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The Familia Valera Miranda are six musicians from the Oriente region of Cuba, which is geographically close to Haiti and Jamaica. It’s a region whose dominant musical form, son, is also different from that around Havana. Son displays Cuba’s Hispanic culture through its instruments – the guitar, double bass and tres, a guitar with three double strings – and its African heritage through the call and response style of the songs. But, although it is a mixture of influences, son is unquestionably a Cuban style that is not replicated anywhere else. And its light, infectious rhythms are well suited to an English summer festival, as anyone who saw Sierra Maestra here three years ago will tell you. - WOMAD 2001