Charanga Habanera

The group was founded in 1988 by Juan Carlos González. It was made up of young talents from the Cuban School of Art and was inspired by popular Cuban-style elements of the 1940s and 1950s. Their music style was originally the Cha-Cha-Cha, Mambo, Bolero and Guaracha. The management of the band took over initially José Picayos, who was replaced by David Calzado. Her first song was De La Habana a Montecarlo, which was inspired by a guest appearance in Montecarlo. During this time, they appeared on international stages starring stars such as Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer, Barry White, James Brown, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour, Jerry Lewis, Kool and the Gang and Whitney Houston. In the 1990s when the new style of music Timba came up, they signed a record deal with the company Magic Music Universal and reached a high popularity with their new modern and danceable music style. In 1998, they received the Best Band of the Year Award, and between 1998 and 1999, they achieved high chart prices on radio and television. Due to disputes within the group in the 1990s there were partial separations from the band and start-ups such as Charanga Forever and Dany Lozada y su Timba Cubana. Charanga Habanera has had several international tours in Japan, Europe (1996), Mexico, Argentina, Peru, USA and North Africa. With their album Live in the USA they won the 2003 Grammy Award. With the video Orgullosamente Latino they won in three categories best video, best album and best group. Meanwhile, Charanga Habanera has also taken elements from the reggaeton.