Afro-Cuban Jazz and Helping Hands: Cuba’s Accessible Beat
Who needs Spanish when you’ve got a saxophone? A music-lover proves that disability access is just another improvisation in Havana’s jazz scene. Best viewed as a video https://youtu.be/Qz9Rm89LHD0 Summary Danny, Health Hats, chronicles his week-long trip to Cuba in January for a music-cultural exchange. Using a wheelchair and playing baritone saxophone, he traveled with a group of 11 from the States, organized by Dan Fox and Arlington MA’s Morningside Studios. The group participated in a “Band Camp” hosted by the Havana Music School, receiving daily individual lessons, rehearsing in ensembles, and performing Cuban music at a restaurant. Despite Danny’s initial anxieties about traveling with his disability and instrument, he found Cubans accommodating and helpful. The podcast features an interview with Claudia Fumero, manager of the Havana Music School, who discusses: The school’s focus on teaching Cuban music to foreign visitors How the business began and evolved from connecting students with teachers in their homes to having a dedicated facility Her dream of expanding with more instruments and creating a small café where people can play music The episode is interspersed with musical performances by the ensembles, including renditions of “Sofrito” and “Afro Blue” by Mongo Santamaria. The group also attended the Havana Jazz Festival each night during their stay. Click here to view the printable newsletter with images. More readable than a transcript, which can also be found below. Contents Please comment and ask questions: at the comment section at the bottom of the show notes on LinkedIn via email YouTube channel DM on Instagram , TikTok to @healthhats Production Team You know who you are. I’m thankful. Inspired by and Grateful to Dan, Peter, Ann, Sonja, Jeff, Deb, Bob, Richard, Pachy, Claudia, Gisselle, Miguel, Alejandro, Mauri, Leo, Adrian, Angelito, Lazaro Links and references Morningside Studios Morningside Studio Tours Havana Music School on Instagram The Second Ensemble performance featuring Jeff Stout, Deb Larkin, Bob Salitsky, and Dan Fox Havana Jazz Festival 2025 Sofrito by Mongo Santamaria Mambo Inn by Mario Bauza Afro Blue by Mongo Santamaria Lagrimas Negras by Miguel Matamoros Guantanamera by Jose Marti/JoesitoFernandez Proem Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. — Stevie Wonder. My nighttime voices bombarded me. How can you go to Cuba as a musician? You’re not good enough. Your wheelchair won’t make it over their crumbling roads and sidewalks. Your horn is too big and heavy with everything else. You can’t do too many stairs. You don’t speak Spanish. You won’t be safe. I hate those deflating voices. I should be excited about this chance of a lifetime. I completely trust Dan Fox, our guide and arranger. My disabilities do not define me. Helpful people are everywhere. I’m going with my partner of fifty years. We love music and culture. Who cares about politics? What the heck? We went. Welcome to the story of our adventures. Podcast intro Welcome to Health Hats, the Podcast. I’m Danny van Leeuwen, a two-legged cisgender old white man of privilege who knows a little bit about a lot of healthcare and a lot about very little. We will listen and learn about what it takes to adjust to life’s realities in the awesome circus of healthcare. Let’s make some sense of all of this. Blending Language and Culture Music alone can abolish differences of language or culture between two people and invoke something indestructible within them. — Irene Nemirovsky. Eleven of us from New England and Houston traveled to Cuba for a week in January for a music-cultural event—a Band Camp organized by Dan Fox and Arlington, MA’s Morningside Studios . Our group ranged from no Spanish (me) to fairly fluent (Sonya and Dan). Our host, the Havana Music School, was also fluent in English along this same continuum. Consequently, we communicated in three languages: Spanish, English, and Music. Few people were fluent in all t