A two-month US tour by the 15-piece Cuban jazz-pop band Cubanismo! has been canceled because its members were denied visas to enter the United States. The group had planned a 43-show, 34-city itinerary (including a date Wednesday at Scullers in Boston).

Cubanismo!, made up of musicians from various Cuban bands, has played in the United States several times over the last decade, including last year, after other groups from Cuba had been refused entry to the country because of heightened tensions after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"Their situation is slightly different than most Cuban bands," said Chris Goldsmith of the San Francisco-based Rosebud Agency, which booked the US tour, "in that they are not a band that has played in Cuba and they've never received money from the Cuban government."

Goldsmith said no explanation was given by the State Department for the denial of visas for this tour, which would have started April 2 and run through May 28.

LOS ANGELES TIMES