Alexander Abreu and Havana D'Primera: Cuban music for the world

Alexander Abreu wants to make the whole world happy - and he believes his music is the key.

''Energy and joy are the base of everything [I do],'' the Cuban trumpeter and leader of 14-piece salsa band Havana D'Primera says. A look around the room at the band's regular Tuesday gig in Havana bears this out: week in, week out, there is a sea of smiling faces.

Abreu, who is widely regarded as the best trumpeter in his homeland, is confident that even those who are unfamiliar with Cuban music can find something to like. ''There are people that listen to rock, people that don't have anything to do with the world of salsa, yet they go to my concerts because they find something different …''

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Havana D'Primera's most recent album is the very good Cantor del Pueblo.

First published in the Sydney Morning Herald on August 30, 2013.