Finally the people of Sweden will get to experience the ecstasy that comes from seeing Havana D'Primera live. I have always loved their music, but I remember when Gabriel from Yemaya's Verse first saw them in Havana and went wild, raving like a lunatic about how great they are. I mean, sure I knew that this collection of musicians must be great, but still...she seemed to be a little overly dramatic.

Then it happened. I saw them live in Copenhagen in 2009 and I became a believer too. There is something special that happens at a Havana D'Primera concert. Alexander connects with his audience in a way that has to be experienced to be understood. And this Thursday March 25th, in a concert at Södra Teaterns Kägelbanan, Sweden will finally understand too. Check their tour schedule for the nearest concert. It will make a believer of you.

Estreno...El palo más duro

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Timba photographer Tom Bauer has shared some more excellent photos with us, this time from Los Van Van in Stuttgart, 7 March 2010. In fact there are 65 pictures from the concert, so I decided to do something a little different. I created a main page with a variety of pictures from the evening and then subpages for the singers and musician sections. If you aren't familiar yet with the new subpage feature, when you go to the main page you will see a Table of Contents to the right of the center frame. You can use this to jump directly to any of the subpages or you can use the Previous/Next buttons at the bottom of each page to navigate between subpages.

Tom was at both the Stuttgart and the Erlangen concerts and says that they did the standard Arrasando Tour playlist, opening with "Arrasando" and closing with "Te pone la cabeza mala". Both concerts were attended by over 800 people. Juan Formell is not on this tour, but bassist Pavel Molina does an excellent job. I just have to say that I love the dress that Yeni wore in Stuttgart!

And before I give you the link to the first set of Stuttgart pictures I thought we'd play a little game: Name That Van Vanero! using three pictures from Tom's collection. It shouldn't be too challenging for Van Van fans, but try to answer who's who before looking at the picture gallery.

Whose feet?                                Whose hands?                          Whose hands?

When you have answered the questions you can go check out the Van Van in Stuttgart picture gallery and see if you got the answer right.

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Pupy alumnus Pepito Gómez makes his third trip to the Bay Area tomorrow (Friday) night at Club Antón, right around the corner from Yoshi's in Oakland's Jack London Square district.

Pepito not only sang with Pupy, but wrote some of his best songs, including Un poquito al revés, containing the title coro of Pupy's epic Tranquilo que yo controlo, one of the best albums of recent years. As always, the lovely and talented Ariacne Trujillo will be the pianist and musical director and  this time the rhythm section will consist of Bay Area monsters Carlos Caro and Jesús Díaz. Between sets, it will be Walt Digz, a fabulous timba DJ who always embarrasses me by playing some absolutely brilliant track that I haven't heard, forcing me to sheepishly ask what it is. Let's try to sell this thing out so we can keep shows like this coming! Click here for advance tickets.

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Click here to see the widescreen video - Oprima aquí para ver el video (alta resolución)

RUMBANKETE @ Yoshi's Oakland - Open Dance Floor - Thursday, February 11 2010 
13-piece All Star contemporary Cuban music (Timba) orchestra from Los Angeles
Presenting Sponsor: CUBAVERA® (a subsidiary of Perry Ellis International)
Associate Sponsor: e.K. Clothing (salsa dresses & dancewear) 

Led by master trombonist & arranger Denis Jirón,  RUMBANKETE reigns supreme in the greater Los Angeles area. This new group is the only musical force currently performing contemporary Cuban dance music (timba). The band plays in various formats but prefers to perform with its full 14 piece line-up. Its front line includes singers Gonzálo "Chalo" Chomat (ex Conexión Salsera) and Iris Sandra Cepeda (ex Arte Mixto), both consummate musicians from Cuba who have made LA their home.

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