The Trombone Shorty Foundation, with the help of Cuba Educational Travel and Afro-Cuban musician Cimafunk, organized the fourth annual Getting Funky in Havana cultural exchange trip and music festival Jan. 16-20. The trip brought about 230 musicians and actors plus eight New Orleans students to Havana.
The four-day trip celebrated the strong musical and cultural connections between Cuba and the United States with support from the Gia Maione Prima Foundation and Horns to Havana.
New Orleans musicians who joined included Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Big Freedia, Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, Big Chief Juan Pardo and Jade Perdue.
With the support from the non-profit Horns to Havana, eight instruments were given to pre-selected students of the Guillermo Tomas School of Music in the Guanabocoa neighborhood of Havana. The visitors also donated six suitcases full of school supplies and music accessories like drum sticks and guitar strings.
After the instrument giveaway, the New Orleans students and students from the conservatory second-lined around the school together, with Cuban students throwing in their own sounds that bended with the traditional second-line brass notes.
Read the full feature by NOLA.com and view their photo gallery HERE.