Chuchito Valdes, who has graced these pages many times in recent years, is currently on tour in the US, and his next performance is at the Jazz At Five festival on the corner of State and Mifflin Streets in Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday, August 16 at 4:00-8:00pm.  You can find more information about this free concert at the Jazz at Five Event Page
Chuchito will also be releasing a new album very soon, Sueño que te beso.   This is a collaborative project with Spanish composer Juan Poch, and it will be something of a departure from Chuchito's earlier recorded work.   Chuchito tells us that with the state of heightened tensions in the word right now, he wanted to release something a little mellower to help send a message of peace.   We'll have more about the album when it is ready for release (it is still in its final stages).  
Finally, there is now a Chuchito Valdes website, chuchitovaldes.com

Brenda Navarrete will soon release her debut solo album Mi Mundo, with the digital release coming in September and the physical CD after the first of the year.    At the moment she is on tour in Canada with performances on Friday August 18 at Hugh's Room in Toronto (details and tickets here) and at the Markham Jazz Festival at the MacKay Art Centre on Sunday, August 20 (details here)

(Photo courtesy David Pye)

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ENGLISH: In April, Pedrito Calvo Jr. released a new single titled "Casinero Sí o Sí". The video followed in June and both have been very well received by fans of Cuban music and dance. In only 2 months the video at Facebook passed 200000 views and has now passed 300000. We spoke with dancer and now composer Esteban Isnardi about how the song and his collaboration with Pedrito Calvo Jr. came about. Click here for the interview (including a link to the English translation of the lyrics).

ESPAÑOL: En abril, Pedrito Calvo Jr. lanzó un nuevo sencillo titulado "Casinero Sí o Sí". El video siguió en junio y ambos han sido muy bien recibidos por los fanáticos de la música y los bailes cubanos. En sólo 2 meses el video en Facebook pasó 200000 vistas y ya pasó de 300000. Hablamos con el bailador y ahora compositor Esteban Isnardi sobre cómo surgió la canción y su colaboración con Pedrito Calvo Jr. Haga clic aquí para la entrevista.

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Calixto Oviedo and Lily Hernández will be on the SJ Jazz Salsa stage at 4:30 today, Sunday! The Pedrito Martínez Group outdid itself yesterday. Pedrito has added a snare, two cymbals and a hihat, all of which he plays with his hands along with the 4 congas, foot bell and cajón - it's amazing how the hihat works with the "timba conjunto" format. Oscar Hernández with Jimmy Branly also had everyone buzzing and Jimmy sat in with Pedrito to close his set.

timba.com: Bay Area timberos were excited to see that you're playing with ex-Charanga Habanera bassist Ernesto Kindelán, now one of the brightest lights of the Bay Area scene.

Calixto: Ernesto is a very complete and professional musician. I call him every time I come to SF because I love the way he plays the bass - mucho feeling y mucho sabor. He reminds me of Feliciano Arango - he's always in the pocket but plays very freely. I'm planning to use Ernesto with my Latin jazz project as well.

timba.com: Who else is in the current band?

Calixto: Erick Peralto is a young pianist with a great timba style whose way of playing tumbaos really caught my ear. Tiene tremenda clave. Roberto Morris plays trumpet with strength and that magic Cuban flavor and swing that inspires the other musicians. It's a four-man horn section with a young Santiaguero named Maikel and Anibal Seminario on saxes and an American trombonist named Craig Bryant.

About Carlos Caro ... I'm speechless! I think he and Panga Romas are the two most complete percussionists on the planet - they know the roots, the concept of sound and the groove. When I play with Carlos I can relax and never worry about anything. The bongosero, Rayner Fernández, is also a great corista.

And of course, my beautiful wife Lily Hernández on vocals as always.

timba.com: What kind of material are you going to play?

Calixto: We're going to do 1990s style Cuban timba with original songs like Se te va la vida, and Refranes by Richard Ortega. Also some standards like Issac's Dime si te gusta mi compás, Adalberto's De la hipocresía, and Ya no hace falta by Bamboleo.

timba.com: Where have you been playing in LA?

Calixto: Floridita Restaurant in Hollywood, Viva Hollywood, Vibrato Jazz Grill, Catalina Jazz Club and various clubs in Ontario, Newport Beach and Pomona. Sometimes we play under the name Lily La Negra & Orquesta. We're also recording a second CD with our Latin Jazz band.

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                  Calixto sitting in with PMG at the 2014 show - photo by Tom Ehrlich

This year will be the most Latin-oriented SJ Jazz Festival since the legendary 2014 Summerfest, and features several of the same headliners - Pedrito Martínez Group, Calixto Oviedo & Lily Hernández (we'll have an interview with Calixto tomorrow) and Jimmy Bosch - as well a some great funk bands - George Clinton & Maceo Parker - Daymé Arocena - Oscar Hernández and a long string of the best Bay Area groups - Conjunto Karabalí, Carlitos Medrano, Manny Martínez, Pacific Mambo and many others.

Pedrito plays Saturday at 3:00 with his own group and at 6:00 with Angélique Kidjo. Calixto will play Sunday at 4:30. Here's the full lineup.

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