CMEAS and EGREM Records: MUSICUBA Festival 2007

EGREM Records (http://www.egrem.com.cu) in Cuba is a State run record label that has 100's of Cuban musicians on their roster including well known acts that perform as part of the Buena Vista Club.



To celebrate Cuban music, EGREM is presenting 16 of these acts (soloists and bands) at an annual festival in 5 Casa Musica (houses of music) in Havana at the MUSICUBA Festival 2007. Last year's festival attendance was over 10,000!



CME Artist Services has teamed up with EGREM Records to give more visibility to their artists on the international circuit by offering to book one of their bands (Warapo) in the UK and introducing at least three international non-Cuban acts to their festival. There are slots for 2-3 Sonicbids artists (2 bands and one soloist or duo).



The festival will take place October 5th - 7th 2007.



Almost all music genres are acceptable for this event (see list).



Sponsors include, CME Artist Services, EGREM, and the Government of Cuba.



Cuba is a poor country so this is not a paid event. Neither the international acts invited on this tour nor the Cuban musicians themselves receive remuneration.



However, through a joint sponsorship deal with CMEAS and EGREM, the selected artists will receive full Cuban hospitality (transport to and from the airport, hotels, meals), a per diem of the equivalent of $50 a day (a significant amount in Cuba) and, of course, the opportunity to share the stage with some of Cuba's most talented musicians.



In addition, CME Artist Services has contacted and applied for specific licenses from OFAC (the Office of Foriegn Assets Control, a branch of the US Treasury Department that bizarrely enough controls US citizen's rights to travel to Cuba) that are available to allow US musicians chosen for this event to travel to Cuba.



Prominent performers on the EGREM roster include:

Chucho Valdés; Ibrahim Ferrer; Rick Wakeman and the New English Rock Ensemble; and Rubén González.