‘Eso que anda’

By Tony Pinelli

On Nov. 28, what we might describe as an artistic-musical event took place in Havana. The Cuban Institute of the Cinematographic Arts and Industry (ICAIC) and Abdala Productions presented the premiere of the documentary “Eso que anda,” devoted to the 40th anniversary of Los Van Van, the orchestra directed by Juan Formell.

The direction of such an important testimony about the musical group that has accomplished the feat of being the top choice of the Cuban people longer than any other band (it did become a legend) fell on the shoulders of the young and talented filmmaker Ian Padrón (born March 14, 1976) who already has made excellent documentaries, such as “Fajao con los leones,” about singer Carlos Varela; “Luis Carbonell, después de tanto tiempo,” based on the work of the famous orator, and “Fuera de liga,” which took thousands and thousands of fans into the dugout of the legendary baseball team Industriales.

The Chaplin Cinema was filled with the public and specialists, but what attracted the most attention was the reunion of the Van Van family, because the documentary contains the testimony of great musicians and singers who were part of the orchestra and went from there to become national figures, deeply loved by the public not only in Cuba but in other countries that know and admire the work of Juan Formell Cortina and his group.

César “Pupy” Pedroso, José Luis “Changuito” Quintana, who next to Formell molded the rhythm of the songo and the sound of Los Van Van; Pedrito Calvo, Orlando Canto, Angelito Bonne, Jesús Linares and other founders embraced, full of emotion, Samuel Formell, who’s in charge of directing the orchestra at this time, Mayito Rivera, Robertón Hernández, Yeni Valdés and Abdel Rasaps, the current singers; and Pavel Molina, Roberto Carlos “Cucurucho” Rodríguez, Julio Noroña, and Edmundo Pina, former performers, founders and current members in one single hug.

Daudy Cuervo was there to represent his recently deceased father, Armandito Cuervo, whose testimony in the documentary has great importance and meaning.

Ian Padrón has the virtue of knowing how to highlight aspects of the Cuban people’s nature that the public greatly appreciates. He achieves this by focusing on the reality – sometimes crude, sometimes irritating for some of the nation’s ruling sectors – that is evident and daily.

“Eso que anda” clearly demonstrates, among other things, Los Van Van’s enormous power to attract audiences, by showing scenes of Guantánamo (100,000 spectators), Santiago de Cuba (270,000), and Manzanillo, with a stoic audience that never moved from the site even after an electric failure interrupted the concert and waited for hours until the problem was repaired.

When people on the street see and recognize Formell, they treat him like a beloved relative, with homespun familiarity. There is emotion in their faces as they approach someone who is simultaneously close to them but distant as a divinity, because for them to talk to Formell, to touch him, and kid him it’s as if they were embracing an Orisha who descended from the Yoruba pantheon to share life with his devoted believers.

Guided by Padrón and his excellent movie team, the spectator witnesses the musicians’ sense of humor, the untiring spirit of artists who are able to start a rumba despite their exhaustion and the extreme situations. They see the lubricious bodies of women whose beauty and sensuality make dreams reality and arouse admiration in the most natural way in the world. They see the paroxysm, yes, the paroxysm of the public exacerbated by the frenzy, the musical potency and excellence of “The train,” “The legend,” or however they choose to call Juan Formell’s Los Van Van.

Juanito was born in Havana on Aug. 2, 1942. He began his music studies with his father, Francisco Formell Madariaga, a trained musician and the writer of articles and reviews about music. His teachers included Orestes López and the great Odilio Urfé, although the influences that shaped his creative world extend from the Beatles to the tenement rumbas and, of course, His Majesty El Son.

At an early age, he started his career as a musician, a profession that was interrupted by the danger on the streets of Havana in the late 1950s, giving him time to study the guitar and composition. Later, he became a musician in the Band of the National Revolutionary Police Force, the orchestra of Peruchin Jústiz, the group led by Maestro Rubalcaba, and the orchestra at the Hotel Habana Libre’s Cabaret Caribe.

His songs were sung by the nation’s top singers. Then he joined the Revé Orchestra, where he found the room to develop his ideas. In 1969, he founded Los Van Van and became the main creator of what is known as the Second Orchestral Renewal, a movement that carried forward the innovative spirit of the great Arsenio Rodríguez.

The fusion of rhythmic, melodic and harmonic elements that created an unmistakable sound, the lyrics of Formell’s songs and Pupy Pedroso’s, a reflection of the environment in which Cuban society moved, placed Los Van Van in a special corner of the Cuban people’s hearts.

That’s another virtue of the documentary, because it demonstrates that, by feeding from the people’s daily lives and by returning those moments to them as songs with a special magic, Los Van Van go beyond being an excellent artistic group and become CUBA, the Cuba beloved by Cubans wherever they may be.

That is Los Van Van, and the orchestra has carried its Cubanness in its performances in many countries. Their presence is requested on many stages where they will earn applause, such as, for example, the United States, where Americans in many cities will be able to dance and appreciate “Eso que anda,” the Van Van sound, the sound that embraces the Latinos who, with their effort and sweat, have helped make that country great.

Laughter and tears, the purest emotion fills the music hall where the public enjoys the comments of musicians and specialists coming to the shows. The emotion grips the tightly compressed crowds and there is even a danger that the combination of rum and music can magically trigger fistfights and knife confrontations. But the police are ready with clubs and Mace to cool the tempers, so the party won’t end in a tragedy.

Congratulations to Los Van Van on their birthday; to Abdala as the producers; to the ICAIC for booking the documentary in the movie houses; and to EGREM for distributing the CDs. Los Van Van’s 40th anniversary documentary was first planned three years ago, three years of communion with the spectators recorded in a film where Formell speaks frankly and uninhibitedly about his health and the problems that can affect it.

The film captures the love for La Caridad del Cobre, the respect for Benny Moré, the musicians’ love for the people who sustain and propel them, the valor and honesty of the creator who does not rest on his laurels but begins anew, risking everything he has accomplished. The film records the end of an era, 40 years later, that leaves a magnificent legacy and an indelible remembrance. Thanks to the testimonies in disks and documentaries like this one, the future generations will enjoy, love, recognize, even feel like their own, the feat accomplished by Juan Formell and Los Van Van – The Legend.

Tony Pinelli, one of the founders of La Nueva Trova Cubana, is a composer, singer and scholar of Cuban music. At present, he hosts one of the most listened-to radio programs in Cuba, dealing with musical events throughout the island.