If you are a Facebook user you know that the word has been out since Mirco's post yesterday, Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor's latest album, "Soy lo que te hala", has been released at iTunes and the hardcopy is at latinmusicstore and will certainly hit other on-line stores soon. I am a hardcopy fan myself  and decided to wait for the CD to appear at local stores, but after previewing the songs at iTunes, I couldn't resist buying it. I'll pick up the hardcopy later but I just had to have the songs now !

This album is packed with hits! The songs you have probably already heard if your local DJ is up-to-date are "Que tu crees?", "Se acabó el amor", "Pa' cualquiera", "La cara de salir pa' andar" and "Soy lo que te hala". If you caught them on their March tour of Europe or back in Havana you have also heard several other songs from the new album. A full review will be coming shortly. In the meatime here's the short review: great album, dancers will love it, you should buy it.

Track list:

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Iván "Melón" Lewis Quintet celebra el lanzamiento de su nuevo CD, Travesía, con un concierto en Clamores en Madrid, el 28 de junio, con el invitado especial Alain Pérez.

If you're going, please contact me at kevin@timba.com. I need pictures and a concert report for Volume 9 of Beyond Salsa Piano, which is nearing completion.

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Last night's double sellout at Yoshi's Oakland was the longest, hottest night of the tour, featuring a blistering special request version of El pregonero, great guest solos from John Calloway and Jesús Díaz, and an unbelievable dance appearance by folkloric master José Barroso.  It doesn't get better than this.

Tonight they play one night only at The Salsa Room in Arlington Virginia.  Don't miss it - Obama and Michelle Bachman are both scheduled to sit in on congas.

Tomorrow, Sunday, Pupy returns for another show in New York at SOBs.

Tuesday they'll be at Boston's Wilbur Theater. 

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photos by Tom Ehrlich

It gets hotter every night. I've seen every Bay Area show and will definitely be at Yoshi's Oakland for the grand climax tonight. Los Que Son Son has always had one of the most torrid grooves of any timba band but their new style is a quantum leap forward, featuring the pedales and bombas of bassist Daymar Calvario ("the cavalry is coming!"), Miguelito Escuriola, Duniesky Barreto and founding member Bombón Reyes, who of course also played in the legendary 2000 Issac band.

When the bass starts to pedal, slide or thump, the energy level simply goes through the roof and it happens repeatedly on every song. In my geeky opinion, this is the factor that was missing in both Pupy and Van Van - they made up for it with a relentless basic groove and masterpiece songs, but adding the "gear" factor is the pièce de resistance.

Percussion solos are a regular part of the show and Pupy's solo on La bomba soy yo  has brought the house down nightly. There was even a baby bass solo one night in SF. Many Bay stars have sat in, highlighted by Fito Reinoso, Rebeca Mauleón, John Santos and Carol Steele. Members of the Terry family are supposedly still in town and we're hoping for a last-minute guest appearance from the world's greatest chékere player.

See you tonight! Next tour stops are Washington DC and Boston. The band returns to Havana on July 2.

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