CD 2 – Spotify
Joaquín La Habana: My Own Free Way, 2015
total time 01:13:05
The album celebrates the combination of very different musical styles with my vocal acrobatics – I want to build a bridge between different times and cultures.
As I myself belong to different cultures, I sing in several languages. This CD is a cross-cultural musical journey from traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms to romantic melodies, jazzy tunes, from cabaret to opera and contemporary electro beats dance music that reflects the diversity of a city like Berlin.
Written in 1924 and later banned by the Nazis, the song “Bubi lass us Freund sein” is reminiscent of the wild and unbridled scene in Berlin during the Weimar Republic. It was one of the first openly gay cabaret songs.
“My Own Free Way” is an anthem promoting tolerance and acceptance of all genders, races, sexual orientations and identities. This leads to the techno-influenced track “Between Worlds”, which reflects the popular music of today’s Berlin. This track and “Androgynie (Berlin At Night)” celebrate individuality and the fun of just partying the night away.
My Afro-Cuban roots shape all of these songs.
My piece “Un Cubano” is about life as an immigrant who stays connected to his cultural roots. The epilogue, “Mama Africa“, honors Africa and its people as the cradle of all humanity, as a world heritage. In “My Proposition” I advocate treating our mother earth with more respect. It is about justice for all people and about nothing less than peace and the end of all wars.
Good Caribbean attitude to life comes up in “La Cosa de Amor”. With the song “Let’s Glide and Fly” I invite the listener to dream and use their imagination.
My music advocates tolerance and freedom for all people and I hope to touch and cheer many hearts, minds, bodies and souls with it.
www.joaquin-la-habana.de