The Oakland Symphony will give the premiere performance of Rebeca Mauleón's first Symphony, Suite Afro-Cubano tomorrow, Friday. She was one of four composers selected from 160 nominees for a grant to write the piece, which has four movements:

I. Aboriginal Sunrise (imagine Taínos gathering at sunrise to play flutes and drums)

II. Espíritu Gitano (a juerga flamenca -- like a Spanish rumba)

III. Ancestral Voyage (a toque for Yemayá with echoes of modern jazz)

IV. Danzón-Mambo (Cuba meets Leonard Bernstein meets Pérez Prado)

For tickets and more info, click here

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Photo courtesy of Cristian MuñozAlexander is amazingly charismatic on stage as witnessed by this audience. Don't miss Havana D'Primera as they return to Europe this March.

The 2010 tour season is underway here in Europe with Alexander Acosta currently on tour and Tumbao Habana's upcoming French concert dates this weekend. Also starting this weekend is Los Van Van's traditional winter tour, which begins with concerts in Helsinki and Copenhagen terminating in Spain in March before they return to the US for a longer tour in June. Also touring in March is Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor. We have just updated their tour page with additional dates today. Havana D'Primera will be returning to Europe for the second time and will finally play in my hometown of Stockholm on March 25th. In April Monica Mesa will be doing a promotional tour with her band Maquina Perfecta under the musical direction of Joel Dominguez. Orquesta Revé is also expected to tour in March and April just as they complete the mixing of their new CD "De que estamos hablando", but currently the only date we have for them is March 21 at Cubamemucho in Munich. And finally El Indio and Tirsio Duarte will be in Europe from March through May so keep a lookout for their concerts. Right now all we know about is the festival in Dampierre - Nevoy, France on March 12-13. If you know of any tours we have missed send me an e-mail.

And in the US this spring there are a number of exciting tours planned as the floodgates open. While we wait for the confirmed dates to be released we can at least tell you that Alaín Daniel has announced a US tour at his Facebook site, so all you Mikis get ready.

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UPDATE: Tom's new Issac Gallery is Up

This is like watching the actual ballet performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring  after hearing the music alone for years. Rueda con Ritmo have started with Issac's December 1997 El Palacio version of La vida sin esperanza -- in my humble opinion the greatest  single live timba performance of all time --  carefully edited it down to 5 minutes and choreographed an elaborate rueda routine that does justice to all the incredible gear changes.

Behold!

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On February 6, 2010 I attended the release concert for Contrabando's second CD, "Abriendo Caminos". Located in Belguim, Contrabando is dedicated to spreading Cuban music and culture in Europe with a repertoire of original songs and arrangements that range from son to timba to fusion of Cuban rhythms with other Caribbean genres. The band has been working hard and paid their dues and have developed a steady following. The release concert was a celebration of the completion of this project and the beginning of the next stage in the band's development. The full concert report including video clips will follow soon. In the meantime here is a short interview with director and trombonist Andrés Fernández "El Paísa" with English subtitles!

Since the first decade of the new century is coming to a close, I decided it was time to go high-tech. I bought a program that easily adds subtitles to videos. So now both Spanish and English speaking fans will be able to enjoy the interviews! Click here or on the image above to watch the video. And stay tuned for the complete concert report.

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