Jazz, in Cuban music from the 1980s to the last year of the 20th century, is well represented by two important events that showcase the best of Cuban music: the Jazz Plaza Festival and the International Young Jazz Competition, “Jojazz.” As a result of these events, there has been no shortage of performers and groups in the Cuban music scene that have achieved remarkable popularity.

Roberto Arturo Carcassés Cuza, popularly known as Bobby Carcasés, is a Cuban singer, trumpeter, pianist, and orchestra conductor. He is one of the founders of the Havana Musical. He organized one of the most important musical events featuring jazz, the Jazz Plaza Festival. He has performed in countless countries and on all types of stages. He is known as Cuba’s showman.

Javier R. Zalba Suárez is a Cuban saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist, and composer. He has been a member of the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra, pianist Felipe Dulzaides’ group, José María Vitier’s group, and Irakere, as well as Bobby’s Afrojazz group, among others. He has written three books, two on Cuban popular music, and has worked as a teacher.

Ruy López-Nussa Lekszycki is an excellent Cuban drummer who was a key player in the electric jazz scene in the 1990s with Estado de Ánimo. He has appeared on both albums and in concerts with numerous renowned artists. He is the author of the book “Ritmos de Cuba: Percusión y Batería” (Cuban Rhythms: Percussion and Drums).

Omar Sosa Palacios is a Cuban jazz conductor, composer, and pianist; his work has been featured on several film soundtracks. His music blends jazz influences with Latin rhythms and North African percussion; he has also performed classical music. Throughout his career, he has released twenty self-titled albums and has accompanied numerous productions by prestigious artists worldwide. He is one of the most original and productive jazz musicians to emerge on the international scene since the mid-1990s.

Elmer Ernesto Ferrer Orsini, a guitarist who plays rock and jazz. He has been a member of Cuban groups such as Habana Ensemble and Temperamento. He has performed in various countries with figures such as Santiago Feliú, Ernán López-Nussa, Roberto Fonseca, and Chucho Valdés.

Cuban pianist and master of musical composition, Roberto Fonseca Cortés, performed at the Jazz Plaza Festival (1991) at the age of 15. He has performed in over 400 concerts worldwide, appearing on the most acclaimed stages. Tiene Que Ver (1999), Akokan (2009), and Live in Marciac (2010) are some of his albums.

Roberto Carcassés, Cuban pianist and composer, graduated in percussion from the National School of Music (ENA) (120th Street between 9th and 13th, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana). In 1994, he organized the group Estado de Ánimo. He has performed at numerous international jazz festivals and composed music for films such as Violeta, directed by Alberto Cortés, for Tabasco Film (Mexico).

Julio Gonzalo González Fonseca, better known as Gonzalo Rubalcaba, is a distinguished Cuban pianist and composer. At the age of fourteen, he began playing in groups and accompanying soloists on the piano. In 1980, he won first prize for orchestration at the Buga International Festival in Colombia. Around this time, he performed successfully at the first editions of the Jazz Plaza Festival.

In 1983, he founded his own orchestra, Proyecto, which he continued with until the late 1980s, when he strengthened his solo career. He has shared stages with significant international musical figures and groups. Throughout his musical career, he has received numerous awards.

The members of Habana-Sax were still studying at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) (Calle 120 No. 1110 e/ 9na y 13. Cubanacán. Playa. Havana), when they decided to form the group during Chamber Music classes more than 20 years ago.

In their early days, they explored the works of classical composers. With a broad repertoire that ranges from jazz, Latin jazz, and Caribbean music to other rhythms as representative of Cuban popular music as the Cha-Cha-Cha, Son, Danzón, Rumba, Bolero, Conga, and Mambo, Habana-Sax invites you to dance and listen to a different kind of music that, with an authentic Cuban flavor, ingeniously combines percussion blocks, Afro-Cuban chants, and popular Cuban works.

Jazz Tumbatá, a Cuban jazz group, directed and founded by Lilia Expósito Pino, better known as Bellita. Initially a duo, Jazz Tumbatá later became a trio. The group’s instrumental format is made up of various percussion instruments, so it can be said that it is a percussion group whose only instrument is the voice. In 1997, they recorded their first album, Jazz Tumbatá, for the US label Round World Music. Among the musicians who were featured were: In 2005, they performed at the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, where they shared a concert with maestro Chucho Valdés.

Jesús Alemañy is a Cuban Latin Jazz trumpeter and bandleader who joined the musical group “Sierra Maestra” and later joined the group Cubanismo as a trumpeter and bandleader, which emerged as a recording project featuring talented figures in Cuban music.