and the outlets may accept only plugs made for one or the other, or both. Consider bringing adapters and a transformer, though neither proved necessary to charge my iPhone or Nikon camera battery.
The Hotel Palco is a 15- to 25-minute ride, costing 10-15 CUC, from just about anywhere, including old Havana and many music venues. (A CUC is a Cuban non-natives' peso, roughly equal today to $1 US.) That made it pretty inconvenient and required taking taxis everywhere.
Aldo said the program used to use a van but it proved too cumbersome. The taxis were also cumbersome, and each group trip required waiting for them to arrive, at both ends. We took taxis each day for the short rides to and from the Havana Club, where the lessons were taught, and to all music venues.
There was little to see near the hotel and few interesting places to walk nearby. The giant pool was a nice touch. We ate every breakfast at the hotel, and the buffet was decent. Custom-made omelettes were available. The staff were friendly and helpful and spoke some English. The money-changing service around the corner from the bar reportedly gives slightly better rates than the front desk. The bar is open and serves food 24 hours.
I paid $2,085 US for the program and $909 for visa and airfare on American Airlines from Seattle via Miami. I spent another $300 or so while in Cuba, but I think many others spent less. The program cost included breakfasts and dinners but not lunches (you can make your own lunch at the breakfast buffet and smuggle it out in a napkin, and several of us did so). The price also included all taxi rides and admission to all concerts. It didn't include tips or non-group taxi rides. To me it felt like a good value. To other program participants it felt like a splurge.
Staying connected: Internet access is available only with use of a Wifi card (5 CUC for one hour) usable only at a hotspot or in the Palco lobby, not by the pool or in the restaurant, and the minutes count down fast. You'll want to compose messages in advance so as not to waste air time. Several 10-second video clips I sent uploaded in less than five seconds each, which seemed reasonable. I don't think there was Wifi at the Havana Club. You are not going to have an ongoing internet connection in cars, out on the street, etc., unless you happen upon a hotspot.
Aldo provides his Cuban cell phone number and the Palco phone numbers in advance, so you can forward them to your people as emergency contacts. As to your own cell service, check with your carrier. Verizon currently offers voice service for $3 a minute, outgoing texts for $.50 each and incoming texts for $0.05 each.
You can make operator-assisted phone calls from near the front desk, but they're nearly as expensive as Verizon calls. Someone suggested asking a friendly cab driver to use his cell phone for a local call.
WhatsApp, a free smartphone app, allows voice calls over Wifi, and the voice quality is excellent. Both parties to a conversation must have it installed and must have connected in advance.
For getting around Old Havana and seeing where we were while in taxis, I downloaded a Havana street map on Google Maps and successfully used it offline, though the pinpointed locations I had identified beforehand and carefully saved weren't available offline. I also downloaded a Havana street map within the Gaia GPS app, and that seemed to work even better offline, though it didn't (seem to) allow saving locations. Someone said Maps.me is also good.
Speaking Spanish in Cuba is said to be great, because the dialect there is especially zesty. For those who don't, like me, iTranslate worked great. It can function offline (for a minimal monthly charge), accepts and outputs the spoken word and was usually accurate (or at least didn't produce results Spanish speakers found laughable). It's certainly better than a phrase book.
What to expect in Havana: It's best to put aside concerns about personal vehicular safety while being driven in Havana. The charming old American cars you see so in many pictures have been pressed into service as taxis (as have ancient, decrepit Russian Ladas and Moskvitches, which are distinctly lacking in charm), and Kosa uses them exclusively. Though newer cars also function as taxis, we never took any.
The beaters, many of which been fitted with diesel engines, are pretty horrible to ride in. The seats are large and springy, but the cars have no seatbelts. The windshields probably aren't even safety glass. The creaky doors rarely open from the inside, have no locks and might well pop open in a crash.
Happily, Cuban drivers are pretty sane for a macho country, but you are definitely taking a chance, and there's no other option offered. Your odds of safe arrival are pretty good if you take only one or two taxi trips during a visit, but we took two to six every day. We were crammed in for every ride, two in the front and three in the back. We experienced no accidents.
The exhaust fumes on the road are horrendous. Even if your own car isn't emitting them (which it is), every other car on the road is belching huge clouds of black, stinking exhaust, and the experience is choking. Short of bringing oxygen, I can't think of a fix for this. If you're asthmatic or just enjoy breathing, be forewarned.
Others in the group said they really enjoyed all the rides.
