Most people in the crowd who came to see the Che Guevara photo exhibition last week were eager to look back into history. But at least one man's eyes were fixed on the future.

"I think it's time to bring Cuban music and China closer together," says Jorge Gomez, the guayabera-clad leader of Moncada, a musical group founded by Havana university students in the 1970s.

Gomez, who has served in his country's parliament as a representative of musicians, says Cuba's music gained worldwide acclaim after being embraced by US fans in the last century.

"But now, the biggest cultural force in the world is China," he says, "and Cuban music can be a part of that new wave."

A drink in one hand and a cigar in the other, the 60-something keyboard artist and singer is no stranger to the mission of spreading his country's music abroad.

He's taken Moncada to stages from Paris to Ethiopia - and to Italy more times than he can count. The group took the stage three years in a row at the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival, appearing with several artists who later came to Cuba to perform and record an album with Moncada.

Cuban bands occasionally surface in China, including last year at Beijing's now defunct Casa Latina and currently at the Xiamen Westin's Qba bar and grill. But the musicians from Havana often feel they have to pander a bit to foreign crowds, liberally mixing Latin-infused versions of English-language hits like My Way into their programs.

That prompts the first and last scowl of the night from the genial Gomez.

"Cuban bands should play Cuban music," he exclaims. "And not just the predictable classics. We are here to show China the contemporary sound of Cuba, which we also had a chance to bring here in 2010, during the Shanghai Expo."

He hands us a fistful of fliers.

"We're gonna play for a little bit here," he promises. "But come to the after-party if you really want to let loose."