By accident I caught most of a rather interesting programme on Cuban
music yesterday on BBC Radio 3.  In the "World Routes" programme
broadcast on 9th June, Lucy Duran travelled around Cuba interviewing
musicians and recording local music.

MMD-ers, particularly mechanical organ and Cuban music enthusiasts,
might be particularly interested in the section on "El Órgano Oriental",
which is a type of mechanical organ manufactured in the east of the
island by Francisco Cuayo.  There is about a 10-minute section at the
factory and recordings of the thing in action, both solo and accompanied
by the Ajo brothers percussion ensemble.  With the addition of percussion
it really rocks!

The programme is available on-line for seven days from the date of
transmission at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldroutes/pip/tg35d/

The World Routes programme starts at about the 2 minute point, and the
Órgano Oriental section comes in at about 25 minutes.  If the link doesn't
work, find the World Routes section on Radio 3, and go from there.

Best wishes
Piers Smith-Cresswell
Northampton, UK

 [ At http://www.baibrama.cult.cu/municipios/calixto/organo.htm :
 [
 [ El Órgano Oriental - The Eastern Organ
 [
 [   This curious instrument, a species of musical box, arrived from
 [ France in 1885 at the port of Cienfuegos (in central Cuba) and
 [ later traveled to Manzanillo (in eastern Cuba) where it became the
 [ favorite of the fiestas. ... ¡Ah!  And something interesting: the
 [ eastern organ also participated in our wars of independence.  Inside
 [ this instrument, the patriots transferred weapons and medicines from
 [ one town to another with the pretext of going to play at a dance. ...
 [
 [ -- Robbie