Grammy award winners, Yoruba Andabo, a company of 15 singers, percussionists and dancers will take the stage and whirl the 700 person capacity venue into a pulsing celebration of the traditional Afro-Cuban culture never before experienced in London. Audiences can expect traditional melodic chants and prayers to the mesmeric beat of the Bata drums or the Abaka, the colourful dance of ‘the little devils’.

Changüi means ‘dance party’ and this is what Changüi Santiago have been doing best since their inception in the patio of Cuba’s Bacardi Museum in 1999. The group work an array of instruments that are unique to Cuba, such as the trés, the distinctive Cuban guitar, and the guayo, originally a homemade coconut grater. The band’s dance duet will also add to the party atmosphere that is representative of the traditional parties held in the Cuban mountains since the 1900’s.

Straight into the mix is Papo Record who earned his hip-hop stripes in the barrios of Havana’s underworld. ‘Hip hop breakthrough story’ and ‘The Best Newcomer’ from the Cuban Music Awards will take us on a lyrical ride that shows us just what he has picked up on international tours of Panama and Brazil, where he represented Cuba at The Copacabana Festival.

The best short films from the Havana film school in honour of their 20th anniversary will be premiering in the upstairs lounge supported by visuals from urban video jockey collective Triggerset, and to celebrate the event, Havana Masters have produced a cd sampler of the best of the winners and nominees of this year’s Cubadisco, available in stores from Oct 1.

With the world famous Floridita bar serving over 20 different types of mojitos alone and a well stocked humidor on hand you will be transported right back to the heady hey days of Havana.

Entry: £15 (Includes a complimentary Havana Club cocktail)
Doors open 6pm – First band on stage at 7pm

Tickets for this event are available from Ticketweb 08700 600 100
For online bookings and information visit: www.cubanmusicawards.com

If you can’t make it down, don’t worry as the kind folks at Havana masters have put out a compilation of tracks from this year’s award winners in Cuba, The Best of the Cuban Music Awards 2006. Big names internationally like Isaac Delgado rub shoulders with emerging stars and lesser known folklorists. Expect reggaeton and hip hop, traditional and contemporary sounds on this peek through the windows of the music scene in Cuba.