CUBA’S female groups have a rich tradition. They have successfully made incursions into all musical genres, distinguishing themselves for their virtuosity and interpretative quality. Within this panorama, one group that has made its mark for the past decade is Caribe Girls, directed by Thiving Guerra.

Since its foundation, the group has developed a serious image and body of musical work, and has had the opportunity to record three albums: the first being Salseando en la calle, characterized by a sweet, strong tone; in 2001, Rica Timba and in 2003 Contra viento y marea, which recreates various tracks in different genres, salsa, rumba, soul, son, and merengue. They have just finished recording a new album, Mi sueño, under the direction of the maestro Joaquín Betancourt.

The group has played in diverse international events, such as the World Music Festival, in the Jazz and Pop section; at "Arts & Music" in Japan and at the Latino Festival in Nokonoshima, also known as "The Island of Salsa;" at the Cosmopolitan Festival in Oslo, Norway; Sabor Latino in Copenhagen and the Caliente Latino Festival in Zurich.

In Cuba, they have performed at the Casa de la Música, the Macumba and even at that legendary temple of salsa, La Tropical. At the present time, they have residencies at the Habana Libre Hotel’s Turquino Club, and at the Delirio Habanero piano bar at the National Theater.

Anticipating the release of the new album and in celebration of the group’s 10th anniversary, we spoke with director Thiving Guerra.

Caribe Girls still has 12 members comprising three trombonists, piano, electric keyboard, drums, congas, bass, percussion and four singers. We try to keep the same girls but we’re changing the tone of the band, to play more modern music. Always starting off from the original but bringing it up to date with contemporary arrangements.

We recorded it under the direction of Joaquín Betancourt on the EGREM label, and we’ve already recorded a video for one of the tracks "Quiero sentir," by the maestro David Calzado. Pavel Giroud (La edad de la peseta, Omertá) directed the video.

The album contains 13 tracks and we’re very hopeful about it. I think it’s going to be released at the end of May or the beginning of June.

Of the 13 tracks, there are several fusions: "Juanita la cubana," by Paulino Guerra is a pop song, and Betancourt has now produced it in a merengue version; "Cuéntame," a pop song by Van Van and a potpourri with "El carnaval," "La negra tiene tumbao," "Ríe y llora;" "Quiero sentir," a ballad by Osmany Espinoza, which is also a fusion number that begins with a Caribbean rhythm and then bursts into Cuban timba; "Yo te agradezco" by Angelito Bonne, is a salsa number; "El caracolito" is also a salsa song by Bonne which begins with a children’s choir, giving it a fresh sound; "El amigo mío" by Cristian Alonso is a slow salsa number; and "La paloma" comes from a tribute to this well-known song by various different groups on an album that includes Azúcar negra, Leoni, Charanga habanera, Bamboleo, and us and the producers let me include the track on our album.

That’s right, as you can see on the new album, there are various fusion tracks, but there is also very contemporary salsa – where you can hear the new style that we’ve been looking for – without leaving behind the fusion, traditional son, a good cha cha cha, mambo or cumbia.

Yes we did. Last March – the month of our anniversary – there was a tribute to the band in Holguín province because we are the only female group to have attended the Festival del Son in Mayarí for the past four years. They presented me with the title, "Illustrious Daughter of Mayarí".

We’re getting ready for a Canadian tour this month. We’re going to play our normal repertoire and support Mayito – the singer from Van Van – Leoni and Haila. We were there in 2008 and we went down very well. The audiences really enjoyed our shows and that’s why the organizer has invited us back. We’ll be undertaking this tour every six months for the next three years. We’re going to play in Montreal and Toronto, at festivals and in clubs. We’re also going to release the new album during the summer tour of Europe that we’ve organized every year since we started. We have quite a lot of national and international commitments, and so we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary on the side, but the main celebratory event will be a concert at the América Theater.

You can see those 10 years in the work that we do. We started in 1999, we’re more mature now, myself included as director; I’ve got more experience now. For me, the main thing is that we have grown a lot musically.

I think that we’re losing that tradition and that’s a real shame. I remember during the 1990s that there were a lot; for example I was the founder of Son Damas, and there was also Las Canelas, Las Chicas del Sol, Ricachá, and of course, Anacona, who are the queens. There were a lot of female bands, septets, trios but each one had its own style, its genre. There was a strong presence of female music and it seems to me that this has been lost. We only have ourselves to blame for not staying united. But it’s also true that the media doesn’t support us, nor the radio, TV or the press.

Yes, but only by fighting against male chauvinism and, most of all, because we respect each other as musicians. The quality of our music has never diminished; on the contrary it has improved. We’re very meticulous, we practice every day, we choose our own repertoire. The second thing is maintaining the girls’ image, we work hard on that, as well as on the show as a whole, including the choreography.

We’ve got about 100 songs.

We have a different set list for every show, both in Cuba and on the international tours. For example, for tourists in Cuba we play son and international music. That predominates. The most difficult part is for the Cuban audience. Up to now we have succeeded, both at La Tropical, the carnival, and even in the eastern provinces, which are difficult to win over. In Havana, they like timba suicida, but in the east, they don’t. You have to mix your music with merengue, cumbia; it’s a bit strange, it has to be slower. You have to choose the repertoire and know that you can play it. You even have to think about the costumes. The difficult thing is to get the public dancing, and that’s true anywhere. First, they see the image, then we start to play live, and then they say "I like the music, I’m staying." Then by the third song, they’re dancing. Getting them to dance is also down to the magic of the singers.