Research Catalog
Queens of Havana : the amazing adventures of Anacaona, Cuba's legendary all-girl dance band
- Title
- Queens of Havana : the amazing adventures of Anacaona, Cuba's legendary all-girl dance band / Alicia Castro ; as told to Ingrid Kummels and Manfred Schäfer ; translated by Steven T. Murray.
- Author
- Castro, Alicia, 1920-
- Publication
- New York : Grove Press ; [Berkeley, Calif.] : Distributed by Publishers Group West, 2007.
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Request in advance | ML421.A465 C313 2007 | Off-site |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Description
- 393 pages : illustrations; 23 cm
- Summary
- "The 1930s saw the capital of Cuba undergoing a seismic cultural renaissance. At night in the open-air cafes, tourists and foreign investors rubbed shoulders with the likes of Ernest Hemingway, sipped cocktails amid Cuban beauties, and listened to the suggestive melodies spilling from Havana's unmatched musical community." "It was rare for women to visit the nighttime cafes, and unheard of for them to perform. But in the feverish spirit of the times, anything seemed possible, and when greengrocer Matias Castro, father of thirteen children, went bankrupt, his eldest daughter had the idea of starting an all-girl band with her sisters - an outrageous idea in macho Cuba but a surefire money maker. Every evening, as the rum began to flow, Anacaona took to the stage and let rip - jazz, mambo, rumba, and cha-cha - their infectious rhythms, cheeky lyrics, and sheer sex appeal conquered their audiences' hearts in an Instant." "In this memoir, saxophonist Alicia Castro, now in her eighties, looks back on the dazzling history of Anacaona, from their international breakthrough. In 1938 to appearances with Dizzy Gillespie, Cella Cruz, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway Anacaona played for presidents and princesses, were showered with critical praise, and survived the Communist Revolution's crackdown on creative freedom to play for thirty more years."--BOOK JACKET.
- Uniform Title
- Anacaona. English
- Alternative Title
- Anacaona.
- Subjects
- Note
- First published: London : Atlantic, c2007.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 391).
- ISBN
- 9780802118561
- 0802118569
- OCLC
- ocn154669096
- 154669096
- SCSB-9094291
- Owning Institutions
- Columbia University Libraries