Miami is in for a real TIMBA treat..... El Pikete has been re-activated with all new music from composer / arranger, co-leader and electronic wind instrument (e.w.i.) player Jeans Valdés, AND THEY ARE OPENING FOR HAVANA D' PRIMERA at La Covacha on Friday May 24th !!!

Many fans will immediately recognize some of the new members as they are heavyweights of the genre in their own right. Reinier is an all-star veteran from Paulito F.G. and the Cuban Timba All-Stars, Ivette was the piano player for the Canadian timba band D'talle, Michel is from Havana Power Band, El Kid is ex-Tiempo Libre....not to mention El Pikete itself is Manolín El Médico's band when not backing Manolín. Another real treat is their new female lead Ingrid Leiva (any relation to Pío Leiva?), as Hany is expecting her first child. 

** UPDATE - Ingrid Leyva Fuentes used to be the lead singer for Azucar Negra (Limonta's project) and you can see her in the video I just posted under the band list... Enjoy! El Pikete's lineup is shaping up to be a a new all-star timba group.

CALL 305-594-3717 for tickets or click here = EL PIKETE & HAVANA D' PRIMERA at La Covacha

Here are the new members / aquí los integrantes del (nuevo) PIKETE:

Lead singer Ingrid Leyva Fuentes with Azucar Negra

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Entrevista a Calixto Oviedo

Calixto Oviedo began 2013 with a concert in Boulder, Colorado. From this collaboration a new group was born, Calixto Oviedo y su Orquesta, that has already caught the attention of timberos and Cuban music fans around the world. Calixto took some time from his schedule, which is always full, to tell us a little about the project, the objectives of the group, their repertory and plans for recordings and concerts. Click here to read the interview.

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HOW TO MAMBO with the new Tutti Music Player
The new interactive, state-of-the-art multimedia standard for music instruction. 
versión en español = oprima aquí
para leer sobre este nuevo tocador y los ritmos afro-cubanos gratis

Last November I attended the Billboard FutureSound Conference in San Francisco and there was one product that totally blew me away... the TUTTI MUSIC PLAYER. A company called Tutti Dynamics has developed an interactive music player for Mac, PC (Windows) and iPad that enables students to practice playing their instruments with master artists. If you are a serious student of Afro-Cuban music this will blow you away! 

In a special partnership with TIMBA.com, Tutti is offering Timba.com readers a complimentary introductory offer to access two free Latin grooves (mambo & afro-cuban) from the Tutti Essential Grooves collection. CLICK HERE to take advantage of this FREE OFFER. 

We wiil keep you updated as more rhythms become available. Just click on the Tutti link on the top right of every page (next to the language flags) to the latest news from Tutti.

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(photo by Kent Richmond courtesy Chicago Jazz Philharmonic)

Orbert Davis of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic and Frank Chaves of River North Dance Chicago had already performed diligent work managing expectations about what to expect and what not to expect from Havana Blue  during interviews in the press and a roundtable discussion at the Instituto Cervantes leading up to the performance, so this writer went into the Auditorium Theatre understanding that this was to be an original interpretive work rather than a series of covers of Cuban music and dance, and he was prepared to receive the work on its own terms.  Nevertheless, it is difficult for anyone who works with Cuban music to watch and listen to "Cuban-inspired" works without also considering the relationships that have unfolded for more than a century between Cuban performers and their American counterparts as well as Cuban and North American music, so this review will speak to both this performance and the bigger picture as well. 

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