La Charanga Habanera has passed through several distinct incarnations in its 21-year existence starting as a traditional charanga in 1988, transforming into one of the most influential timba bands of the 1990s and changing with the times into a timbaton/timpop band in the past couple of years. Each epoch has had it's own character and made the questions "which is your favorite version of La Charanga Habanera?" a favorite topic among timberos. If you are new to timba, check out the History articles about the Charanga Habanera.

La Charanga Habanera - Stockholm, Sweden 28 November 2009

What is undisputeable is that under director David Calzado’s guiding hand, the band has remained at the top of the Cuban charts since 1992, adapting to the recent reggaeton explosion in Cuba by successfully integrating reggaeton into their music and collaborating with some of the most popular reggaeton bands such as Eddy-K, Gente D’Zona and Baby Lores & El Chacal. With the approaching “new premier” of the Charanga Habanera in the US, I think it is timely to share my concert report from Stockholm, November 28, 2009. Click here to read the full concert report including video.

deja un comentario

continue reading Timbera Mayor

Sobre las fechas y temas de la gira - El Sr. Alejandro Otero nos informa que:

"Tenemos varias giras ya para el próximo año de inmediato -Canada para principios de año,  Peru desde el 25 de febrero al 21 de marzo está confirmado, el sudeste mexicano , por supuesto la gira veraniega de Europa y  de ser posible repetir los EE.UU."

"Para esta gira de EEUU el repertorio sería por supuesto temas del último CD 'La caratula' que contiene varios éxitos como 'Gozando en la Habana' y 'La Caratula'. Además se toman temas mas viejos como 'Pa'que se entere la habana' , 'El Temba', 'Soy Cubano soy Popular' y 'El ciclón de la Habana'. 

Los integrantes actuales son:

Gracias por mantenernos al día Sr. Otero.

deja un comentario

continue reading Pa' Ponerte en Talla

For those of you who haven't kept yourselves up-to-date on the comings and goings in La Charanga Habanera, it's time for a few introductions before El Ciclón de La Habana hits the US. The band now has a five-singer line-up. The veterans are Aned Mota "El Charanguero Gozador" and Dantes Cardosa "El Ricky Ricón". The newest singers have already been with the band for over a year, but since the band hasn't been to El Yuma since 2001 they may still be new faces to you.

Junior, Heikel, Dantes, Lachy & Aned

Last Saturday, November 28th I took the opportunity to talk with Lachy and Heikel so they could introduce themselves to the readers of Timba.com. Junior was on the move most of the time so I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but you should know him from the very popular song "Mentirosa".

deja un comentario

continue reading Timbera Mayor

I'm starting to believe this is actually going to happen. I'll let you know when and if there are actual boots on the ground, but it's gotten as far as this cool site that counts down the days and hours:

Charanga Habanera in SF Countdown Site

Do I hear the distant rumblings of floodgates opening?

Of course, readers in Canada, Perú and Europe, must be rolling around laughing as they watch us poor yumas flailing around in agony and anticipation.

deja un comentario

continue reading La Última