The 58th Grammy(R) Awards process began today with the release of the official Entry List to it's academy members. Thankfully, this first round ballot acknowledges some truly great records by Cuban and Cuban music artists alike.

We begin with the already 2015 Latin Grammy(R) nominated and Cubadisco Winner "No Quiero Llanto - Tributo a Los Compadres" (click to read our review), a Tropical Latin double CD collaboration between world-wide salsa star José Alberto "El Canario" and El Septeto Santiaguero. The New York Times reported "The album, which came out earlier this summer as a double CD, reupholsters old music with relentless technical perfection." Sweet. 

Other notables in contention under Tropical Latin are Austin, Texas mega-timberos Timberos del Norte with their self-titled debut album, Singer Xiomara Laugar "Tears & Rumba", and Miami's Tiempo Libre "Pánamericano", Sonlokos "Locos Por El Son", and Leslie Cartaya "Llévame Contigo". 

Next we move to Latin Jazz -- a notoriously fierce and culturally important category -- where a not-to-be named album of midi sequences was somehow embarrassingly included under Latin Jazz in the Latin Grammys(R) and is fortunately not present here. Said controversy was avoided. Instead, we have a story of very interesting bedfellows.

Before getting to that we begin with Pure Mezcla, a live release from Pablo Menéndez & Mezcla. The record got a shining review in All About Jazz, who called it "Rare and beautiful music." Read it here. Another musician who left their soul in Cuba is Australian saxophonist Paul Van Ross, who recorded "Mi Alma Cubana" in Havana with the participation of slamming players including master percussionist José Luis Quintana "Changuito". Next we visit NATURA, by bassist and now residing in Denmar Yasser Pino & The Latin Syndicate. Interestingly, the entry list also includes records from fellow players of his Latin Syndicate: percussionist Eliel Lazo "Eliel Lazo & The Cuban Funk Machine" (in which Yasser also performs) and drummer extraordinaire Calixto Oviedo "Como Suena". More on Calixto soon as he will play a CD release concert in New York at SUBROSA on Monday November 30. For tix and more info click here. Dang... they could form a grammy nominee band. Are we talking after-party? I hope so. 

It is also important to note that one of TIMBA.com's favorite pianists -- Iván "Melón" Lewis -- who is already nominated for Best New Artist and Best Latin Jazz in this year's Latin Grammys (R), has a great record on the entry list "Ayer y Hoy". Here's a reminder why... enjoy!

More Grammy(R) news to come as we dig deeper into the list and report on other notable entries. ¡Que viva la música cubana!

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Tomorrow - October 13th in Madrid - Havana D'Primera begin their Autumn European tour, which will take them to 27 cities in 12 countries. Click here to find the concert closest to you. Los 4 are also currently on tour and will be in Bologna tomorrow. For the remaining Los 4 concert dates, click here . Both groups are at the height of popularity in their respective genres and both have relatively new albums they are promoting.

Here in Stockholm Cuban music fans will be blessed with a joint concert by Havana D'Primera and Los 4 on October 23rd. It will be the concert of the year and they are calling the event "Sólo se vive una vez". It will be held at Quality Hotel Friends and the technical details are in the hands of Stockholm's best light and soundmen. I will - of course - be reporting on it. Doors open at 8:00pm and close at 03:00am. It is simply going to be awesome!

Due to the popularity of the event the promoters and the hotel have arranged special pricing for concert-goers who are traveling to the concert from other countries or cities. For information on how to take advantage of the special pricing, click here. The pre-concert tickets are nearly sold-out, so get yours before the price goes up. To book concert tickets now click here. VIP tickets are also available for those who want to hang with the bands.

To whet your appetite I leave you with two recent videos. The first is "Regalito de Dios", is one of the most popular songs from Havana D'Primera's album "La vuelta al mundo".  The second is a recent collaboration between Los 4 and La Charanga Habanera "Lo que tengo yo". You've gotta love the Star Wars intro!

Havana D'Primera "Regalito de Dios"

Los 4 & La Charanga Habanera "Lo que tengo yo"

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Photo: Francis Vernhet

ENGLISH : One of the most important ensembles of all time in Cuban Jazz AND Cuban Popular Dance Music is Irakere .   Although its first recording, Bacalao con pan , was made in 1973 while it was still a sub-group of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna , it officially became a free-standing group in 1975 (hence the Irakere 40 ) and began to shake the world with its music from then until 2005, when it disbanded. One of the reasons that I am writing these lines today is that Irakere 's music kept me riveted to the shortwave radio in the 1970s, when Cuba's radio stations regularly broadcast their newest releases.  Here is a surviving video fragment of Bacalao con pan from the period that will help you understand the excitement of the time if you weren't around back then:

ESPAÑOL : Uno de los ensembles más importantes de todos los tiempos en el Jazz cubano y la Música Popular Bailable es Irakere . Aunque su primera grabación, Bacalao con pan , se hizo en 1973 cuando todavía era un subgrupo de la Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna , se convirtió oficialmente en un grupo independiente en 1975 (de ahí el Irakere 40 ) y comenzó a sacudir el mundo con su música desde entonces hasta 2005, cuando se disolvió. Una de las razones por las que estoy escribiendo estas líneas hoy en día es que la música de Irakere me mantuvo remachada a la radio de onda corta en la década de 1970, cuando las emisoras en Cuba emitian regularmente sus nuevos lanzamientos. Aquí está un fragmento de vídeo sobreviviente de Bacalao con pan de la época que les ayudarán a entender la emoción del momento si ustedes no estuvieron allí en aquellos tiempos:

