During Canterbury Festival 2019 Kent College student Morgan Goodall interviewed Classico Latino prior to their performance with Omar Puente at the Great Hall. We are delighted to be able to share Morgan’s interview below:

On the 25th of October 2019, I interviewed the band Classico Latino with their special guest, the renowned jazz violinist Omar Puente, before they prepared to launch their fifth album, Havana Classic, which was recorded in Havana, Cuba, in 2018 as one of the first musical concerts in our new ‘Great Hall’. The inspiration behind their new album was a way to pay respect to the members of the group who originally came from Cuba (the other albums they’ve released are based on music from the home countries of other members of the band).

The group was formed by Ivan and Graham when they were students together at Cambridge University around 20 years ago when they decided to play Latin music together and the other musicians were added to the mix later. They say that the diversity of each album makes it difficult for them to choose a favourite album, as each has been fun to record, with each album being from different cultures and different styles, with influences such as Freddy Mercury, Handel, Brahms and even Disney. One of the best things they think about performing live is the feedback and spontaneity because they can see the reactions the music creates as it is performed, usually resulting in smiles, and occasionally dancing!

Classico Latino were very excited about performing in the ‘Great Hall’, saying the acoustics were great and the seats were comfy! I asked the group if they had any advice for musicians to get into more non-traditional music in the future, and they said that it’s ok to make mistakes and learn from them, but to never give up. I would like to thank Classico Latino for their time and I hope that they continue to be successful in the future.

– Morgan Goodall