HAVANA - Some 15 years after first trying to get to Cuba, Rick Wakeman has finally made it to Havana, launching a weeklong trip in which he plans to give three concerts in the Cuban capital.
Logistical challenges such as shipping music equipment to the communist-run island have consistently created barriers that complicated the trip, the former Yes star told a news conference Monday.
"I tried for quite a few years ... but there was always some reason I couldn't come," said the keyboard player. "It really was an amazing feeling getting off the plane yesterday."
Wakeman and the New English Rock Ensemble, or NERE, will perform Friday and Saturday night at Havana's Karl Marx Theater, then Sunday night at an open-air venue next to the Malecon, the city's famed seawall.
The blues and Italian rock group Cross Fire as well as the island's Afro-Cuban group Sintesis will also perform at the concerts.
The British star said he plans to stick mainly to classic tunes from the 1970s, plus "a few surprises."
This being his first trip to Cuba, he said he has no idea what to expect in terms of the crowd.
"We play all over the world, and we get everything from 8-year-old kids to grandparents," he said. "I know Cubans enjoy music _ I'm just hoping they don't throw things at me."
A cheerful Wakeman made several jokes during the news conference, saying, "If it's my ex-wife, don't tell her I'm here," when a cell phone started ringing.
The musician said he hopes this will be the first of many trips to Cuba. He envisions returning to the island to launch new projects and play integrated music alongside Cuban artists.
"My plan is to take away as much music as I can, then spend some months listening (to identify future collaborators)," he said.
He also said his trip here could prompt other foreign groups to go through all the necessary red tape to get to Cuba.
"Cuba is known worldwide as one of the most musical countries in the world," he said. "What musician wouldn't want to come here?"
While on the island, Wakeman will meet with Cuban music students, give interviews to the local press and visit sites including a memorial to revolutionary fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara in the central city of Santa Clara.
The artist, who is scheduled to perform in Mexico and Costa Rica after his Cuba tour, declined to talk politics about the communist country, but pointed out he has turned down invitations to countries whose policies he disagrees with in the past.
"I am here because I want to be here, and I want to be part of what Cuba is," he said.
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