Grupo Danson

The award winning Cuban group Grupo Danson tells a story of worlds meeting and melting to create a soothing, contemporary and modern form of Cuban salsa. Grupo Danson consists of six Cuban and three Danish musicians. Together they represent a wide range of musical genres from salsa to jazz and on to pop and rock. All the Cuban musicians now live in Denmark (except Alexander Abreu) but are part of the so-called “new generation of Cuban musicians”. Grupo Danson distinguishes itself from other Cuban bands by melting completely different cultures together –a fine mix of Cuban and Danish musical talent. Grupo Danson is: Alexander Abreu vocals and trumpet, Ernesto Manuitt vocals, Carlos Pérez trombone and vocals, Mia Engsager trombone and backing vocals, Yasser Morejón bass and backing vocals, Rune Thorsteinsson piano, Peter Ehler congas, Antonio ”el negro” Moreaux timbales and drums, Jorge Egües bongo and guiro. Cuban tradition and modern timba-feel Grupo Danson bridges the old Cuban style called Son with the more contemporary Timba. Son is the backbone of Cuban salsa, the traditional sound in which Cuban music has its roots. Grupo Danson initially focused on Son, as they found it gave them a solid basis and a mutual understanding of what Cuban salsa is all about. Slowly they started adding the timba-feel and the group is now one of Europe´s Best Timba bands. In other words, this Cuban-Danish salsa orchestra masters both the swingy, traditional Cuban music such as the son montuno and the cha cha cha, as well as the more contemporary grooves and rhythms. A new era In 2005 the band started a new era when they invited Carlos Pérez´s old friend and colleague, Alexander Abreu to Denmark. Alexander Abreu is a world famous trumpet player and he fell in love with the project and started writing songs for Grupo Danson. These songs became part of the debut release “Mi Música” which also contains original compositions made by Carlos Pérez, Mia Engsager and Cuban troubadour Alexis Mendez. Besides from being a great trumpet player and composer Alexander is also a charismatic singer and together with Ernesto Manuitt, the other lead singer of the group, they perform a great live show. “Mi Musica”, the title track of the Grupo Danson debut release, is composed by Alexander and won the prestigious Djembe Award for “Best World Track of 2005”!