Playing in the Band

In this bar on Obispo Street, Lluvia del Oro, or something like that, I encountered this local band. They were all serious music students at the University, several were music teachers on the side, and they really enjoyed playing together. As almost all of these sorts of places open up to the street, the music spills out into the streets at all hours of the day and night, and lends a festive atmsophere. It is always interesting to take a walk in a city in the afternoon and hear someone practicing their music. It seems that the music, unstructured as it might be, wafts freely into the street as a benefit of just being there. More than once , especially in Havana, I have stopped and sat on a wall, the curb, on in an open air café just to listen to someone play and practice their horn or clarinet. The mystery of not knowing exactly who it is and from where it comes, makes it even more fun to do this.