Miami's hot Timbalive kick off their European Tour "From Miami to La Habana" with a concert in Rennes, France at the Aquí Cuba festival. the band will tour France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Spain during a whirlwind 2-week tour. Click here for the full list of tour dates to find a concert near you, and enjoy a taste of Timbalive from their release party 2009 with the video below.

Timbalive at their Release Party for the CD "From Miami to La Habana"

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Berklee College of Music in Massachussetts has turned out some of the best young Latin musicians in the world and its focus on Latin music is growing at a steady clip.

Timba.com is thrilled to welcome reporter Allen Bush who will be hosting the Latin Music at Berklee College of Music report. His maiden post announces a concert on Nov. 18th by the legendary Larry Harlow. 

In other news, don't forget "An Intimate Evening with Melón Lewis" at Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, Monday night at 8:00.

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Melón is on an extensive tour of the US with Spanish diva and super-star, Concha Buika. The link has the full schedule.

On Monday night, Nov. 8th, at 8:00 p.m., Melón will do a clinic/master class and mini concert on the $170,000 Faziola grand piano at the legendary Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland. Tickets are only $20.

For more information: www.piedmontpiano.com . Ticket purchase by credit card at 510-547-8188.

Meanwhile, reader Patrick Gomis found a typo in Volume 6 of Beyond Salsa Piano (the first on Melón), so I've corrected it and added Alain's bass tumbao as a bonus. You can download the PDF by right-clicking on this LINK. While I was investigating the situation I realized yet again that Issac's 12-1997 El Palacio de la Salsa version of La vida sin esperanza is truly one of the greatest live performances of all time by any group. Click here to listen and see if you agree . (The section in the PDF starts about 9:45 into the performance.)

Meanwhile,  I've been working since July on the first two volumes of Beyond Salsa Percussion, featuring the unbeliievably talented Calixto Oviedo.

We're still waiting for Melón to submit the long-awaited video files for Beyond Salsa Piano, but with this new series we started  with the video, so we'll be release hard-copy books, eBooks, audio files and video all at once, and the video will come with pre-programmed files for users of the amazing Transcribe program, which allows you to watch slow-motion, looped video with audio at normal pitch. The first Calixto volume covers his roots: danzón, chachachá, mozambique, pilón etc. but the second takes a new and exciting approach of dividing his NG La Banda drumming style into 6 modes or "gears" and devoting an extensive chapter to each, filled with some truly amazing drumming by the master. All of this will be publish in November , so stay tuned.

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I have been remiss in my updates so I'm going to do a little series about the happenings up here in Scandinavia as 2010 heads into the homestretch. I start today with Denmark because tomorrow WOMEX, the World Music Expo, kicks off in Copenhagen - Oct. 27-30. Grupo Danson will be there presenting music from their upcoming new album. They recently returned from a mini-tour of Norway where they performed in Trondheim and Oslo. Here is a little sampler.

Grupo Danson in Oslo 2010

Elito Revé y Su Charangón will be performing this Thursday Oct. 28th at Club Mambo and I am heartbroken that I can't make it to the concert. I'm crazy about their new CD "De qué estamos hablando" and dying to hear the new songs live. Be sure you don't suffer my fate. Find a concert near you!

Orquesta Revé en vivo "Agua pa' Yemayá"

As the Autumn moves on Copenhagen will host the Latinfestival with three days/nights of dance classes shows and live music with Jorge Egües y Su Cuban Beat, Pupy y Los Que Son Son, La Empresa and Manolín "El médico de la salsa" . This is another must-participate event. Personally I have never seen Manolín live so it is very exciting and Pupy is as always on my very short list of favorite bands .

And stay tuned for an update about what has been going on and what is to come here in Sweden!

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