Spirits of Havana

‘Spirits of Havana’ follows a pair of Canadian jazz players, Jane Bunnett and Larry Cramer, who trek annually to Cuba to collaborate with the local musicians there. Of course, like its recent antecedent, ‘Buena Vista Social Club’, ‘Spirits of Havana’ ends up celebrating the conviviality of Cuban people and culture and the integral role that music and rhythm plays in their lives. Shots of bustling Havana city streets or the bountiful Cuban countryside, overlaid with traditional Cuban music, punctuate this documentary and strongly hint at the Canadians’ love affair with this place. Extended recording sessions with a variety of local musicians from Bobby Carcasses, Amado Dedeu and Pancho Quinto to world famous Afro-Cuban rumba groups like Los Munequitos and Los Naranjos to Desandann, a Haitian group, reveal rich cross-cultural collaboration in action. The Canadians ensure it’s a two-way exchange when they carry out their educational and resource initiative by donating instruments to the local, under-resourced music conservatories and teach the students the world of jazz. Though lacking the cinematic splendour of ‘Buena Vista Social Club’, ‘Spirits of Havana’ is moving for its celebration of Cuban music, culture and history and for its testament to the possibility of cross-cultural understanding and exchange.