The Independent & Rocapulco - San Francisco, California
photos: Peter Maiden - text: Kevin Moore

Wow - I'm back from 3 days in San Francisco and still feeling the "full body buzz" that only a world class Timba band can produce -- that rush of adrenaline and euphoria that I used to take for granted in 1999 & 2000 when I heard over 200 timba concerts in the space of 2 years. They've been few and far between in recent years, but this, my friends, was the real deal.

The Cuban Timba All Stars is the brainchild of Tomás Cruz, who played and recorded with Paulito FG from 1996 to 1998, and whose revolutionary approach to the creation of conga tumbaos was so far ahead of its time that even today, 8 years after his departure, the rest of Havana has yet to fully catch up.

Tomasito Cruz