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LP record "Leningrado" — music by Juan Almeida (EGREM/Discos Siboney 12″ 33⅓ rpm stereo LP, LD-3672)
Audio Recording
A 12-inch, 33⅓ rpm stereo long-play vinyl record in a printed paper sleeve, produced by EGREM on its Discos Siboney label. The album presents music composed by Juan Almeida. Side A is a single extended instrumental, "Leningrado," orchestrated and directed by Rafael Somavilla and performed by an all-star solo lineup: Chucho Valdés (piano), Paquito D'Rivera (alto saxophone), Arturo Sandoval (trumpet, printed "Antonio Sandoval"), Pablo Menéndez (solo guitar), and the rumba group Los Papines, with the Orquesta EGREM. Side B holds six Almeida songs — "La Lupe," "El Campesino José," "El Arriero," "El Balsero del Toa," "Te Canta Mi Tambor," "Marinero Quiero Ser" — each orchestrated by a different arranger (Pedro Coto, Raúl Gómez, Enriqueta Almanza, Juan Pablo Torres, Rolando Baró, Francisco García "Caturla"). The cream Siboney disc label, with a snow-and-pine photo inset, reads "EGREM – Discos Siboney – LD-3672 – 33 R.P.M."
LP record "Leningrado" — music by Juan Almeida (EGREM/Discos Siboney 12″ 33⅓ rpm stereo LP, LD-3672)
LP record "Leningrado" — music by Juan Almeida (EGREM/Discos Siboney 12″ 33⅓ rpm stereo LP, LD-3672) - Image 2
LP record "Leningrado" — music by Juan Almeida (EGREM/Discos Siboney 12″ 33⅓ rpm stereo LP, LD-3672) - Image 3
2025.1.310
"Leningrado" is Juan Almeida Bosque's instrumental homage to the Soviet city emblematic of Second World War sacrifice — the 900-day Siege of Leningrad — and the cover image of a red carnation laid on snow beside a makeshift cross directly evokes the Soviet practice of laying flowers at the Leningrad siege memorials. The instrumental gathers the cream of Cuban jazz — Chucho Valdés, Paquito D'Rivera, and Arturo Sandoval, the founding nucleus of Irakere, plus Pablo Menéndez (the U.S.-born guitarist who settled in Cuba) and the master rumberos Los Papines — under Rafael Somavilla. So the homage to Leningrad is realized by the island's jazz elite, fusing Afro-Cuban rhythm and modern jazz in service of a state-sponsored solidarity theme. The involvement of the DOR (the Party's Departamento de Orientación Revolucionaria) design workshop and the recurring Polish engineer Jerzy Belc further locate the record within the state cultural-political apparatus.
33 RPM Record
Instrumental
The Cabrera Arús family collection
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collection
2025.1
Juan Almeida
Composer
Orquesta EGREM
Band
R. Somavilla
Director
Augusto Suero
Director
Juan Pablo Torres
Director
Jerzy Belc
Sound engineer
Antonio López Alonso
Sound engineer
Pedro Arrate G.
Designer
Rolando Trutié
Designer
Ramón Vaillant Flores
Designer
Alcides Uribazo
Designer
Delio Columbié
Designer
Eddy Gaytan
Production
Ricardo Repilado
Translation
EGREM
Discos Siboney
circa 1977
Santiago de Cuba
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
The front cover is a haunting photograph — a single red carnation and a pine branch lying in snow — with "LENINGRADO" in violet; the photographic composition and design are credited to Juan Almeida himself, with design/photography advisors from the DOR design workshop in Santiago de Cuba.
Leningrado
R. Somavilla
Orchestration
Jesús Valdés
Pianist
Paquito D'Rivera
Alto Saxophonist
Antonio Sandoval
Trumpetist
Pablo Menéndez
Guitarist
El Grupo Ritmico Los Papines
Performer
Piano
Saxophone
Trumpet
Guitar
Drums
LD-3672
La lupe
Pedro Coto
Orchestration
El campesino jose
Raul Gómez
Orchestration
El arriero
Enriqueta Almanza
Orchestration
El balsero del toa
Juan Pablo Torres
Orchestration
Te canta mi tambor
Rolando Baró
Orchestration
Marinero quiero ser
Francisco García (Caturla)
Orchestration
31 cm
30 cm
vinyl, record case
Good
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
owner
Juan Almeida
author
DOR
Santiago de Cuba
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
recording, production
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
acquisition, use
The composer is Juan Almeida Bosque — a Comandante de la Revolución and one of its highest-ranking leaders (a Moncada, Granma, and Sierra Maestra veteran and Politburo member), who was also a prolific songwriter, not only composed the music but also created the cover photograph and design.
Name correction: the trumpet soloist is printed "Antonio Sandoval" on the sleeve but is Arturo Sandoval