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Habanera

by Philip Blackburn

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1.
Canon; Santeria and Catholicism 04:38
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2.
Fidel Speaks 03:12
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3.
Restorative Tilesaws; Flamenco 06:33
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4.
Armed Police; Mani; Claves 04:16
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5.
Mardi Gras; African Chanting 07:26
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6.
Badly Dubbed TV War Movie (USA) 02:34
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7.
Nighttime Sounds 06:32
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8.
Water Truck 04:11
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9.
Children's Games and Concerts 03:46
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10.
Blanco and Pinera; TV; Black Market 04:06
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11.
Flamenco Steps 01:50
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12.
Water Tanks Fill; G.R. Pupo Muses 03:56
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about

Habanera: a soundwalk through Old Havana, Cuba (2004)

Binaural recording, best heard with headphones

What’s a “Soundwalk?” It’s where your ears rule your feet.

Why Havana? Because there are more musicians per square foot than just about anywhere else and it’s good to get out a bit when it’s so hot, hot, hot.

What better way to get to know the intimate details of a culture than through your ears and your shoes?

Environmental sound artist Philip Blackburn, known for his sounding sculptures and work on Harry Partch, ambled through Old Havana recently. The city is full of sounds; you can compose your city according to the path you take. Blackburn’s path takes us past alleys, buildings and streets where you can hear Fidel waffling on and on, cigar black-marketers, flamenco dancers, kids playing, Santeria and Catholic chanting, and the nightly canon fire.

With 15,000 “professional” musicians in Cuba there is a whole lot of sound going on. Every few steps take you to another sonic space and, in between, you hear the mixes as reflected around the stone buildings. “Habanera” is one pass through this space, recorded with unobtrusive binaural mics in March 2004. Letting my ears guide my feet, sometimes attentive walking is enough to compose; the act of wandering operates a natural mixing console.

We hear sound in context, at a point in space and time; antiseptic studio isolation is the exception. “Habanera” is all about context; how sounds unfold, overlap, and hide — how these sounds blend in this particular environment at this time, and give us a sense of place. A paradise for the blind, perhaps, or at least a dream for the ear.

credits

released March 31, 2021

Produced and recorded by Philip Blackburn
Thanks to Linda Hoeschler, Leaetta Hough, the Bush Foundation, and the many musicians of Havana.

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all rights reserved

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Philip Blackburn Saint Paul, Minnesota

Philip Blackburn was born in Cambridge, England, and studied music there and at the University of Iowa with Kenneth Gaburo. He is a public artist specializing in sound — a composer/environmental sound-artist. Blackburn’s works have been heard in ships’ harbors, state fairs, forests, and coming out of storm sewers, as well as in galleries, parking lots, and on concert stages.

philipblackburn.com ... more

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