After the tragic death of Elio Revé in 1997, his son Elito took over and within a few years had proven himself to be his father's equal in terms of assembling talent. Lele (now in Van Van) and ex-Trabuquero El Gallo each passed through the group alongside Revé's long-standing lead vocalist Dagoberto Vásquez and like his father, Elito employed a succession of brilliant musical directors - Jiovanni Cofiño, Arnaldo Jiménez and now Aisar Hernández.

This live show comes from the brief but wonderful period during which Michel Maza sang with Revé.

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Manolito Simonet photo courtesy of Cristian Muñoz

For International Timba Month we honor not only anniversaries but also birthdays. Bandleader Manolito Simonet celebrates his birthday today and we wish him health, happiness and que haya trabuco pa' rato. Manolito hails from Camagüey and has been one of the main proponents of heavily son-influenced timba. His piano tumbaos are mesmerizing hooks that are irresistible to dancers. Who doesn't immediately recognize the opening tumbao of "Marcando la distancia"?

But Manolito is not just living in the past and neither are we, although we have posted a lot of classic timba and there is more to come. Timba is alive and well in Cuba and here is the recent official video of the collaboration between F-Clan and Manolito Simonet y Su Trabuco "Yo soy bueno". A tasty combination of urban Havana with the son sello of  Manolito Simonet, it is destined to be another big dance floor hit.

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Today Giraldo Piloto & Klímax celebrate their anniversary. In tribute we offer fans this video filmed by the late, great Chuck Silverman, this is the original Klímax, playing at the famous "piscina" venue of the Hotel Riviera with the original lineup with priceless closeup footage of Piloto and Yonder de Jesús Peña Llovet (who has a great youtube channel of his own). They play half a dozen songs from the first album, Mira si te gusta (all of the brilliant original Eurotropical material is now downloadable on amazon), and some dramatic and riveting Latin jazz arrangements.

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This concert took place about a month after the Montreux concert posted earlier. 

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