THE CUBAN HEARTBEAT ORCHESTRA

Mayelis Guyat - A journey through time: Little Mayelis Guyat squats in front of the radio and sings along to all the songs. She dreams of being on stage herself, but her mother insists on a degree in English. In 1995, Mayelis realizes her dream by touring Cuba with a band alongside the most renowned salseros. In 2000 she becomes the lead singer of the well-known Cotó y su Eco del Caribe. Later, Mayelis enjoys great success throughout Europe as a singer in the musical Paradise Road. Now a Berliner by choice, she follows in the footsteps of her idols Celia Cruz, Isaac Delgado, Gilberto Santa Rosa - and like them, she infects the audience with this mixture of joie de vivre and joy. Her cooperation with Alfred Mehnert and his Berlin Metropol Orchestra should also be familiar to Berlin jazz fans. The English diploma hangs on the wall at home in Guantánamo.Yuliesky González is one of the outstanding trumpeters of his generation in Cuba. As an improviser he is completely in the great tradition of Chappotin. But also as a Latin Jazz soloist he does not spare breathtaking solos. Yuliesky has toured with the top Cuban Timba Band Habana de Primera, Felix Valoy, De Adentro y Afuera, Changuito & Tierra Firme, La Nueva Ritmo Oriental, Manolito Simonet, Son del Nene, Pupi y Los Que Son Son...Regis Molina is a musician and composer from Havana, Cuba, currently living in Berlin. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays alto and baritone saxophone, flute, clarinet and Afro-Cuban percussion. Molina's passion and dedication to music has earned him several awards, such as the 2007 Latin Grammy, and has had him perform worldwide with renowned musicians and bands such as Till Brönner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Jeff "Tain" Watts.Daniel Stawinski - the well-traveled pianist and arranger is known for his energetic. rhythmic playing rooted in both jazz and Cuban music. He has toured worldwide on 4 continents with the Yilian Canizares Quintet and performed with Felipe Cabrera, Alune Wade, Irving Acao, Ray de la Paz, Tony Vega, Diego Pinera, Djeli Moussa Diawara, among others. Already in 2005 he was awarded with the Berlin Jazz&Blues Award.The Colombian bassist Checho Gomez is an integral part of the Latin and jazz scene in Berlin. He is known, for example, as a musician of the Cuban Hartbeat Orchestra and the band Conexion with Mayelis Guyat. He has also played acclaimed gigs with the award-winning Balkan Spirit Ensemble.Robby Geerken is an absolutely exceptional percussionist and conga virtuoso. The list of his musical partners is long: for example, he has played with Steve Swallow, Jose Luis Quintana "Changuito", Airto Moreira, Flora Purim and Alex Sipiagin, but also with recognized Cuban folklore groups such as the Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba, Clave y Guaguancó and Yoruba Andabo.Javier Reyes has enriched the Berlin jazz scene for many years with the irresistible grooves of his native Colombia and, as a drummer, exemplifies the fascinating combination of Caribbean rhythms with the creative jazz spirit. He has played with Samuel Torres, Peter Weniger, David Gilmore, Marcus Belgrave, Kelvin Sholar, Marie Séférian, among others....