Utopia at the Tun Tun
Text and Photos by Irina Echarry
HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 20 — The Tun Tun Piano Bar is a pleasant place though distant from the center of the capital; it’s located on 35th Avenue and 20th St. in the Miramar/ Playa area.
On Saturdays from 5:00 in the afternoon to 9:00 at night, come various trova musicians from different generations to offer their lyrical passages to the rhythm of guitar strings behind shots of rum.
“La Utopia” is the name of this program led by Fidel Diaz, the editor of the cultural magazine El Caiman Barbudo (The Bearded Cayman), and where admission costs 30 pesos for nationals and 5 CUCs for foreigners.
Once inside, the rotating colored lights and the general ambiance take us back to the distant decade of the ‘80s, when on any corner one could hear a minstrel offering their verses to anyone who wanted to listen.
Now, following the course of technology and aesthetic changes, the singer-songwriters recall the sea and its depths or eternal love, while at the same time a cell phone sounds or someone cracks open a can of coke or a beer. All the sounds unite.
The public is calm; almost all of them are acquaintances and lovers of the art form.
On Saturday, October 16, the session was dedicated to Samuel Aguila (trova musician) and Julio Cesar Guanche (essayist and historian), as the host Fidelito Diaz opened the afternoon with his version of “La Silla,” by Silvio Rodriguez. Later Liliana Balance and Ariel Diaz —in addition to singing— talked about their CD project “Pueblo sin ley”; and a virtually unknown duo from Quivican, made up of Karen and Erick Cordero, recognized in one of their songs that “there is no perfect song.”
Also on hand was trova producer and musician Ihosvany Bernal along with Pedrito Beritan, who came out singing and giving thanks to those of us who were there and to those who “believe in La Utopia, although some say that when one approaches it, it moves further away, but here we are – close to it.”
In the customary audiovisual sequence, that of the “living ghosts,” according to Fidelito, videos could be appreciated featuring Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Carlos Varela, Fito Paez and others.
To confirm the holding of any future session, you can call either of the following phone numbers: 204-0447 or 202-6147