Picason

The Name of Picason is a combination of the words „picante“ (hot, spicy) and „son“ an original style of Cuban music. The band was founded back in 1985 using the specific „conjunto“-instrumentation with congas, bongos, piano, tres (Cu-ban guitar) and five horns following the example of the great „soneros“ Arsenio Rod-riguez, Felix Chapotín, Miguel Matamoros, Ignacio Piñeiro or Beny Moré.
Very soon (1987) the group was invited to the country of origin of the son, and could present their work at the „Festival del Son", „Festival de Charanga", in the world-famous „Tropicana" in Havanna and in the Cuban television. The audience was surprised and amazed. To succeed in Cuba is probably the greatest honour a European salsaband can get to! The second tour in 1988 took them to the eastern part of the coutry, to Santiago de Cuba, where Picason, where Picason again attracted a lot of attention. Back home the band recorded their first album „Picason“.
In the following years the „conjunto“ Picason grew to an „orquesta“ and the band’s sound was influenced by a variety of musical styles – mostly by jazz. Jazz-greats like Dizzy Gillespie had already integrated elements of Cuban music in their playing and in New York the latin scene started to use a new term: „salsa“ (sauce).
After having played for more than a hundred concerts Picason recorded a second CD „Son de los Alpes“ under the direction of jazzpianist Christoph Baumann. With this album the band stayed on the road to success. In 1991 star-trumpetist Arturo Sandoval was invited to join Picason for a tour in Switzerland and Germany. Other famous Cuban musicians such as Juan Munguía (Irakere), José Luís Cortés (NG La Banda), Calixto Oviedo (NG La Banda) followed to be featured as special guests with the band.