During a visit made on Wednesday to the Guillermo Tomas Bouffartigue Music Conservatory, the renowned US musicians surprised students and professors when they saw they were in step to the rhythms of the group Los Vanvancitos.

“It’s an honor and a privilege and really quite an incredible event to be in this school; I appreciate this visit, by way of which I can see what’s being done here,” declared the US trumpet player, composer and arranger.

The meeting went beyond the expectations of the acclaimed jazzmen, due to the high academic rigor of the institution and the quality of its students -some 400 of elementary and medium levels-, specified Maria Cristina Arce, director of the center.

The visitors could enjoy works by Joseito Fernández, Jerry Herman, Chucho Valdes, Ernesto Lecuona, Silvio Rodriguez, Gonzalo Roig and Juan Formell, all of them interpreted by the students, and with arrangements for different formats.

Calling the attention of visitors in a special way was the work of Alex Miguel Suarez, in charge of the drums with Los Vanvancitos, who, is spite of being very young, astonished those who listened to him for his interpretative quality and his way of projecting himself to the audience.

Carlos Henriquez, bassist and musical co-director of the JLCO, said he was extremely moved: “I’m from Bronx, the son of Puerto Ricans, and this visit reminds me of my studies, my  parents, my family and my culture,” he explained.

At the end of the meeting, between signs of admiration, acknowledgement and joy that went beyond the barriers of language, Marsalis pointed out that meetings like these lift people’s spirits and that they will speak about this visit for many years.

“We’ll continue offering our music to the world, but there will always be a special place for Cuba, and we hope that during our next stay we can dance better to its rhythms,” concluded the exceptional 49-year old musician.