Los Van Van

Los Van Van is a Cuban band led by bassist Juan Formell, and is the most recognized post-revolution Cuban bands. Formell is one of the most important figures in contemporary Cuban music.

In 2011, they collaborated with Carlinhos Brown to record the song “Soy Loco por Tí, América” for the Red Hot Organization’s most recent charitable album “Red Hot+Rio 2.” The album is a follow-up to the 1996 “Red Hot + Rio.” Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.

In 1967, Formell became musical director of Elio Reve’s charanga orchestra. The sound of Orquesta Revé at that time was a unique blend of Cuban son and late 60s rock. Formell reformed the group into Changui ’68, and then founded his own group, Los Van Van, on December 4, 1969.

Juan Formell was convinced that he could capture the imagination of Cuba’s younger generation by infusing Revé’s arrangements with elements of North American rock and roll, creating an odd new style that he called changüí 68. Early the next year, almost exactly a decade after Revé’s band had jumped ship to form [Orquesta] Ritmo Oriental, . . . Formell incited the most famous of the Revé mutinies and absconded with the majority of the musicians to form a group which has stayed at the true leading edge of its country’s music longer than any other . . . at first Formell relied heavily on the songs and stylistic tendencies of his previous work with Revé. The harmonies, never before heard in Cuban music, were clearly borrowed from North American pop—in some cases rather corny North American pop . . . their sudden commercial popularity shattered the formulaic limitations on harmony to which Cuban popular music had faithfully adhered for so long . . . rhythmically, the 1969 group made the transition from changüí 68 to the first incarnation of a style which Formell called songo (Moore 2011)

The original personnel of Los Van Van were: Juan Formell (leader, bass guitar, vocals); Orlando Canto (flute); Raúl “El Yulo” Cárdenas (congas); Blas Egües (drum kit); Luis Marsilli (cello); José Luis Martínez (electric guitar, vocals); Julio Noroña (güiro); Pupy Pedroso (keyboard); Miguel Angel “Lele” Rasalps (vocals); William Sánchez (electric guitar), and Gerardo Miró, Jesús Linare, Fernando Leyva, and Iván Rocha (violins).

1970s

José Luis “Changuito” Quintana replaced Egües in 1970. Changuito greatly expanded the parameters of songo, and introduced a revolutionary conga and timbales technique, by incorporating snare drum rudiments.[2] Changuito is the most influential Cuban percussionist of the latter twentieth century.

“Los Van Van technique on conga”

Changuito’s rhythmic contributions coincided with Formell’s maturation as a songwriter and LVV launched into a six year period which alone would have been sufficient to establish them as one of Cuba’s most important bands. LVV’s recordings from 1970-1976 are the definite starting point for anyone seeking to learn about the enigmatic genre of songo (Moore 2011).[3]

In 1974 Los Van Van released their landmark record Tránsito (LD-3421) [Los Van Van v. II]. Also that year, vocalist Pedro Calvo left Orquesta Ritmo Oriental to join Los Van Van. Calvo fronted the band for two decades. Los Van Van v. V (Areíto LD-378) (1979) premiered compositions by Pedro Calvo, José Luis “El Tosco” Cortés, and Pupy Pedroso, who would go on to become the group’s second most prolific composer after Formell.

1980s

On El baile del buey cansao (Areíto LD-4045) [Los Van Van v. VII] (1982), Changuito added timbales, which he altered with drum kit. With their 1984 release of Anda ven y muévete (Areíto LD-4164) [Los Van Van v. IX], Van Van began getting unprecedented international attention. The title track borrows heavily from Lionel Ritchie’s hit “All Night Long.” Salsa singer Rubén Blades later covered “Muévete.”

Los Van Van Group History