In 2011, Emiliano Echeverria interviewed Paulito FG just before his final Bay Area performance at Yoshi's. It will be broadcast live on KPOO on Friday morning at 10:00 and will be archived for two weeks thereafter. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVE BROADCAST - FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2025: 10:00 A.M.

Paste the following into your browser, then click Listen Now.

https://kpoo.com/

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Very sad to report that Cuban star Paulo FG (Pablo Alfonso Fernández Gallo) has died in a car accident today in Havana. 

El popular cantante cubano Paulito FG falleció esta tarde en La Habana tras sufrir un accidente de tránsito en el Malecón de La Habana. La noticia ha circulado inicialmente en las redes sociales, donde varios internautas han compartido las fotografías del auto destrozado en que se transportaba el artista.

Varias imágenes muestran que se produjo un choque con un ómnibus de Transtur. Según fuentes no oficiales, el accidente ocurrió en las cercanías del Club 500 y el músico fue trasladado rápidamente al Hospital Calixto García.

El músico cubano Alexander Abreu confirmó la noticia en un post en el sitio oficial de Facebook de su orquesta Havana D´ Primera.

Para más información visite = https://oncubanews.com/cultura/musica/fallecio-paulito-fg-en-accidente-de-transito-en-la-habana/

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ENGLISH:  The 40th edition of Jazz Plaza is underway and  brings a greatly expanded format - Villa Clara has been added to Havana and Santiago de Cuba as a festival site, and a rather massive number of concerts (more than 400 according to the organizers) will take place between the three cities.
You can see the event schedule here. 
The Colloquium, a series of lectures and presentations, took place the previous week in Havana.
You can see that schedule here.
We'll have more to say about the festival the week after its conclusion.
ESPAÑOL: La 40a edición del Jazz Plaza ya está en marcha y presenta un formato muy ampliado: a La Habana y Santiago de Cuba se ha sumado Villa Clara como un sede del festival, y se realizará una cantidad bastante grande de onciertos (más de 400 según los organizadores entre las tres ciudades. Puedes ver la programación del event aquí.
El Coloquio, una serie de conferencias y presentaciones, tuvo lugar la semana enterior en La Habana.
Puedes ver la programación aquí.
Tendremos más que decir sobre el festival la semana después de su conclusión.

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Tune in Sunday, February 2 2025 for the 67th Annual Grammy® Awards at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Kiki Valera's VACILÓN SANTIAGUERO is nominated for Best Tropical Latin Album. 

The 2025 GRAMMYs will broadcast live on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ at 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT. Prior to the telecast, the 2025 GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony will be held at the Peacock Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on live.GRAMMY.com and the Recording Academy's YouTube channel. The Best Tropical Latin Award will be presented during the Pre-Telecast (Premier Ceremony).  

Click here to listen to VACILÓN SANTIAGUERO (full album).

¡VACILÓN SANTIAGUERO! is Kiki Valera’s second US solo release after many distinguished years as director of La Familia Valera Miranda in Santiago de Cuba. It reaches beyond his core performing group to present collaborations with some GRAMMY® award winning musicians and to feature his favorite trumpeters, some Cuban-born, others US-born, but all with justified reputations for playing Cuban music out of love if not from DNA.

“Vacilón” is one of those words that doesn’t have a perfect English equivalent to Cuban Spanish, but something that is a REALLY good time (a little rum or aguardiente always helps) comes close.

So what sets this apart from the vast mountain of excellent traditional albums already out there? Not only is there Kiki’s custom-built Cuban cuatro, which brings a unique texture to the sound, rather than a tres, but in his jazz-influenced hands, you will occasionally hear twists and turns in the solo work that you probably weren’t expecting when you first glanced over the song titles, which are mostly Cuban evergreens. Thanks to Kiki’s creative arrangements, this is no mere recycling of cover versions of these classic songs.

Kiki is as demanding about the recording, mix and mastering work as the arrangements. Much of the recording and mix was done in Kiki’s custom-built home studio and GRAMMY® winner Michael Lazarus mastered the project. The result will be a pleasure for audiophiles - a reason, I might add - to want the physical disc for your collection. —Bill Tilford 

Click here to read Bill Tilford's record review of VACILÓN SANTIAGUERO.

Son cubano, uno de los estilos musicales más populares en Cuba, encuentra en Kiki Valera a uno de sus exponentes más destacados. A lo largo del último siglo, este estilo de música tradicional cubana ha influido en diversos géneros musicales, incluyendo el jazz, el cha-cha-chá, el mambo, la salsa, el songo y la timba. El son cubano es la música que llevó al Buena Vista Social Club a la fama mundial a finales de la década de 1990, pero la conexión de Kiki Valera con esta tradición musical se remonta décadas atrás, gracias a su familia de músicos.

Kiki Valera es el hijo mayor del famoso septeto La Familia Valera Miranda, un grupo de música tradicional multi-generacional originario de Santiago de Cuba. Desde el siglo XIX, La Familia Valera Miranda ha desempeñado un papel significativo en la cultura cubana al recolectar y preservar las profundas tradiciones de la legendaria región montañosa de Sierra Maestra. Su álbum debut, "ANTOLOGÍA INTEGRAL DEL SON", lanzado en 1982, contribuyó a desencadenar el interés explosivo por la música tradicional cubana. 

Released March 29, 2024
All music arranged by Kiki Valera

Kiki Valera - cuatro cubano, guitar, bass, clave, maracas and coros
Pedro Vargas - congas, bongos and coros
Steve Guasch - coros
Carlos Cascante – lead vocal (1,4,5,7,9,10,12)
Francisco “Coco” Freeman – lead vocal (2,11)
Joshuah de Jesus – lead vocal (3,8)
Raquel Zozaya – lead vocal (6)

Special Guests:
Alexis Baró - trumpet (1,3,4,6,9,11)
Steve Mostovoy - trumpet (1,3,6,11)
Michael Rodriguez & Jonathan Powell - trumpet (8)
Pete Nater & Dennis Hernandez - trumpet (2,5,7,12)
Bryan Lynch & Thomas Marriott - trumpet (10)
Leon Q Allen - trumpet (4)

Recorded by Kiki Valera at FVM Studios, Seattle, WA
Mixed by Kiki Valera at FVM Studio, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Michael Lazarus, Latin Music Mastering
Graphic design by Michelle Holme
Produced by Naomi Bierman and Kiki Valera
Executive Producer, Naomi Bierman

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