Vocal Sampling, a Cuban musical group, created in the 1990s as a result of the decision of several music students from the National School of Art (120th Street between 9th and 13th, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana) in Havana to form a group to have fun and liven up parties.

They are an unusual format as they constitute an a cappella vocal ensemble. Although all their members are instrumentalists, they do not use instruments but their own voices, which, masterfully modulated, imitate the sounds and harmonies of multiple instruments.

Sampling is made up of six male members who work in the a cappella style. A cappella music is performed solely by voice, without the accompaniment of musical instruments. René Baños (pianist and musical director), Reinaldo Santer (singer and guitarist), and Abel Sanabria (percussionist and bassist), among others, were its founding members.

They quickly gained fame on Cuban stages and met Ponney Gross of Zigzag World, who encouraged them to continue and scheduled tours throughout the Old World; they achieved international notoriety. Peter Gabriel later took them to his Real World Studios in Bath, England, where they recorded two songs, and David Byrne included one of them on his album Diablo al Infierno.

Some time later, they met producer Sammy Figueroa and Raquel Faro, who produced their first album and arranged for it to be signed by BMG in Germany. This fact seduced Seymour Stein, who quickly began the process of acquiring the master of the album and released it in 1995 with Electra Records and Warner World under the title “Una forma más.”

In 1995, they toured the United States, where they achieved instant success, primarily in cities such as San Francisco, New York, and Puerto Rico. In the summer of 1996, they performed at the 30th Montreux Jazz Festival as special guests of Quincy Jones on his fiftieth anniversary. Beginning in 1997, Sampling completed their second album, “De vacaciones,” produced by Rachel Faro and the group members; it showcases original songs and arrangements in a modern salsa style.

At the end of that same year, the group underwent an artistic restructuring aimed at enhancing its quality and expanding its artistic potential. Jorge Núñez Chaviano (tenor), Renato Mora Espinosa (tenor), and Oscar Porro Jiménez (baritone) joined the group.

In 1998, the album “Live in Berlin” was released on Ashé Records. In early 2000, the album “Cambio de Tiempo” was released, the first to be released internationally, featuring classic Cuban songs such as “El Cuarto de Tula” and “Guantanamera.”

Vocal Sampling offers a vocal approach to traditional Cuban music, adapting it and also performing works by Cuban troubadour Silvio Rodríguez. Sampling’s repertoire is broad and varied in musical genres, including sones, boleros, rumbas, jazz, and fusion. They also perform their own original compositions and covers of music from other countries, such as Banana Boat and Hotel California.

Sampling has a five-disc record production of excellent musical quality, for which they have been worthy of both national and international recognition and nominations: the album “Cambio de Tiempo” obtained three nominations for the Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Contemporary Tropical Album, Best Recording Engineering for an Album (Award to Engineer/Eng. Jon Fausty) and for Producer of the Year for the work of Cuban musicologist Ana Lourdes Martínez.

Prominent figures have expressed their opinions of the group, such as: Garfunkel “is the best I’ve heard in ten years.” Quincy Jones said: “They are one of the few groups that truly understand and demonstrate the power of rhythm and melody. The effect their music had on me was electrifying and left a musical impression on my mind that will last forever.”

They have performed in countless countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Venezuela.

Vocal Sampling has become, over the years, one of the most surprising contemporary vocal groups in Cuban music.

Sampling won two Latin Grammy Awards in 2002. He was nominated for Best Central and South American A Cappella Group by the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA) in 2010.

Discography: One More Way (1995), On Vacation (1997), Live in Berlin (1998), Change of Time (2000), Akapelleando (2006).