The Van Van

Los Van Van is a Cuban orchestra, founded on December 4, 1969 by bassist Juan Formell in Havana, Cuba. It is one of the most popular Salsa Bands in the World.

Beginnings

Vital to the success and peculiar sound of Los Van Van was the career of its director, Juan Formell. Before founding Los Van Van, on December 4, 1969, he ventured as a double bassist, from the Orchestra of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television to various son and jazz groups. His time with the Revé Orchestra marked a decisive moment in the search for the style he wanted to achieve; He tested his innovative spirit by providing some sound and format solutions.

Formell incorporated the bass, the organette, the electric guitar, the violins and replaced the five-piece flute with the system flute. The vocal work was replaced by the quartets' own montage of voices. This experimentation served as a starting point so that, once Los Van Van was created, its contagious rhythm would set standards in popular dance music.

1970s

At the beginning of this decade, important critics and experts on the subject envisioned the successful future of Los Van Van. Juan Formell, maintaining the contributions made to the previous group, La Revé, enriched the set with other instruments, such as percussion, which were weaving what he would define as the songo. This way of approaching son with elements taken from jazz and rock consists of a rhythmic design in the percussion combined with a figurative piano and bass, then creating different harmonic and melodic timbres.

José Luis Quintana (Changuito), Raúl Cárdenas (El Yulo), César Pedroso (Pupy), Pedrito Calvo, Fernando Leyva, Jesús Linares, Orlando Canto, José Luis Cortés (El Tosco), Julio Noroña, Gerardo Miró, William Sánchez, José Luis Martínez and Miguel Ángel Rasalps (El Lele), along to their director, they explored all possible forms and then arrived at this rhythm that becomes the basis of their sound.

In those years they recorded their first five albums and debuted on several international stages.

1980s

This represented an important period for the orchestra: they broke their own style by incorporating the harsh and cracked sound of the trombones, they also introduced synthesizers and keyboards with multiple sound possibilities. The use of synthesized saxophone and electric violins attracted a lot of attention at that time.

In terms of recording, they added new triumphs to their credit, such as: El Baile del Buey Cansao (1982), Anda, Ven y Muévete (1984), Havana Sí (1985), Eso Que Anda (1986), Nosotros Los Del Caribe (1987). Finally, Songo (1988) ushers in a new stage.

In these years his music transcends Latin American borders and stages in the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and Germany are witnesses of a rhythm capable of infecting the most skeptical of dancers.

1990s

Los Van Van began the 1990s with a great tour throughout Cuba celebrating their 20 years. They evolve towards timbral contemporaneity and go in search of more complex and precious expressions like the pad.

Their productions leave no doubt that they reach maturity: pieces like “Que le den candela” and “That's my problem”, from the album Azúcar (1993), “Soy normal, natural ” and “What a surprise”, from Lo Último En Vivo (1994), “Deja la ira” and “De Igual a Igual”, from Ay Dios Amráme! (1995) and “This puts your head in a bad mood” and “Llévala a tu vacilón” from Te Pone La Cabeza Mala (1997), as well as “Permiso que van Van arrived”, “El negro estar cooking ” and “Temba tumba timba”, from Llegó... Van Van (1999), are works that have mercilessly devastated the context of salsa, due to their contagious rhythm, joy and good taste. They all retain the group's stamp even when they use other orchestral resources.

Since 2000

The year 2000 thanks a work of more than thirty years with the success of the album Llegó Van Van (or Van Van is here) at the Latin Grammy Awards.

In January 2010, the song "A Cali" It was chosen by popular vote as one of the themes of the 52nd Cali Fair, in Cali (Colombia); The song reached 7,905 of the 30,742 votes, and with it 26% of the total vote.

Style

Los Van Van was the first Cuban group to use a synthesizer. José Luis Quintana (Changuito) for many years was the band's main percussionist and, together with Juan Formell, creator of the group's characteristic rhythm called songo. The pianist and co-author, with Formell, of many numbers in the orchestra, César Pedroso (Pupy), left the group in 2001 and currently directs his own orchestra Pupy and Los que Son Son.

A hallmark of the group is the use of picaresque, irony, and costumbrismo in their songs. Becoming a kind of chronicle of Cuban reality, its texts offer a social circumstance, themes that recreate the humorous nature of Cuban daily life.

Discography

• The Vans, Vol I (1969)
• The Van (1974)
• Juan Formell and Los Van (1974)
• Orchestra Los Van (1974)
• Van. (1976)
• The Cansao Buey Dance (1982)
• What a Pist (1983)
• Come on, come and move (1984)
• Havana Yes (1985)
• That goes (1986)
• Al Son del Caribe (1987)
• The Black Has No Na (1988)
• "I guess (1988)
• Chronicles (1989)
• Here the one who dances wins! (1990)
• Sugar (1992)
• # Dancing Mojado # (Dancing Wet) (1993)
• The Last Live (1994)
• Oh, God, love me! (1995)
• From Cuba With Salsa Formell (1997)
• I'll give you the wrong head (1997)
• He came... Van. (Van Van Is Here) (1999)
• In El Malecón de La Habana (2002)
• Live (2004)
• Chapeando (2004)
• Burning (2009)
• Machinery (2011)
• The Fantasy (Homenaje A Juan Formell) (2014)
• Legacy (2018)

1. Legacy
2. Let's have a good time.
3. Vanvanidina
4. Guilty of nothing
5. Vanvaneo
6. Step
7. That Pena
8. I miss you.
9. Because you do.
10. I'm not a man.
11. Done Pa Bailar
12. Legacy of Life
13. Amiga Mia
14. Come on, Camina Juan

• My Songo (2020)