The soundtrack to the 2019 documentary film A Tuba to Cuba is a vibrant album featuring songs the Preservation Hall Jazz Band recorded while on tour in Cuba and after returning home to New Orleans. Also included are a handful of archival songs recorded by previous incarnations of the storied ensemble. As with many of the group's recent albums, including 2013's That's It! and 2016's So It Is, A Tuba to Cuba showcases the band's abundantly cross-pollinated brand of traditional New Orleans jazz. While the titular tuba, played here by bandleader Ben Jaffe, takes a central role on the album, so do many of the Cuban musical traditions the Preservation Hall encountered on their journey. Several of the songs here -- like the buoyant, handclap-driven "Tumba" and the jubilantly funky "Keep Your Head Up" with vocalist Eme Alfonso -- sound more like impromptu jams, deftly combining Afro-Cuban percussion rhythms with New Orleans Mardi Gras energy. Similarly engaging is the upbeat "I Am," with its ringing trumpet melody line, and the mid-tempo stroll of "Kreyol." Also adding a cross-cultural flavor are vintage archival tracks like Alejandro Almenares' yearning guitar/vocal feature "Las Palomas" from the 1940s and Billie De De Pierce's jubilant rendition of the traditional Cuban song "La Manicero" (aka "The Peanut Vendor"), which was plucked from the Preservation Hall's own musical vaults. More than just a souvenir of an affectionately captured journey, A Tuba to Cuba is a heartfelt celebration of the richly shared musical heritage that connects New Orleans and Cuba. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi

1		Yesteryear
2		Tumba
3		I Am
4		Descarga del Son
5		Keep Your Head Up (feat. Eme Alfonso)
6		Corazón
7		Eleggua
8		Kreyol
9		El Manicero
10		Solitude
11		Las Palomas
12		Malecón

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