JG, Sounding Like You See It in the Salsa Festival

JG Almeida's is one of the youngest groups performing in the new edition of the Salsa Festival in Cuba, scheduled for the Club 500 in the capital from today until February 25, 2024.

With the young singer Juan Guillermo Almeida, we talked about the concert that he will offer on the final day of the event.

What will be JG's proposal at the Salsa Festival in Cuba?

”I will be releasing several songs from my new album, which is produced by maestro David Calzado. The album is called “Como se Pon Juancito”, but there are 10 songs written by my father brought to our vibe, to contemporary music, to the music of the dancer as such. There are 10 songs by him, completely unreleased, between boleros and son music. David and I sat down, we did some research work, we took great care of the lyrics and all the elements that we contributed to each one, but we gave them catchy choruses, the sayings in the streets that are used in the daily life of Cubans and that’s what I will be giving away at the Salsa Festival.

“Also, thanks to Maykel Blanco, who opened the doors to the Peruvian market for me, I have put together several covers in the orchestra of world-renowned artists like Marco Antonio Solís, Daddy Yanqui and we are also including them in our repertoire.”

But you talk to me about musicians with totally different styles...

“Yes, but we have all taken them to salsa, to the sound of JG.”

You are among the youngest musicians who are part of the Salsa Festival programme. How important is this to you?

"For me, as a young artist, it’s very important, since I have the task of growing in front of all the popular orchestras that are going to be there, for example, on the day of my performance, Adalberto Álvarez and Havana D' Primera are closing, so I have to play a good role at the beginning so that everything goes well. So it’s an opportunity and also a challenge, a goal I set for myself, because it has to go well.

“I’m very proud to be in this Festival created by Maykel Blanco, which gives space to so many Cuban musicians to perform.”

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff