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On February 26, 1993, after spending at least six years as musical director of Maravilla de Florida, pianist Manolito Simonet departed along with most of the group's members, added a horn section, synthesizer and kick drum, and started playing timba under the name Manolito y su Trabuco.

El Trabuco is one of the largest timba bands - a "super-charangón" if you will - with violin, cello, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, flute, and synthesizer in addition to the standard piano, bass, drums, congas and güiro.

Manolito is one of Cuba's most meticulous and prolific arrangers, making excellent use of the vast timbral resources at his disposal and frequently finding time to produce side projects such as his recent Tributo a Lilí Martínez. As of 2009, the group has released 8 studio albums, toured the world countless times, and risen to the top tier of the Havana club scene.

El Trabuco other main composer is singer Ricardo Amaray whose R&B influences are perfectly balanced by Simonet's encylopedic mastery of all the traditional forms of Cuban music.

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Even though Los Van Van has been postponed you will get your major fix with César "Pupy" Pedroso's powerhouse band "Los Que Son Son". Pupy will play the same venues Albert Torres hooked up for Manolito: the Sportmen's Lodge in Los Angeles and Café Cócomo in San Francisco. Click on the venue text for links to the ticket pages or call 310-445-9705.

Pupy will blow you away....read a concert report from Michelle La Timbera Mayor....click here.

César "Pupy" Pedroso (aka, "Pupi Pedroso") is one of the key figures not only in Timba, but in the last 40 years of Cuban pop music. As well as being one Cuba's best and most prolific composers, he played a seminal role in revolutionizing the art of salsa piano playing.

He started with Orquesta Revé and then became a founding member of Los Van Van. In the summer of 2001, he left to form his own group, "Pupy y Los Que Son Son", which has now released four of the best CD's of the decade.  

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Tom Ehrlich's Foto del Día gallery is up and full galleries are on their way from both Tom and Peter Maiden. You can hear Manolito in Miami on the 14th (this Friday at Kaffé Kristal) and on the 20th at SOB's in NYC. There have also been unconfirmed rumors about shows in Chicago and conceivably Detroit.

Also, Pupy Pedroso has apparently cleared the visa hurdle and will follow Manolito's pattern of back to back shows in LA (June 11 - Sportsmen's Lodge) and SF (June 12 - Café Cócomo).

Meanwhile, Maraca has put together what may be his most aggressively timbafied band to date with El Nene on vocals and a great new pianist named Andy Rubal. Check it out:

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A true percussion master and music celebrity Francisco Aguabella passed away yesterday in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. Aguabella emigrated from Cuba in the 1950's and played with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente. Later he broke into celebrity status by playing with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Paul Simon, Santana and the Doors. 

From his distinct, clear, sharp tone to his enigmatic, quinto-driven phrasing, Francisco, though a staple of the New York scene for many decades, never left Havana. Producer Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, a Latin jazz headliner himself, managed to capture the raw, no-frills energy of Aguabella's style on Francisco's album H2O beautifully. Sonically, the record has the closeness and intensity of first-row seats in a small, smoky club. 

Francisco is a recipient of awards such as the National Heritage Fellowship of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and received a fellowship for the Durfee Foundation. Rest in peace.

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