Caminando Aragón: Timeless Journey; Orquesta Aragón

This 2012 film by Martinez explores a Cuban musical ensemble founded in 1939 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, that quickly gained prominence as a charanga dance orchestra (emphasizing flute, violins, and piano, with a son cubano rhythm section) and eventually traveled all over the world. Sons and a grandson of some original Orquesta Aragón members now play in the group, which is proud of its continuity and has expanded its repertoire to other rhythms (salsa, African-inspired chaonda, jazzy riffs from individual players). We see them perform in 2011 at three concert venues (in New York, Havana, and Cienfuegos) and meet the players and fans, who trace the history of the group. Visually, too much time is spent on people at airports, boarding buses, sauntering down the street, and sitting on benches, but the energetic music happily saturates the sound track.