The Cuban singer-songwriter Boris Larramendi surprised his followers by announcing the release of Yesterday I Was Glad to See You, a song in which he managed to reunite, after two decades, the original members of “Habana Abierta”, one of the most iconic musical projects of the Cuban diaspora.
In a message published on Facebook, Larramendi recalled that it marks 20 years since the group's last album and reminisced about the determination of producer Nat Chediak and the support of filmmaker Fernando Trueba, which made that musical journey possible.
"We were immensely fortunate to collaborate with the great Bebo Valdés on one of my songs. We presented that album in Madrid, before an incredibly dedicated audience," wrote the musician, who described the experience as an unforgettable moment.
During their participation in the podcast of Los Tres de La Habana, they revealed that the single comes with a music video directed by Pablo Quisa, the same person who brought them together in their beginnings, and it is available on all digital platforms, including YouTube.
"It's a song that I had the honor to share with my colleagues from Habana Abierta; it erases the tool of time and brings our voices together again," he stated.
A reunion filled with memory and nostalgia
The news marks a milestone for the followers of Habana Abierta, a collective that broke boundaries in Cuban music from exile in Madrid during the 1990s and 2000s, blending trova, rock, funk, rumba, and rap, and giving voice to a generation that found no space within the island's official cultural industry.
Larramendi has recalled on several occasions that the group became known "despite the Cuban regime and not thanks to it." In previous interviews with CiberCuba, the musician emphasized that Habana Abierta represented a unique path, forged from a distance and exile.
In recent years, Boris Larramendi has maintained a steady output that blends nostalgia, social critique, and political commitment. Songs like Allá en Cuba (2020), featuring Amaury Gutiérrez and Luis Bofill, reflect the pain of separation and the stagnation of the island. His album Yo vine a querer (2021) explored the diaspora and dislocation from an intimate perspective.
He has also added his voice to political causes, such as when he covered, along with Pavel Urkiza and Yisel Duque, the song Los dinosaurios, by Charly García, in support of the protests on November 15 in Cuba.
More than a song, a symbol
The Habana Abierta meeting in Yesterday I Was Glad to See You is not just a musical launch, but a reconnection with the memory of those who had to “cross an ocean, go into exile, and leave everything behind” in order to sing freely, as Larramendi himself stated in an interview with this outlet.
For thousands of Cubans inside and outside the island, the news means hearing again those voices that defined an era and that today return, united once more, with the strength of those who do not forget their roots nor renounce their freedom to create.
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