Excerpts from Japanese magazine Business Jump, Dec. edition 2001, published by Shueisha One of the main objectives for my visit to Cuba was to listen and feel the Cuban music. The movie 'Buena Vista Social Club' has turned Cuban music into a global sensation. Every time the concerts were performed in Japan, venues were fully packed and the energetic spirit that flowed from musicians well over the age of seventy was very moving in a way. The editorial desk at Business Jump wanted to make a report on what was happening in this country with our own eyes and get a real feel for the sensation. Fortunately, we were able to get assistance from Mr. Haruhiko Kono, the only Japanese musician approved by the Cuban government as a music performer. As Cuba is a socialist country, even musicians are considered public officers. We were also lucky because Groupo Diákara, a band in which Mr. Kono performs, was scheduled to make a live performance that night. It was one of those midnights in August. The live house�Acalled La Zorra y el Cuervo, was just a three-minute walk from our hotel. The first show was set to start at twelve thirty am, and the second at two thirty am. We paid the US$5 cover and entered the house, wondering when the performance was going to end. There were still plenty of time before the show started, but the place was packed. As the music started and the sounds of guitar and saxophone got the audience going, Oscar Valdés came onto the stage. I felt an instantaneous explosion. Please forgive my inability to better describe the moment, but it was just astonishing. Oscar Valdés played with the Grammy-winning band Irakere for a quarter of a century and he is truly a dedicated musician. The band performed music carefully chosen by the great musician. Beside Oscar was the genius percussionist, Eliel, who is only seventeen years old. As the audience drowned in a torrent of sound and energy, we became almost spellbound by a vision of a third arm and fourth arm drumming on Eliel's percussions. Yes, it was the arms of a music spirit.