First, here's the latest on the NYC Mega Timba Concert ... today we recieved this message from the event organizers in New York:

Regarding the event " De La Habana a Nueva York " / "From Havana to New York Non Stop Music ", due to time limitations in obataining exit permits for the Cuban Artists, the Mega Timba Concert has been postponed to JUNE 16, 2012 ... Same Artists Line-up, Same Time, Same Place.

New Date : Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Place: Copacabana Club
Address: 268 West 47Th St. New York, NY.
Time: 6:00 Pm to 12 Midnight. All Ages

All purchased tickets have been Upgraded to VIP Meet & Greet, no matter the purchased price.

We apologize for the inconvenience, for more information, please call 888-584-3070 or visit the official website here. Thanks again for your support.

Our Perú correspondent Feri DJ reports on a news conference for a special concert -- featuring Alexander Abreu of Havana D'Primera -- now passed on Friday, May 18. taking place in a stylish convention center, Alexander was backed by a Lima-based group of Cuban and Peruvian musicians called "Havana Light". Alexander will be on a  solo  tour of Perú from May 16 to May 27. Two other Lima timba bands, N'Samble and Rumbavana, also performed. The event also marked the first performace in Perú for one of our favorites: La Combinación de la Habana (de Gerson Valdés). Pro soccer players who are also salsa and timba fanatics were on hand to help promote the show.....read more 

Also check out Radio Timba with some new freash tracks courtesy of Feri DJ as well...

1- CONGA TOUR by Los Van Van
2- FARANDULA TROPICAL by La Combinación de la Habana de Gerson Valdés
3- EL PAQUETE by Bárbaro Fines y su Mayimbe 

New York street to be named after Arsenio -  The “Father of Salsa Music” Arsenio Rodríguez may soon have a street named in his honor. A contingent of Bronx supporters are pushing to rename the intersection of Intervale Ave. and Dawson St. in Longwood after Rodriguez. source

Link to Pedrito Martínez Group's feature in the New Yorker is here ... "Martinez and his band have won over dozens of people the writer has taken to see him, despite common confessions to not liking jazz or not understanding Latin music. If anyone can move Afro-Cuban music into greater visibility, it’s Martinez. "  Way to go Pedrito!!

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Cubadisco 2012 was officially dedicated to the guitar, but in some ways it was also the year of the retrospective.  Many of this year's nominees were recordings that looked back on the careers of the musicians.  It is also worth noting that based on the number of awards (14) that it was associated with, Colibri has emerged as a new powerhouse for Cuban recordings.  Bis Music was associated with at least 9 awards, and EGREM was associated with at least 7.  Several other labels were represented as well.  We mention this because some people still mistakenly believe that the Cuban recording industry is a monolith.  Here are some of the award results that will be of particular interest to Timba.com readers:  

CUBADISCO 2012 GRAND PRIZE:   Veinte Pianos, Música de Ernán López Nussa, various artists (Colibri).  Ernán has sometimes been underappreciated througout his career but had a very good year this time with 4 awards.  Veinte Pianos also won the awards for CD/DVD and Didactic Recording, and Ernán was recognized as Producer of the Year.  He is one of Bill Tilford's favorite Cuban Jazz artists. This is also Ernán's second Grand Prize - the first was in 2002 for his recording From Havana To Rio.

SPECIAL GRAND PRIZE:   Chucho's Steps, Chucho Valdés and the Afrocuban Messengers (Colibri). This is an excellent Jazz recording.  

SPECIAL AWARD: Mis 22 Años, NG La Banda (EGREM), 30 Años de Son 14,  Son 14 (EGREM),Sueños del pequeño Quin, Joaquín Betancourt (Colibri)

JAZZ:  Travesia, Iván Melón Lewis Quintet (Casa Limón).  (This actually won 2 awards. Timba.com's Kevin Moore has written a lot about Melón, who has also made major contributioins to the genre of Timba. 

TESTIMONIAL  and FOLKLORIC MUSIC : Las Estrellas del folclor, Los Hermanos Arango (Bis Music). Los Hermanos Arango made a great impression on listeners during their tour of the United States a few months ago. 

TROVA FUSION:   Pi 3.14, Buena Fe (EGREM).  Buena Fe is a favorite of our own Timbera Mayor. 

ARCHIVAL MUSIC:   Origenes, Eduardo Ramos y Grupo Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (Colibri)

LATIN MUSIC:  Mala, Haila (Bis Music).  Haila's solo project is a dance album that incorporates several different genres of popular music.  

*****CURRENT POPULAR DANCE MUSIC*****   Acabaito de nacer,  David Calzado y su Charanga Habanera (EGREM).  This recording does not break new ground musically, but it is a solid dance album, and one of the selections, the fusion number La Suerte,  also had a very popular video. In the near future, we will review both this recording and the other nominees for this category in more detail.  

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Timba.com wants to congratulate Pachito Alonso y Sus Kini Kini on their 30th Anniversary, which they are celebrating tonight at La Tropical. The party should be starting right about...now! Invitados include Adalberto Álvarez, Revé, Bamboleo and Salsa Mayor, among many others.

Over the past 30 years Pachito Alonso y sus Kini Kini has been one of the great schools for young Cuban musicians. Here are a few name that should be familiar to you: Robertón and Lele, Tirso Duarte, Orlando & Lázaro Mengual, Lázaro Valdés, Vania Borges, Rigoberto López, Carlos Álvarez, Amaury Pérez and Cristobal Verdecía,j juts to name a few not to mention Pachito's sons Christian and Rey.

For those of us not able to attend the concert tonight, let me leave you with the title track to their last album, "Pasarela", from 2011.

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Alexander abreu of Havana D' Primera - All photos courtesy of CultuCuba
Click on the photos to visit the gallery

Patrick Hickey is a retired career technologist in the Silicon Valley, with a liberal arts background and a long-standing passion for photography. After over 30 years in high technology, he has taken a "time out" in order to enjoy life and not spend all day with Power Point presentations, budget wars and personnel tetras.

His introduction to shooting the Bay Area timba and performance dance scenes was a result of his daughter's casino performing group (Rueda con Ritmo), and the subsequent introduction to the various bands. He has very fond photographic memories of the late afternoon lighting at the famed Jelly's on the wharf in San Francisco, as the sun knifed through the windows and created an almost perfect place to enjoy timba.

Click here to read more about Patrick (bio and equipment list).

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