Another Cubadisco has come and gone and thanks to Timba Photographer Patrick Bonnard , we have a first hand account of the 2011 ceremony. As always he has very generously shared some amazing and exclusive photos that capture the excitement of the moment. We will also be updating other sections of Patrick's gallery over the next few days. For now here is a taste from Cubadisco and Patrick's eyewitness report!

Elito Revé y Su Charagón @ Cubadisco 2011 - photo ©Patrick Bonnard used by permission

I was able to attend both the rehearsal and the Gala night of Cubadisco Awards at Karl Marx  Theater. 

Los Van Van opened the show and were performing live. The show was recorded in  the Karl Marx Theater in Havana (a second award ceremony was taking place simultaneously in Santiago, host of Cubadisco Fair this year) and broadcast on TV the next day. Manolito performed with his Trabuco. Elito Revé closed the show with a beautiful performance of dancers, Yemayá rising in the air (you must  already have seen that on youtube!). Elito won the award for the best album of  popular dance music, and the "Gran Premio", awarded for first time in Cubadisco history to a timba band.

Elito Revé played at La Tropical on Sunday the 22nd of May and the concert was filmed and recorded for a DVD. Then he lauched his national tour in Oriente before leaving for Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. He'll be touring in Europe end of July and August.
-Patrick Bonnard

I can only agree with the Cubadisco decion to award these two prizes to Orquesta Revé for their latest CD ¿De qué estamos hablando? . They faced some tough competion from Adalberto Álvarez y su son (El son de altura ), Paulo FG (Sin etiqueta ), Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco (Trabuco una vez más ) and Bamboleo (¿Quién manda? ). However, ¿De qué estamos hablando? is a truly outstanding album, demonstrating Orquesta Revé standing firmly at the top of the first line. If you haven't heard it yet, click here for my review.

For those of us not fortunate enough to attend Cubadisco, here is the video that Patrick was referring to where we see the beautiful grand finale of Cubadisco 2011, with Clave y Guaguancó and the Cuban Televison Ballet performing Agua pa' Yemayá with Elito Revé y Su Charangón. Enjoy and stay tuned for more reports on Cubadisco 2011!

Revé perform Agua pa' Yemayá @ Cubadisco with Clave y Guaguancó & the TVC Ballet

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CHARANGA HABANERA - ROCCAPULCO, SAN FRANCISCO - JUNE 3, 2011
PHOTOS BY TOM EHRLICH © 2011 - WITH PERMISSION BY FUEGO ENTERTAINMENT
click here to view the full gallery - oprima aquí para ver la galería completa

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Omara Portuondo and Chucho Valdés are back together with their second album titled "Omara & Chucho". They continue their exploration of the emotive power of simplicity. They present a selection of tunes that bear personal meaning to them, and present these songs unadorned, naked. With the exception of Wynton Marsalis on "Esta Tarde Vi Llover" and Rossio Jimenez Blanco with backing vocals on "Huesito", the album is just Chucho's piano and Omara's voice. They are two people completely exposed, sharing an intimacy with their listeners. The music is primarily a mix of boleros, trova moving into fílin. This is not salsa, but music to be listened to as you sit drinking a glass of wine with your loved one a warm summer evening or a cold winter night in front of the fire.

Click here for the full review and a track listing.

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Following on the heels of the recent concert by La Charanga Habanera, El Tosco & NG La Banda will perform June 16th at SOBs in New York. You can already order your tickets on-line. Don't miss out on your chance to see the band that started it all! And if you're a reggaeton fan, SOBs will feature Gente D'Zona and El Chacál on June 11th!

The musical genre we now call Timba was created by NG La Banda, but as Cuban music expert Arturo "Marcané" Gómez points out, it was not created out of thin air. As our "Genealogy of Timba Family Tree" shows, Pachito Alonso and Gérman Velazco played with Orquesta Revé and he and José "El Greco" Crego, Carlos Averhoff, and José Munguía played in Irakere along with flautist and leader, José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés, who had previously written and played for Los Van Van.

NG La Banda amalgamated the innovations of the groups that came before it with many of its own to create a type of music that wasn't Son, Songo or Rumba - nor was it Rock, Jazz or Funk. It had ample amounts of each blended in, but its most potent component was something entirely new - something that was born in the streets and barrios of Havana in the late 1980's as the Berlin Wall crumbled. Cortés called it "Timba". illustrates, NG began as an all-star group which drew members from the most important pre-Timba bands.

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