Spontaneous and expressive as always, Eduardo Sandoval told CubaSí about his participation in a new edition of the Salsa Festival in Cuba, which will begin on February 19 at the Club 500 in Vedado, capital of Cuba.

For the first time with your orchestra, how does it feel?

“I have participated, I think, in all the editions, not with my orchestra, because it has only been created for a year, but with other groups, I have been part of Havana Primera, Isaac Delgado, El Niño y la Verdad, many orchestras with which I have been lucky enough to work with, but this time I’m going to perform for the first time with my group, which is called Eduardo Sandoval and his orchestra and I gave it a slogan “The Young Salsa of Cuba”, because it’s like a new movement, right? I’m very happy, because a week ago we celebrated one year and I received this blessing after seven months, they called me and told me: you are going to be part of the Festival de La Salsa.”

How do you feel about this opportunity?

“Believe me, it makes me feel like a great artist when I am not. I am just starting out and being at an event where the best orchestras in this country participate, the greatest artists, is a great blessing. I’m super grateful, happy, and we are going to give our best, we are going to do nice things there, really.”

When you say that the slogan of your orchestra is “the young salsa of Cuba” what new things does that imply in the music you make?

“That implies that my salsa, my young timba, comes with elements, for example, of reggaeton, of the new fusion that’s happening now, but without losing the essence of Cuban music, that is, it’s contemporary with what already exists. I’m not inventing anything, just I'm simply mixing and adding my flavour to the new, to that legacy left by great musicians, as they did in their time, for example, Juan Fomell was a visionary of music who was constantly feeding back, renewing, without losing his essence, which was songo music.”

What can you tell us about the proposal you bring to the Festival?

“Very nice salsa, but there’s also son music, a show… I'm going to play my trombone with its jazz moments, a very nice show, so that people consume a bit of everything. “I'm going to be playing “Bonito Todo”, which was my first song, it's the one that people know the most, “No digas que el dolor te mata”, which was a song with Isaac Delgado, “Viral”, which I did with Alexander Abreu and other songs, of course…”

Your band also faces a huge challenge, can you tell us?

“Yes, we are going to accompany Brunela, the Peruvian artist invited to the Festival. We have never shared a stage, I don't know her, but I have heard her music and it was perfect. I received a call from Maykel, he said: we want your orchestra to accompany Brunela, and I replied, of course, it’s a pleasure for me.”

Although, of course, the news is the participation, for the first time, of Eduardo Sandoval and his orchestra, you will not leave the trombone at home either, right?

“No, the trombone will always be by my side. The trombone is mine, it’s my brother, it’s the one that goes with me, it’s my other half. I simply decided to sing because the song, the lyrics, the words have another side, another vibe and it reaches more people, but the trombone will always be with me. In fact, I will play accompanying Brunela and also with Isaac and with Alexander Abreu.”

As a young exponent of our popular dance music, what importance do you give to an event like this?

“It’s very much needed, we know that this Festival is a great gust of fresh air for Cuban music, we know where it’s going, what’s being heard on the street and this is an event that’s a blessing for everyone, to keep raising that music, to continue giving it the worth it has, because Cuban music really has a very great talent.

“Sometimes, it’s very sad to arrive in a country, for example Colombia, and see that there people sing the songs more than here in Cuba, straight examples are Van Van, Havana D`Primera, Isaac Delgado, Paulito FG. It’s impressive to arrive in another country and see how a mass of people sings necesito una amiga, by Isaac or Me dicen Cuba, by Havana D`Primera. So, this festival is something very big and very nice.”

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff