Havana Meets Kingston

While connected by common African roots and colonial histories, the music of Cuba and Jamaica have traveled largely in separate lanes. Their influence on the music of the world has been immeasurable, but their influence on each other has been less evident.

It took an Australian to bring these two rich musical cultures together. Melbourne-based producer and musician Jake Savona had already fallen in love with the music of Jamaica, having released a string of successful reggae and dub albums under his stage name Mista Savona. Eventually, Savona discovered Cuban music, and in 2015, he received a grant from the Australian Council that funded the ambitious and groundbreaking Havana Meets Kingston project.

Savona traveled to Havana with a group of top Jamaican musicians, including the legendary Sly & Robbie (drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare), and they began recording in the iconic EGREM Studio where Buena Vista Social Club and countless other legendary records have been produced. More sessions followed, other guests were invited, and after years of painstaking effort, the first volume of Mista Savona Presents Havana Meets Kingston was released in 2017 to worldwide acclaim.

Havana Meets Kingston Part 2 also features a lineup of incredible Jamaican and Cuban talent. including Jamaican stars Clinton Fearon, Randy Valentine, Prince Alla and Micah Shemaiah, Cuban talents Barbarito Torres, Changuito, Brenda Navarette, Solis, Beatriz Marquez, and many more.