Juan Formell
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Juan Climaco Formell Cortina. Director, bassist, arranger, composer, singer and record producer. He was one of the most important figures in Cuban popular musical culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. He was the founder and director for more than four decades of the legendary orchestra Los Van Van. He knew how to maintain the particular sonority, in an environment conducive to the existence of this type of groups. He is the author of a large number of songs that uniquely recreate the life of the Cuban people.
He was an ambassador of Cuban music and teacher of several generations of artists. At the end of 1969 he created Los Van Van, with whom he continues and expands his creative work, full of research and experimentation, fundamentally based on the use of the expressive resources of the son. Songo emerged from this orientation, a name that he and José Luís Quintana (Changuito) gave to a new rhythm that was decisive in its later creation. In 1981 he included the trombones in his charanga to reinforce the central register of his orchestra. Many of his most famous creations can be found on this stage with Los Van Van, such as I bring you, Chirrín chirrán, I arrived, I arrived, No, no, The dance of the tired ox, Above the level, Havana can't stand it anymore, Go , come and move, Artisans of space, La titimanía, El negro no tiene ná, among many others.
Along with his creative work within dance music, Formell maintained his creative work within the line of the song and musicalized poems by Nicolás Guillén such as When I arrived in this world belonging to the Mi son entero series; he composed music for theater, including La Parrillada, directed by Abraham Rodríguez, 1984 and Vivir en Santa Fe by playwright Nicolás Dorr, 1986; for the cinema he composed the soundtrack for The Birds Throwing the Escopegun by director Rolando Díaz, 1984; and for television La Rueda de Casino by José Milián, 1992. In addition, he made innumerable presentations as an author and performer at national events promoted by cultural institutions and international tours around the world. His artistic creations and results with his orchestra have become models for other musical groups in Cuba and abroad.
He recorded numerous albums with EGREM and other record companies and won the Grammy Award in 1999 with his CD "Llegó...Van Van" (Van Van is here).