It’s 1.30am and the band El Guajiro y su Changüí, led by freestyling lyricist Celso Fernández, are cooking on all burners. They’re onstage at an open-roofed venue in the city of Guantánamo in Cuba – just 20 miles from the infamous US-owned prison in Guantánamo Bay – and playing changüí, the region’s hyperlocal music. Changüí is reportedly a mashup of a Congolese word meaning “jump for joy” and the Guantánamo slang for “party”, and sure enough, this is some of the most exuberant, party-starting music imaginable.
Changüí is not for spectators – anybody can be part of the show. Havana star Elito Revé suddenly jumps on stage and joins in on the scraped-metal guayo and vocals, soon followed by Yarima Blanco, a hotshot on the guitar-like tres. On the first day of the 11th edition of the festival Changüí Elio Revé Matos – named after Elito’s father – these musicians, performing for a nine-judge panel in a competition, are playing changüí the way it’s been done for more than 150 years. For the next three days and nights in late June, the whole city of Guantánamo will come alive with music, and more than 20 mostly local groups will play multiple times a day.
