Septeto Santiaguero: Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST 2023

For the third year, Tiny Desk concerts team up with globalFEST for a thrilling online music festival — Tiny Desk meets globalFEST.

Bob Boilen | January 29, 2023
Hosted by Angélique Kidjo, the series echoes globalFEST’s live flagship event in spirit but is centered in the framework of the Tiny Desk concert series. This collaboration presents exclusive video performances from nine artists filmed in their respective homelands, on the road and in exile all over the world. There will be three nights of concerts, each featuring three bands, on consecutive nights beginning Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. ET. The globalFEST team wrote the following biographical information about each performer.

Septeto Santiaguero, Cuba
Septeto Santiaguero was founded in 1995 by members of Melodías de Ayer, a group formed in the early 1960s, together with the Estudiantina Invasora and the Cuarteto Patria, had for over three decades animated many a day and night at the Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba. In 1993 and 1994, a number of young musicians from other septets — such as Sones de Oriente and Septeto Luz — joined Melodías de Ayer, and Fernando Dewar, a tres player, took over the leadership of the group. Seeking to return to their roots, the group decided to give up the mambos and stick to the discipline of the traditional septet: guitar, tres, bongo, clave, maracas, acoustic bass and trumpet, with the addition of the drum, which it retained in honor of Arsenio Rodríguez. In the Santiago de Cuba style, the two singers maintain the first and second harmony with equal emphasis. The group preserves and pays homage to one of Cuba’s most important musical forms, with a vitality demonstrating that the septeto tradition is still fresh and alive in Santiago de Cuba today.

SET LIST
Inocencio Heredia Castillo: "Y Sigo Pa'lante"
Rudens Matos Matos: "Recuerdos del Ayer"
Ignacio Piñeiro: "La Meneadera"

MUSICIANS
Fernando E. Dewar Webster: tres, vocals
Giraldo Bravo: güiro, vocals
Inocencio Heredia Castillo: maracas, vocals
Rudens Matos Matos: guitar, vocals
Dairon Robert Salazar: bajo
Gabriel Montero González: conga Low, conga high, jam block
Carlos Danger Plana: bongos, cencerro, tools
Alain Brito: trumpet, vocals

CREDITS
Producer: ALLEGRO Productions | Yanni Labori, Alexander Legro
Assistants: Yasmany Dutel, Gustavo Savigne, Vivian Puebla
Audio: Fernando Dewar Romero, Norge Matute Pelegrin, Damian Busqueta Mineto
Director of Photography / Camera 3: Adrian Rey
Camera 1: Ray Mila Vega
Camera 2: Freddy Miguel
Special thanks to Salón del Son en Santiago de Cuba, Centro de Patrimonio Cultural de Santiago de Cuba, Centro del Libro de Santiago de Cuba, EGREM Santiago de Cuba, Centro Cultural Interactivo ALLEGRO

TINY DESK TEAM
Creative Director: Bob Boilen
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Editing: Joshua Bryant
Tiny Desk Team: Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer

GLOBALFEST TEAM
Co-Directors: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, and Bill Bragin
2023 Curators: Shanta Thake, Isabel Soffer, Bill Bragin, and Meera Dugal
Event Producer: Ian Thake
Host: Angélique Kidjo
Legal Services: Tamizdat
Legal Services: Duane Morris
Video Production: Karim Tabbaa

FUNDERS:
The Mellon Foundation
The National Endowment for the Arts
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

SPECIAL THANKS:
Ken Umezaki
Fabian Alsultany
Steven Kirkpatrick
David Komar