The 89-year-old singer will appear via Facebook Live with the young revival big band from Matanzas on Saturday.
Clubs and bars in Cuba have shut down, and concerts have been canceled due to coronavirus concerns, but that does not mean that the oxymoronic idea of a silent Havana has become a reality.
Among the Cuban artists making music at home is 89-year-old Omara Portuondo, who will offer a concert on Saturday afternoon with the Orquesta Faílde on Facebook Live.
“We’ll take all the precautions,” says bandleader and flute player Ethiel Faílde, who is the great-great grandson of Miguel Faílde, the composer credited with the formal creation of the danzón at the end of the 19th century. “She’s for the most part confined at home, but she’s doing great.”