Los Havana Knights

Biography

Updated: November 18, 2021

By Damian J Sanchez

Juan Manuel Piña Marques, who is a supporter and managing partner of the Damian J
Project, phoned early one morning in 2014. Asking if there was the possibility of creating
a new ensemble within the project to perform the songs Buena Vista Social Club had
resurrected in the early 2000s from early 20th century Cuban music. There was a venue
specifically requesting that type of repertoire, and Piña Marques saw this as a new
opportunity. The band would be performing on a weekly basis at a series of Spanish
tapas restaurants in Miami called Barceloneta. The terms were interesting, and with his
Cuban background in mind, this style of music particularly appealed to Damian J. The
problem was that, in trying to build on the original idea the Damian J Project was
established under, being jazz. It had to be somehow associated with jazz in order for
him to commit to playing the gigs and maintain the focus of the project. The resulting
idea was to perform a history of Latin Jazz from its inception on the island of Cuba.
This included the music of all of Latin America, telling of the experiments in Brazil
during the 1950s and Argentina at the turn of the century.

Los Havana Knights were born.

It was vastly unexplored territory in regards to Latin Jazz ensembles. Los Havana
Knights encompass all those memorable sounds, fusing jazz with Latin rhythms
throughout history. Few people have made a concerted effort to perform this type of
music and pay homage to those essential Latin jazz recordings. What’s more is that
prior to this conversation, a new potential collaborator had contacted Damian J asking
for work. He was an 80-year old percussionist who had actually played with Luciano
"Chano" Pozo back in the 1950s. With this new musical legend interested in
participating and the concept in mind, Los Havana Knights began. It is an ensemble
dedicated to focusing on the origins of Latin Jazz, from its inception on the island of
Cuba.

Los Havana Knights feature master conguero & percussionist Walkain "El Chino"
Dieguez, who, now at 87, has had the honor of performing with everyone from Beny
More and Celia Cruz to Carlos Santana. He also was fortunate enough to fill in on
congas with the first all-Cuban modern jazz orchestra called "Irakere" as well as with the
Cuban jazz fusion band "NG la Banda".
Another founding member was Elmer Ferreira, an acoustic guitarist and vocalist who
crooned those lush Havana ballads with an unmatched seal of authenticity. He was, in
part, the musical director for Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club and, in addition,
frequently performed with them as well.

Damian J. Sanchez plays flute and serves as lead vocalist in addition to directing the band
and providing those essential jazz improvisations on his soprano and tenor saxophones,
giving this group its unique sound.

Naldo Laboy was another founding member of Los Havana Knights, masterfully playing
the Puerto Rican Cuatro, a guitar-like, strummed harmonic instrument.

Several collaborators have joined since and this prestigious award-winning ensemble
has had the pleasure of having world-class musicians such as Roberto Gonzalez, a local
Miami pianist, and Jimmy Granda, a trumpeter and pianist graduate from Santa Clara's
top musical conservatory. Also, Alfonso Horritunier on the contrabass, Camilo on the
Cuban Trés instrument, and Axel Aleman, who attended the Florida International
University for music studies and currently plays both acoustic and electric bass to cover
all the different styles of Latin jazz.

The new ensemble went forth determined to preserve the music of Ernesto Lecuona,
Cesar Portillo de la Luz, Ernesto Duarte, and all of the masters of Cuban music and their
Latin American colleagues. It was their melodies that inspired the improvisations of this
sub-genre of jazz. History marks the meeting between American jazz trumpeter Dizzy
Gillespie and Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo in Havana, Cuba in 1946 as the beginning
of Latin Jazz's evolution. And that is a large part of what Los Havana Knights' sound
is based upon. Pozo immediately approached Dizzy with no words exchanged, bridging
the gap caused by the language barrier. Dizzy took out his trumpet and began
improvising jazz over the master congero’s rhythms. Los Havana Knights bring the
sounds of 1940s Havana, Cuba back to life with those traditional melodies tempered
with American jazz improvisation, hard-driving Latin grooves, call & response coros, and
high-energy musical climaxes heard often as part of their performances.

Los Havana Knights began in the spring of 2014 and have since continued to perform
in Miami and throughout South Florida in such venues as Barceloneta, Clandestino Pub,
The Annex, The Arsht Center’s Books & Books, Miami Children’s Museum, Pinch Me Gastrobar
& Market, and La Feria de San Miguel at Bayfront Park. They have also performed at
several festivals, such as the City of Miami’s Allapattah Neighborhood Holloween Festival in
2018. In addition to these venues, Los Havana Knights have been hired to play at
weddings, private parties, and select corporate events. Los Havana Knights are
currently in the process of recording their debut album to be released soon. In
November 2021, Los Havana Knights returned to the stage after almost 2 years of not
performing in public due to COVID-19. They completely sold out a ticketed concert
for the MUSICASAA Live Music organization in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
Los Havana Knights are an expandable 4-7 piece ensemble part of the Damian J
Project, Miami's Open Source Musical Collaboration.

Repertoire includes:
Leoucuona's La Comparsa

Drume Negrita

The Girl from Ipanema

Besame Mama

A Night in Tunisia

Groovin' High

Con Alma

Europa

Lagrimas Negras

Cachita

Tico-Tico