Juan Formell
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Juan Climaco Formell Cortina. Director, bassist, arranger, composer, singer, and record producer. He was one of the most important figures of Cuban popular musical culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. Founder and director for more than four decades of the legendary orchestra Los Van Van. He knew how to maintain the particular sonority, in an environment conducive to the existence of this type of groups. Author of a large number of songs that uniquely recreate the life of the Cuban people.
He was an ambassador of Cuban music and teacher of several generations of artists. At the end of 1969, he created Los Van Van, with which he continued and expanded his creative work, full of research and experimentation, basing himself fundamentally on making the most of the expressive resources of Son. From this orientation the Songo arose, a name that he and José Luís Quintana (Changuito) gave to a new rhythm that was decisive in its later creation.
In 1981 he included the trombones in his charanga to reinforce the central register of his orchestra. From this stage with Los Van Van, many of his most famous creations can be found, such as I bring you, Chirrín chirrán,Llegué,llegué, No, no, El baile del buey cansado, Above the level, Havana can't take it anymore, Go come and move, Artisans of space, La titimanía, El negro no tiene ná, among many others. Together with his creative work within dance music, Formell maintained his creative work within the line of the song and musicalized poems by Nicolás Guillén such as When I came to this world belonging to the Mi son entero series; he wrote music for the theater including La Barbecue, directed by Abraham Rodríguez, 1984 and Vivir en Santa Fe by playwright Nicolás Dorr, 1986; for the cinema he composed the soundtrack for Los pajaros tirando him a la escopegun by director Rolando Díaz, 1984; and for television La Rueda de Casino by José Milián, 1992.
In addition, he made countless presentations as an author and performer at national events promoted by cultural institutions and international tours around the world. His creations and artistic results with his orchestra have become models for other musical groups in Cuba and abroad. He recorded numerous albums with EGREM and other record companies and won the Grammy Award in 1999 with his CD "Llegó... Van Van" (Van Van is here).