UPDATE! The tour organizers have changed the schedule and the first concert will now be the October 11th date at Melones. Click here for the correct set of concert dates.

from the 2010 tour - photo by Tom Ehrlich

Elito Revé y su Charangón finally return to the US this week. They play Melones in Hialeah, Friday the 11th.

Next is San Francisco, Café Cócomo, on Saturday the 12th, then Santa Cruz's Moe's Alley on Tuesday the 15th, back to SF and Café Cocomo the 16th, then on to New Jersey on the 18th.

Stay tuned for more info and make sure you catch this incredible group. There have been a few changes since the 2010 tour, with Lachy "El Bello" Fortuna returning on lead vocals and a new pianist.

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Sometimes technology does make marvels. So this Timba.com reader from Hungary starts sending me some MP3s -- sequences of music he is working on for his band -- because he is looking for a timba singer. Questions, emails, Skype messages...but I never got around to listening to the music. Finally it's 2am one morning and I'm coding and I put it on. Cuerpo, mambo, bloques, BOMBA....man...it's all there! Who is this guy? Turns out it's a project called Barrio Latino. And they really are from Hungary.

Formed in 2005 by trumpeter and composer Tamás Bodzsár and a group of young jazz musicians, BARRIO LATINO is the first Timba orchestra in Hungary.  A full album is in the works with Italy-based singer and cubano Leo Wilber. Thanks to the internet, I was glad to collaborate with Tamás, playing bass and mastering this new single.

Free MP3 download here = http://music.barriolatino.hu -- full track credits here

With this first single from the upcoming album -- entitled "Con Clave Y Tambó" -- we give you the initial sample of the new sound of Barrio Latino, a track that counts with the participation of singer and "charanguero mayor" Danny Lozada. We sincerely hope you enjoy it and share it with your friends. 

Also on RADIO TIMBA, you will find a very diverse mix of Cuban music, with nods to our blogger Mayito Rivera, Calle Real, Paulo FG, Robert Armas y Los Conquistadores de la Salsa, Los Ángeles de la Habana, Tirso Duarte, La LIga Habanarea, Pupy y los que Son Son, Beny Moré, Conjunto Casino, Clave y Guaguancó, Andrés Fernández y Grupo Contrabando and the Pacific Mambo Orchestra.

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Tom's latest gallery features Roberto Fonseca's killer Latin jazz band at Monterey Jazz.

In other news, prepare for Revé! Saturday, Oct. 12 at Café Cócomo, San Francisco ($30 in advance for the whole night) and Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz - $20 in advance for the whole night.

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Nelson González, Marco Díaz, Josiel Pérez, José Mangual, Jr., Carlos Caro - photos: Tom Ehlrich

The Arsenio Rodríguez Project plays two shows at Yoshi's SF tonight, Saturday. Tom Ehrlich and I were on hand for their rehearsal today and Tom's gallery will be up soon. This is an all-star band at the top of its game. Nelson González and José Mangual, Jr. are living legends, but every musician is a master: musical director Josiel Pérez and bassist Yosmel Montejo are familiar from their tours with Maraca; Carlos Caro (ex-Paulito, ex-Opus 13), Marco Díaz and Eduardo Herrera all hail from Vissión Latina; Niche Romero was in Manolín's incredible Cuban band of the 90s, Roberto Morris played with Sur Caribe in Santiago de Cuba and on lead vocals and clave is the amazing Perico Hernández, who captured the authentic flavor of Arsenio's masterpiece compositions. Both Perico and Eduardo channeled René Scull several times and gave me chills. Their all-Arsenio set list includes the drop-dead masterpieces Me boté de guaño, Dile a Catalina, La vida es un sueño, Kila Quiqui y Chocolate and many more. Don't miss this one. If you're not familiar with Arsenio - trust me, you'lll be addicted. Here's an article to get you up to speed.

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