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Cimafunk — Two Nations Under a Groove. Cuban Funk star joined by George Clinton and Chucho Valdes in Miami
Saturday night’s Cimafunk concert in Miami Beach was a massive meet-up of musics and generations. Afro-Cuban meets African-American. Funk meets tumbao. Two groundbreaking musical godfathers joining Cimafunk, the startling Cuban heir to two great Black music traditions: Chucho Valdés, the seminal Cuban pianist, founder of Irakere and Cuban jazz fusion; and the one and only George Clinton, leader of Parliament Funkadelic, Mr. P-Funk himself. It was a show that united not just one, but two nations under a groove. With Cimafunk anointed by Clinton himself. “He’s the one,” the master of the mothership pronounced onstage. “He’s the new one. He’s got the funk.”
The man who brought it all together for the screaming, sold out crowd at the North Beach Bandshell was the irresistibly charismatic Cuban musician Cimafunk, touring to promote his just released album, El Alimento (The Nourishment.) An artist with, not just spectacular cross-cultural musical chops, but the irrepressible dance energy and innate sex appeal that make a star, Cimafunk has played Miami several times before. But this show, with its…
