Cuban Jazz and Rumba Tour 2026

Cuban Jazz & Rumba: A Musician’s Tour of Havana

For six days, we want to show you the music of Havana as we experience it ourselves. We are working musicians here, and our plan is to take you where we go to listen, learn, and play.

You’ll spend evenings in the city’s best clubs for contemporary Cuban jazz. The specific venues change nightly based on who is playing. We follow the scene closely to find the most interesting performances, whether it’s a tight quartet experimenting with new harmonies or a big band testing out material.

To properly understand rumba, we will travel outside Havana to the city of Matanzas. It is a place deeply connected to the music’s history. There, we will arrange a private session with members of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. They are a legendary, multi-generational group and Grammy award winners. Engaging with them directly in their home city provides a rare look into the traditions of the form.

We also set aside an afternoon for a private listening session in a recording studio. The acoustics are precise. You can sit with the band and hear the articulation of every instrument without amplification. It’s a unique way to study arrangements and the interplay between musicians.

How This Tour Is Different:

• Guided by Peers: Your guides are professional musicians active in the local scene. We can help you analyze the music you’re hearing, introduce you to other players, and give you a practical context for everything you see and hear.
• A Handpicked Itinerary: We build the schedule each day around the city’s live music calendar. We ultimately go where the most compelling music is happening, from our preferred spots in Havana to a dedicated exchange in Matanzas.
• Practical Learning: The format is interactive. You can ask a bandleader about their writing process or have a percussionist from Los Muñequitos de Matanzas break down a specific tumbao pattern for you. The goal is for you to leave with a much deeper musical understanding.
• Straightforward U.S. Travel: We manage all the logistics for American travelers. The tour is structured under a general license from OFAC, and we provide the compliant full-time itinerary and necessary affidavit. You can focus on the trip itself without concern for the paperwork.