When in 2008 the Cabaret Turquino, belonging to the Hotel Habana Libre, exhibited the first performance of the orchestra Havana DPrimera, had just become part of the history of a primordial grouping in Cuban dance music. His musicians possessed an unequaled career in the music circuit throughout the country and the director, Alexander Abreu, was a veteran of timba and salsa of the 90s.

The foundation of Havana DPrimera

During the 90’s Cuban dance music undergoes a boom in salsa and timba ensembles. However, at the end of that decade, genres such as reggueton began to gain relevance in the scenarios and the taste of the public. Thanks to the work of Alexander Abreu, 15 of the best musicians of that moment come together in 2007 to form Havana DPrimera.

In 2008, they released their first album, Haciendo Historia, under the EGREM label and despite being an unquestionably an orchestra of timba, their work is characterized by a fusion with other Caribbean rhythms, jazz and Puerto Rican salsa.

“Pasaporte”, an essential song

The second disc of Havana DPrimera is named Pasaporte and thanks to it the band receives the international recognition. Then came the tours and great successes on the world stage, but Alexander Abreu and his musicians never forget their roots. Among their influences, they recognize the work of outstanding Cuban musicians of the stature of José Luis Cortés, Chucho Valdés, Juan Formell and Adalberto Álvarez and many more between traditional and contemporary.

Passport is an emblematic song in the discography of the group and has the peculiarity of playing songs typical of the true Cuban everyday life. The next installment, La vuelta al mundo, continues this journey with compositions such as Me dicen Cuba and the homonymous theme, which are samples of the artistic maturity of the band, obtaining the award for Best Album of Popular Dance Music in the Cubadisco 2015 Award, Besides the Grand Prize of the own contest.

Alexander Abreu, the visionary

He was born in 1976, a 6 of September, in the city of Cienfuegos and is considered one of the trumpeters most important of the last decades in our country. His previous career with HavanaD’Primera includes being a member of groups such as Irakere and Paulo FG y su Elite, as well as collaborating on recordings with Juan Formell y los Van Van, Klimax, Manolín «The doctor of salsa», Pachito Alonso, among others. In 2001 he won a Latin Grammy thanks to his participation in the album La rumba soy yo.

As director Alexander Abreu not only performs most of the musical arrangements of the orchestra, but also writes almost all Havana DPrimera themes. His idea of forming a complete groupong was considered in its beginnings as an imminent failure, nevertheless the work and the vision of Alexander Abreu catapulted the Cuban dance music back to the top of the preference of the national and international public. At present it is usual to find him in dissimilar collaborations with artists like Kelvis Ochoa, Gente de Zona, Issac Delgado and Leoni Torres.