Cuba on Record: Chapter Preview
Panart, the first and forgotten Cuban label.
Here is the table of contents for Cuba on Record: The Story of Panart, the Havana label that captured Cuban music and took it to the world.
Read below to get an idea of the departure point for each chapter in my serialized book about Cuba’s first and forgotten record label, the context of Panart’s rise and fall and its lasting musical legacy.
Each chapter is named for a song, or sometimes an album. The titles’ significance to the book will be made clear in each chapter; I hope that you’ll enjoy listening to them.
The chapters of the book and related content are available for paid subscribers, to support me while writing. I am very grateful to those who have already subscribed on any level-your subscriptions are a lifeline for me, both financially and motivationally. Paid subscribers can read the book as I publish the chapters, listen to the music and enjoy excerpts from my anecdotal Panart discography. And all of the other things that I’ll be sending out throughout the coming months. Thank you! Gracias!
Cuba on Record
The Story of Panart, the pioneering Havana label that captured Cuban music and took it to the world.
Prologue: El columpio de la vida/On the Swing of Life
What happened on a fateful day in the spring of 1961 was not unexpected. But for Panart Records founder Ramón Sabat, it was the day the music died.
Chapter One: Daiquiri Musical/Musical Daiquiri
1956 was a very good year for the cha cha chá, tourism in Cuba and Panart Records.
Chapter Two: One, Two, Three Kick
Havana in Harlem, 1934. Latin music is percolating in New York. Down on his luck in the Depression, things look up when Ramón Sabat gets a job in Harlem at the city’s first Cuban nightclub, meets a colorful cast of characters that include Xavier Cugat, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and even gets his Hollywood break.
Chapter Three: Cuban Rhythms
Sabat finally becomes a card-carrying audio engineer, recording for one of the most innovative independent labels in New York. WWII and a trip to Havana in 1941 to record a set of 78s lay the path for his destiny.
Chapter Four: Tiempo de Verano/Summertime
Ramón, now one of a new breed of New York engineers revolutionizing recorded music, meets Barnard graduate Julia Riera. Their courtship is as cosmopolitan and carefree as a George Gershwin song.
Chapter Five: El que siembra su maíz/You Reap What You Sow
The Cuban Record & Plastics corporation and the Panart Records label are born in Havana. So is the Cuban record industry.
Chapter Six: A toda Cuba le gusta/All of Cuba Likes it
In its first years, the studio is hot, literally. So hot that musicians record shirtless. Panart opens the door to the recording of every kind of Cuban music. Then Sabat makes the island’s most popular bands an offer they can’t refuse.
Chapter Seven: Yo no escondo a mi abuelita/I Don’t Hide My Grandma
In the context of both a rising Afro-cuban cultural movement and systemic racism in Cuba and the music industry, the album Santero is recorded in the Panart studio. The set of sacred songs features Celia Cruz on her first studio recordings.
Chapter Eight: La fiesta no es para feos/The Party Isn’t For Ugly People
Cuba’s glamorous image seduces the world. TV debuts on the island in 1950, putting a face to the names of favorite singers for local audiences without access to the famous neon-lit clubs. Musicians are working nonstop while hustling to get paid and get credit.
Chapter Nine: Alto voltaje/High Voltage
The popularity of Panart artists finances the building of the first record factory in Cuba. As Cuban music blows up internationally, the Mafia moves in to the rhythm of roulette wheels, and the explosive sounds of political unrest in Havana provide background noise.
Chapter Ten: In a Latin Mood
The musical exchange between Cuban and American music reaches its height. Panart takes Cuban music to the world through a network of partners including Capitol Records, which releases Nat King Cole’s first Spanish-language album, with the instrumental tracks recorded at the Panart studio.
Chapter Eleven: Descarga Cubana/Cuban Jam Session:
Panart’s Cuban jam sessions make an impact on Latin music and jazz in New York that will reverberate for generations. A portrait of Havana’s mid-Century Afro-Cuban jazz scene.
Chapter Twelve: Azucar Salada/Salty Sugar
Bandleader José Fajardo announces his departure from Cuba in a song: “Sayonara.” After Fidel Castro’s 1959 takeover of Havana, other artists question if they should stay or go.
Chapter Thirteen: Lagrimas negras/Black Tears
As the decade turns, the Sabats are building their dream house and Panart production increases internationally at the same time that the new government begins to outline policies for social and cultural change. Julia Sabat makes a secret plan to save the music.
Chapter Fourteen: Después de la herida/After the Wound
After leaving the island for New York, the Sabats and many of the musicians who once recorded in the studio join the new Cuban exile community in Miami, the place that will keep them closest to the island while they wait for the return that never comes.
Chapter Fifteen: Cambio…Cambio/Change…Change
Cuba’s new State-owned label takes over the former Panart studio with the idea to record music guided by Socialist principles rather than market demands. At the same time, the U.S. Embargo creates a shortage of materials needed for making records.
Chapter Sixteen: Bailaré tu son/I Will Dance to Your Son Cubano
For the next sixty years, songs recorded on Panart reappear in countless cover versions, while those who created them fade away. A discussion of the Panart legacy leads to the question: can anyone own Cuban music?