A related matter: check whether your medical insurance covers you outside the US. My Premera Blue Cross plan didn't. I bought insurance through RoamRight for $204 that seemed like it would have been adequate protection if anything had gone wrong, which it didn't.
In early March, the weather was sunny and warm every day, except for one evening of rain. I sometimes carried an small folding umbrella. I brought a light sweater for early mornings and evenings but never wore it. Excessive air conditioning is not a problem.
Musical events usually started on time. Cabs were usually late. Making arrangements and fixing problems was an ongoing trial. For best results, suspend your impatience and accept that the American/Canadian way is not the Cuban way.
You might consider bringing business cards with your complete contact info. Cubans are eager to connect, though I've had a lot of trouble actually contacting them by email.
It's a poor country, and things we take for granted are precious there. I'm talking about good-quality plastic bags, toilet paper, tampons and bottles of aspirin and ibuprofen. To add an extra feel-good element to your trip, consider researching what Cubans need most and how best to get it to them. (Hint: Leaving a bunch of stuff for the maid at the end of your stay isn't the best way.)
It's recommended never to discuss politics with or among Cubans. Keep your observations to yourself and don't get Cubans involved with your questions. Some of them may be outspoken, but it's still dangerous for them.
A typical day: The program began oddly late every day. Breakfast at the Hotel Palco is served starting at 7 a.m., but we'd typically rendezvous in the hotel lobby only at 9:30. We'd pile into two or three taxis for the 15-minute ride to the Havana Club, a lovely beachfront private club where all the lessons were given. The lessons typically lasted from 10 am to noon, followed by lunch at the club and another two-hour session starting at 1 pm. At 3 pm, we either jammed or went out to hear music. During breaks it was possible to sunbathe and swim in the Caribbean or the pool.
Then dinner, always at a restaurant rather than a paladar. The meals were uniformly just OK except for the final dinner, at Bella Ciao, which was excellent. After dinner, always a concert at the Fiesta del Tambor, organized by the Mazzas' old friend PIloto, founder of the timba band Klimax, a celebrity in Cuba and a monster player (essentially the Cuban equivalent of Steve Gadd). Cabs back to the hotel, usually by midnight. All these times were very approximate, off by as much as an hour.
Most of the music at the Fiesta del Tambor was son or timba. There was a rumba party every evening after the main performance, outside next to the theatre. One night the concert featured Brazilian music, which was a nice change of pace.
Moving around, eating, and functioning generally as a group got really old really fast, but there was no end to it. You can of course break away from the group to hang out on the beach or walk around Old Havana. But then you miss instruction or concerts.
There were some afternoon or evening concerts aside from the Fiesta del Tambor, but not many. The program's idea, after all, is to synch the program with the Fiesta as a built-in source of evening entertainment. But there is so much music happening around Havana! It would have been great if Aldo had had a list of who was playing where and when each night (not easy information to collect), so that we could have had the option to go hear bands whose music we've loved for years. We did get a chance to hear Los Van Van.
Instruction: The instruction was, overall, good. On the first morning, a somewhat rambling lecture on Cuba's musical history by ethnomusicologist Olavo Alén Rodriguez laid a good foundation for the week's study. But participants will benefit much more from the program if they've spent a few weeks (and preferably several months) beforehand reading Sublette's book and listening to the music he recommends.
Of course we've all experienced players who can't teach and teachers who can't really play. Someone who can do both, like the young and musical conga instructor Adel Gonzalez, is rare and wonderful. More of the teachers were good at showing off their chops but not as skilled at explaining how they fit in and how to execute them. Their "classes" were closer to sparsely narrated recitals.
Among the program instructors were:
-Amadito Valdés (Buena Vista Social Club), timbales
-Adel Gonzales, conga
-Enrique Pla (Irakere), drum set
-El Peje (Chucho Valdés' Afro-Cuban Messengers), drum set
-Miguelon (drum set)
-Jim Riley (master class) (drum set)
-Aldo (review, guiro, maracas)
It was cool to see an instructor we'd had that morning on stage that evening.
All classes were taught to the entire group, with no attempt to segment us by skill level. So total beginners were in the room with fairly advanced players. Sub-optimal. There was only minimal one-on-one instruction during the lessons.
Fortunately there were no experts in the program, because they would have been bored. (Another participant disagreed, saying even experts could likely be accomodated.) I've been playing for a long time but still was able to learn or refresh my memory about even basic things like conga stroke techniques. Yet I wished for more challenges and opportunities to play with others.