ENGLISH:   Now,  Irakere 's founder Chucho Valdés , who celebrated his 74th birthday on Friday, has assembled a special 10-piece group consisting of his Afro Cuban Messengers and five of the best young Cuban Jazz trumpeters and saxophonists for a tour and CD release.   The tour in the United States will take place from October 20-November 16 (including Kevin Moore's favorite city of Santa Cruz, where they will be at the Rio Theatre for the Performing Arts ).  You can see the entire US tour schedule here.  You can also watch a video of this group in action at the Lugano Jazz Festival: 

ESPAÑOL : Ahora, el fundador de Irakere , Chucho Valdés , quien celebró su 74o cumpleaños el viernes, ha reunido a un grupo especial de 10 músicos que consiste en sus Afro Cuban Messengers y cinco de los mejores jóvenes trompetistas y saxiofonistas del Jazz cubano para una gira y un lanzamiento de CD. La gira en Estados Unidos tendrá lugar a partir del 20 de octubre hasta el 16 de noviembre (incluyendo la ciudad favorita de Kevin Moore, Santa Cruz, donde estarán en el Rio Theatre for the Performing Arts ). Pueden ver toda la programación de la gira de Estados Unidos aquí. También pueden ver un video de este grupo en acción en el Festival de Jazz de Lugano:

ENGLISH : A new CD, Tribute to Irakere (Live at Marciac)   will also be released on October 20 (Jazz VIllage/Harmonia Mundi), and we will review it here in the near future.  The roster for Irakere 40 includes Chucho Valdés (piano); Gastón Joya (bass); Rodney Barreto (drums); Yaroldy Abreu (percussion); Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé (batás & vocals); Manuel Machado , Reinaldo Melian & Carlos Sarduy (trumpets); Ariel Bringuez (tenor sax) & Rafael Aguila (alto sax).  
We'll be sharing more about Irakere and its role in modern Cuban Jazz and popular dance music during the weeks to come. In the meantime, Kevin Moore's history and discography of Irakere in the Timbapedia is worth visiting here. 

ESPAÑOL : Un nuevo CD, Homenaje a Irakere (Live at Marciac) también se dará a conocer el 20 de octubre (Jazz Village / Harmonia Mundi), y lo vamos a reseñar aquí en un futuro próximo. Irakere 40 incluye a Chucho Valdés (piano); Gastón Joya (bajo); Rodney Barreto (batería); Yaroldy Abreu (percusión); Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé (batás y voz); Manuel Machado , Reinaldo Melián y Carlos Sarduy (trompetas); Ariel Bringuez (saxo tenor) y Rafael Aguila (saxo alto).
Estaremos compartiendo más sobre Irakere y su rol en el Jazz cubano moderno y la música popular bailable en las semanas venideras. Mientras tanto, la historia  y discografía de Irakere por Kevin Moore en la Timbapedia vale la pena visitar aquí .

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There is no question that Cuba está de moda with all the celebrity visits these days - most recently Mick Jagger. Who knows? Maybe Los Van Van - often called "The Rolling Stones of Cuba" -  will feature the Rolling Stones as guests on their next album, which is rumored to be a collaboration with both Cuban and international artists. But enough of my fantasias.

In the meantime, we have some very successful Timba/Salsa collaborations such as Marc Anthony and Gente D'Zona with a salsaton "La gozadera" and Septeto Santiaguero's third Latin Grammy nominated album "No quiero llanto - Homenaje a Los Compadres", which features a number of leading salsa artists from different countries. Amusingly, Bill just posted on it shortly before I did, so I will just direct you to scroll down and check out his post including video. You can also click here to read his full review of the Cubadisco-winning album. On November 19th we'll see if the third Latin Grammy nomination is the charm for the septeto.

Closest to my heart I am pleased to say that the official video of "Muévete pa quí" by Elito Revé y su Charangón featuring Gilberto Santa Rosa is now being promoted in Cuba, having recently been featured on Piso 6. While I feared that Gilberto's romantica voice wouldn't suit the sound of the Charangón, he really did a fantastic job and it is a version I highly recommend to dancers and DJs.

But the TImba/Salsa collaboration goes both ways. Here in Scandinavia Tito Nieves recently performed in Norway backed by a team of leading timberos residing here in Europe. The musicians adapted beautifully to Nieves style. The band included: Tony Moreaux, Peter Ehler, Jorge Egües, Richard Ortega, Yaser Morejon, Oslen Ceballo, Adam Rapa, Jakob Johansen, Andres Mena, Yemi Valdés and Henry Hourrutinier. 

With the normalization of relations between the US ands Cuba and the recent Sony licensing agreement with EGREM, I expect we will see international collaborations snowballing. Van Van and the Rolling Stones...it could happen.

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