Lincoln Center jazz band heads to Cuba

Wynton Marsalis's Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will take part in a five-day residency in Havana this October, and make its first performance in Cuba.

The world-renowned New York big band will play with Cuban pianist and bandleader Chucho Valdes and other Cuban musicians. Trumpeter Marsalis is artistic director of the orchestra.

A series of concerts will celebrate U.S.-Cuban jazz connections, and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra will also work with young Cuban musicians.

"A rich legacy of great jazz music has been created through the cross-pollination of American and Cuban musics," Marsalis said in a statement Thursday. "This is our first residency in Cuba and we can't wait."

The orchestra has been invited by the Cuban Institute of Music, which will follow up with a trip to New York featuring an Afro-Cuban Jazz Celebration concert at Lincoln Center.

The jazz band is following groups such as American Ballet Theater in forging cultural ties with Cuba.

The U.S. government has slightly loosened rules allowing cultural exchange, though American citizens are still forbidden to travel on their own to Cuba. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra trip has received approval from the government.

The JALC orchestra will be in Cuba Oct. 5-9, and the Cuban musicians visit New York Oct. 22-23.