Cuba | MisterLatinJazz Goes to Havana Jazz Festival: An Exploration of Afro-Cuban Percussion
Join Arturo Riera, MisterLatinJazz, as he creates percussion-focused events deep inside Havana’s Afro-Cuban drumming community! This Support for the Cuban People Journey provides you with a way legally to travel to Cuba while learning about the history of Cuban music with a focus on the drum. Our journey will include three private performances, select Havana Jazz Festival concerts, docent-led art and architectural tours, and group dance lessons! We will take you deep inside the alleys and among communities with drumming traditions unique to Havana and Cuba, and take an exciting special side trip to Matanzas. Explore the percussion of diverse musical genres and cultural traditions such as Son, Rumba, Abakua, Bata, and contemporary Jazz from Cuba’s top musicians.
What makes Cuban culture so rich and exciting? You will get a chance to experience Cuban music, art, and architecture via experiences curated just for our group. We’ll visit studios, galleries, World Heritage Sites of extraordinary beauty, and neighborhoods that have been revitalized through imaginative art projects. Much of our time will be spent meeting with individual artists and musicians, enjoying community-made musical events, and experiencing how deeply music and art is integrated into Cuban culture.
Arturo Riera spent 25 years in Artist Relations for Latin Percussion LP and has developed deep ties to the world’s top percussionists. He is Board Chair Emeritus of both Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and San Jose Jazz, where he was also Latin Curator of San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, booking 25 acts a year. He is co-founder of the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco, which has been free to its musicians and families for 25 years.
In 2022 he was chosen by the San Francisco Arts Commission as the Cultural Ambassador to the Latinx Community–responsible for guiding artists through the grant application process and growing the number of diverse artists receiving grants from the City and County of San Francisco. In 2025 Riera booked 37 concerts for both the Fisherman’s Wharf and the Downtown SF Partnership Community Benefit Districts, activating public spaces in San Francisco with live music.
Riera is acting Development Director for the 48-year-old Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas, whose projects and partners include Carnaval San Francisco, Mission Food Hub, San Francisco Lowrider Council, Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco, and the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Arts Healing Center. He blogs about Afro-Latin music as MisterLatinJazz on Facebook and YouTube.
Tour Price
$3950 double occupancy in 5-star hotel
$525 single room supplement
Prices include accommodation, two meals per day, program activities, transport to/from activities, qualified trip leaders and guides, honoraria, fees for private concerts, all entrance fees, community donations, and tips for meals. One meal per day, extra beverages, individual tips (to the driver and Cuban guide), personal expenses, are not included in this price, nor is your airfare to Havana.
Trip Itinerary
View 2026 Trip Itinerary Here–2027 Coming Soon