Most of the instructors spoke only a little English, and Aldo, despite years of experience at this, often seemed unable to translate accurately and fully. He was also frequently absent during parts of the lesson, usually on the phone, so chunks of instruction went untranslated.
In fairness, an assistant who often takes care of administrative details was unexpectedly absent all week, so Aldo was overloaded. And, as noted, everything is so complex and difficult to arrange in Cuba, because resources are so limited, that everyone must be patient and flexible. Almost nothing goes as planned.
Even though an initial questionnaire asked which one instrument we wanted to concentrate on -- drum set, congas, bongos or timbales -- nothing in the program reflected our choices. Most of the two-hour lessons focused on drum set. There was some focus on congas and a less on timbales. Bongos got summary treatment -- a few minutes on the last day. That was disappointing to me, as I love bongos. We also got brief instruction in how to play maracas, guiro and clave (the instrument, not the rhythm. Work on the all-important clave rhythm was intense and continuing throughout the program, as is appropriate).
I appreciate how difficult it is to bring instruments down to Cuba, and Kosa has done a lot of that. Few instruments of any quality are made there, except for smaller ones like maracas and guiros. But there were not even close to enough real congas for each person to get two, and the portable Ludwig congas mounted on snare stands, of which there were more, lack bass tones and moved around when played hard. For the entire group there was only a single pair of timbales, a single five-piece drum set and three sets of bongos.
There was no time or space for personal practice, which would have helped drive home techniques and rhythms we'd just learned.
Most importantly to me, there was far too little opportunity to jam with each other and, even better, with Cuban musicians. Occasionally the lessons would turn into jams, which was great. But only once were a Cuban bass player, keyboard player and conga player brought in specifically to jam with us. My idea of musical heaven would be to have many, many hours of that, including guided jams where Aldo would point to one of us to solo for 16 bars and we could really internalize this complex, wonderful music.
And how about spending part of the week working up a concert piece that we'd present to a group of Cubans? Fear is a great motivator!
Every group probably has one or two people who are well intentioned but disruptive, and so did ours. Aldo did a good job keeping him from dominating every jam with loud, inappropriate and out-of-time playing.
Aldo himself didn't play much for us, but he has heart and a sense of humor, and he proved to be articulate when discussing musical concepts, feel and tempo. He's also humble about how difficult and complex Cuban music is.
Aldo warns against making videos without the instructors' permission, but none of them refused and most didn't seem to care. Making videos of the concerts is universal.
More general considerations: Some inaccuracies about the Cuba program appear on the Kosa website:
- The food is of the same quality as in North America. Not in my experience. Quality is worse. Vegetables are limited in variety and usually overcooked. Meat can be scary or just boring. Even the fish isn't guaranteed to be good. Our meals were adequate, nothing more (except for the last night). I've found that typical of Cuba.
-The water in Havana is perfectly safe. Also not true, from what I've read. I always drink only bottled water there, because who wants to find out the hard way? I wouldn't even rinse my toothbrush with tap water. Oh, and by the way: you'll have to fend for yourself in laying in a stock of big bottles of water, because the program doesn't provide them for you and didn't make much of an effort to help us buy it at a store, where it is much cheaper than at the hotel (and available in bigger bottles, so you're not contributing so heavily to the plastics waste stream. There is little if any recycling in Cuba).
-This program is open to persons of all levels and interest. Classes are given in a group context and all levels are addressed, from the total novice to the advanced professional." As noted, in my view, the advanced player would probably get little from these classes, though others disagreed with that assessment.
Coping with excellence: I asked Aldo for some advice on how to avoid discouragement because so many Cuban players are so much better than I feel I'll ever be. He had some wisdom to share: "Stay on the path, be who you are, remember you have something to contribute. Do your homework and know your limitations. Don't ever be discouraged."
Overall, the Kosa Music program in Havana would likely be a positive experience for all but the most advanced student of hand drums and/or drum set. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good. My notes and videos of the lessons will provide me with many hours of practice and inspiration. And I won't soon forget the great people I met. I highly recommend this program.
Recommended reading:
Aldo's textbook is mandatory. I'd suggest also reading at least one biography of Fidel, one history of Cuba, and Sublette's book.
Anderson, John Lee. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Gjelten, Tom. Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause
Mazza, Aldo. Cuban Rhythms for Percussion and Drumset: The Essentials
Sánchez, Yoani. Generacion Y (dissident blog)
Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music
Sweig, Julia. Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know
Quirk, Robert E. Fidel Castro
