Cuba comes to Manchester this week as eclectic DJ Gilles Peterson hits the Mint Lounge on Thursday night bringing a blend of Cuban sunshine music to the rainy city!

OK Manchester gets less rain than Rome and references to rain and Manchester can get a bit cliched but the fact is,  it’s pouring down now… and is forecast to do so for the rest of the week! So fancy a night out with sunshine music and cocktails funded by Havana Rum? Well then, get on down to Mint Lounge…

After spending the summer in Cuba, Peterson has turned curator compiling a double album, 28 tracks of the best in Cuban music from Hip Hop to Afro-jazz, fusion and pop. ‘Gilles Peterson presents Havana Cultura’ is the name of the compilation album and thats whats getting show-cased this thurday night. The Havana Cultura band play live and you know a quality ’soundscape’ is on the cards when Peterson hits the decks.

The collaboration with Gilles Peterson and Havana Cultura represents  the biggest collection of contemporaryCuban musicians in a single musical initiative since Cuba’s most famous musical export to date, Buena Vista Social Club.

Commenting on the project, Peterson said “The Buena Vista Social Club helped put Cuba on the world music scene but it’s been over a decade since that initiative and just like the dancers, music in Cuba never stands still. The energy of the music and breadth of talent in Havana is like nowhere in the world. Every corner of the city, every nook and cranny has a sound. We wanted an album that showcases the very best of the new generation of musical talent to be found in Havana today. Music is the soul of Havana and this is the freshest sounding soul music coming out of it”.

Indeed.  More info here - follow the links for tickets.

Someone should take the sounds of Manchester out to the world too….we have moved on from Madchester believe it or not. Sorted r kid.

GYEO