Come join Radio Free Brooklyn on a musical journey into the heart of Changüí country in Eastern Cuba. Music journalist and host of RFB's "Sitting with Gianluca," Gianluca Tramontana, spent two years (2017–2019) immersed in a joyous, all-inclusive and mostly improvised, riff-based acoustic roots music that was born in the sugar and coffee plantations in the mountains around Guantánamo City—less than thirty miles from Guantanamo Bay—and serves as the soundtrack for joyous three-day parties. This incredible collection of recordings includes over 100 intimate photographs of the culture and its people was released July 30, 2021 by Petaluma Records as a three-disc deluxe box set, featuring 50 brand-new remote recordings, a hardbound full-color book and extensive liner notes titled Changüí—The Sound of Guantánamo. This release, the most extensive exploration of the Changüí style, has garnered four- and five-star reviews (MOJO, Songlines, No Depression, and Afropop) and has been featured on NPR Weekend Edition, BBC6, PRI'S The World, and the CBC.

The event will be part record release party, part panel discussion, and part slideshow with a lot of amazing music. Hosted by Gianluca, the discussion and slide show will include a conversation with four-time Grammy-winning producer Steve Rosenthal (box set mixer), and Ned Sublette, Cuban music expert and author of the definitive tome Cuba and its Music. This will also serve as a “better late than never" album release party where a copy of the box (and some other special gifts) will be raffled off to a lucky audience member. Travel with us into a style of music and its people—a vibrant way of life with wall-to-wall music guaranteed to get your hands-a-clapping and toes-a-tapping.

Moderating (and on) the panel: Delphine Blue, DJ, host, and producer of WFUV’s (90.7FM) Whole Wide World, along with:
Gianluca Tramontana: Music journalist, broadcaster, recordist, and co-producer of Changüí—The Sound of Guantánamo
Steve Rosenthal: Four-time Grammy winning producer, archivist, producer, and mixer of Changüí —The Sound of Guantánamo
Ned Sublette: Author of Cuba and its Music and three other books, and the founder of Postmambo Studies, which conducts virtual seminars and live musical immersion experiences.