Papa Mambo - Havana Jazz Fest (2026)

In January 2026, the Papa Mambo Quintet travelled to Havana, Cuba for the Festival Internacional Jazz Plaza. Here are some photos from our trip:

The band on Day 1 in Havana, hanging out at the Malecón (sidewalk along the sea). L-R is Gilles Fournier (bass), Amber Epp (vocals, keys), Ramiro Sepúlveda (congas), Victor Hugo López (guitar), Rodrigo Muñoz (timbales)

Bassist Gilles Fournier trying out some fishing in the Caribbean Sea.

We were interviewed on Radio Progreso in Havana (and they played one of our songs on the radio)

And somehow I ended up on Cuban TV as well!

Cuban musicians are so friendly! Once this local band found out were musicians, they started inviting us up one by one to sit in and jam with them. Here is Gilles on the bass and Ramiro on the congas.

One of the ads for the festival. Cover in Cuban pesos is about $0.50 CAD.

Stage crew setting up a stage the day before the festival started. This stage and the white tent reminded me of the Wpg Folk Fest. Our first performance was on this stage, and we also got to see a lot of great bands on this stage.

LIke this one! This was Septeto Santiaguero (Septet from Santiago de Cuba) - they were awesome. The tres guitar player on the left was a fantastic musician, and he had a cool fashion style too. (We both have good taste in hats...wink wink!)

Here we are in the audience at the same stage as above, waiting for food we ordered. About 15 minutes after we ordered, the power went out! So of course, the food wasn't cooked, so we waited an hour for the power to come back on, and then they could prepare our meals. We were so hungry! PS Yes, it gets cold in Cuba. It was about 15C this day, and everyone felt quite chilly!

Jamming with some high school music students at the Convservatorio de Música

Performing at the Pabellón Cuba at the Jazz Plaza Festival - all the stages are open air. Due to power outages, some of our shows were cancelled, but at least we got to play some of them! The crowd was very receptive - and some Canadians who attend the festival every year made sure to come see us! (And even one Canadian family came to see us without knowing we were from Canada, and turns out they're related to someone in the Winnipeg music scene - what a small world!

At every performance, the bands get a bottle of Havana Club rum!

I also performed with Marco Claviera and his 12-piece band. Marco is based in Edmonton, and we met him several years ago at a festival in Alberta. He now splits his time between Cuba and Canada, and when he heard that we were coming to play at the festival, he asked me if I would join his band for the event. I brought my melodica (that green thing I'm holding - it's a little keyboard you can blow into - it sounds a bit like an accordion) - Marco has some tunes that combine Cuban and Celtic music - they go together surprisingly well!

The famous 1950s cars of Cuba - in various conditions - tourists pay top dollar for the ones in pristine shape in Old Havana. And then 'everyday people' take the old, beat-up, barely-held-together-with-creative-welding ones (in a sort of ride-sharing). These days you will also see brand new cars, including electric cars.

A typical street on our walk from the Vedado neighbourhood (where to stayed) to Old Havana. About a 40-minute walk.

In Old Havana

Out on a walk

This rice is called "Moros y cristianos" - moors and christians rice! Also known as congri (cone-gree). The salad is the biggest salad I ever saw on the whole trip, and could only get one that big at a restaurant owned by a Turkish gentleman. We ended up visiting every day because it was so good!

I tried seafood pizza for the first time in Havana - it was delicious! In fact, it was so good that some of us went to order it again on our last night so that we'd have leftovers to bring to the airport. When we got to the airport, Gilles (bass) couldn't find his pizza anywhere - he was bummed. A week later, back in Winnipeg, he sent us a message that he found his pizza in a Ziplock stuffed into his bass case!

Fresh papaya juice! Love enjoying fresh tropical fruit in countries where it's grown.

After 12 days together, can the band still get along? LOL Back safe and sound in Winnipeg, one week before flights to Cuba started being cancelled due to fuel shortages.

Thanks so much for the support! Feel free to leave a comment or question below - I'd love to hear from you!

Go to PapaMambo.com to find out when the band is playing next. And if you'd like to see all the places I'm playing next (Cuban, Brazilian, jazz), check out my SHOWS page.