U.S. blocks tour of Cuban band
A two-month U.S. tour by the 15-piece Cuban jazz-pop band ¡Cubanismo! has been canceled because its members were denied visas to enter the U.S. The group’s 43-show, 34-city itinerary included a May 15 stop at UCLA.
¡Cubanismo!, made up of musicians from various Cuban bands, has played in the U.S. several times over the last decade, including last year, after other groups from Cuba had been refused entry to the U.S. because of heightened tensions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“Their situation is slightly different than most Cuban bands,” said Chris Goldsmith of the San Francisco-based Rosebud Agency, which booked the U.S. tour, “in that they are not a band that has played in Cuba and they’ve never received money from the Cuban government.”
Goldsmith said no explanation was given by the State Department for the denial of visas for this tour, which would have started last Friday and run through May 28.
*
Randy Lewis
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
