A Tuba to Cuba

The soundtrack to the 2019 documentary film A Tuba to Cuba is a vibrant album featuring songs the Preservation Hall Jazz Band recorded while on tour in Cuba and after returning home to New Orleans. Also included are a handful of archival songs recorded by previous incarnations of the storied ensemble. As with many of the groups recent albums, including 2013s Thats It! and 2016s So It Is, A Tuba to Cuba showcases the bands abundantly cross-pollinated brand of traditional New Orleans jazz. While the titular tuba, played here by bandleader Ben Jaffe, takes a central role on the album, so do many of the Cuban musical traditions the Preservation Hall encountered on their journey. Several of the songs here -- like the buoyant, handclap-driven Tumba and the jubilantly funky Keep Your Head Up with vocalist Eme Alfonso -- sound more like impromptu jams, deftly combining Afro-Cuban percussion rhythms with New Orleans Mardi Gras energy. Similarly engaging is the upbeat I Am, with its ringing trumpet melody line, and the mid-tempo stroll of Kreyol. Also adding a cross-cultural flavor are vintage archival tracks like Alejandro Almenares yearning guitar/vocal feature Las Palomas from the 1940s and Billie & De De Pierces jubilant rendition of the traditional Cuban song La Manicero (aka The Peanut Vendor), which was plucked from the Preservation Halls own musical vaults. More than just a souvenir of an affectionately captured journey, A Tuba to Cuba is a heartfelt celebration of the richly shared musical heritage that connects New Orleans and Cuba. ~ Matt Collar