Cuban grandfathers roll up with rum and cigars

They smoke cigars, drink rum and sing and dance to their hearts content.
That's the secret to the men who are the the heart of the long run of the show, The Grandfathers of Cuban Music.

The grandfathers themselves singer Reynaldo Creagh, 94, guitarist Maracaibo, 86, and pianist Maestro Rubalcaba, 85 are in Australia paying homage to the original spirit of the music of Cuba.

On tour with a group of 12 in The Bar at Buena Vista The Grandfathers of Cuban Music, the three have been working together for years and are now considered the Cuban masters of music.

The production's youngest member, Leonel Gamboa, said the show was a passport to another time Havana in the 1940s and 1950s to a bar where original Cuban music and dance was rife.

''These old guys, they started as teenagers in that place,'' he said. ''They're still in their prime.''

Gamboa said Creagh could possibly be the world's oldest working singer. Creagh grew up with Maracaibo playing music and the two are still the best of friends. ''I think their secret is to just do what you really enjoy,'' Gamboa said.

Music and dance are a pivotal part of Cuban culture and Gamboa said The Bar at Buena Vista was a fusion of African percussion and Spanish melodies. Jazz, salsa and Cuban folk music are all intertwined into the performance. Gamboa, one of The Bar at Buena Vista's lead singers, has been working with the ''grandfathers'' to modernise the music in the show so it could be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.

''The show has been touring for seven years,'' he said.

''Most of us have been there since the beginning.

''The stars of the show are the grandfathers it's an honour to work with them.''

Lead dancer Eric Turro held a master class with members of Canberra's Latin dance studio, Salsabor, yesterday. He said once people learnt traditional Cuban dance styles, they'd be hooked on the rhythm of the dance.