One of the best Jazz clarinet/saxophone artists from Cuba, also an excellent composer, is Ernesto Vega, who works in Houston,  Texas currently.  You can read a review of his debut recording Venir al Mundo here, and a recording with him and Harold López Nussa together is due to be released in Cuba later this year. 
On Friday, March 27, Ernesto will be presenting a performance of his own compositions with his quartet at Cezanne, a nationally-recognized Jazz Club in Houston. You can see all of the details here.  You can also hear his English-language interview with Bill Tilford in the Bill's Bag segment of Frankie Pineiro's The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition on WSLR on Tuesday morning,  March 24 (the show runs from 10am to Noon Eastern time, and you can stream it here.)   If you are in or near Houston, and you like Jazz, don't miss this.  A video taste of Ernesto at work:

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Chuchito Valdés is doing 9 shows in Trio at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago between Thursday, March 20 and Sunday, March 23.  Musically, Chuchito just keeps getting better as he ages. For complete schedule and tickets, click here. 

Fresh from some concerts in Miami that are getting raves, Yissy Garcia now moves on to New Orleans. On Saturday afternoon, March 21, she will be performing at the Congo Square New World Rhythms festival, and WWOZ will play a recording of her music on Sunday, March 22.  The WWOZ website, which contains the Congo Square lineup as well, is here.  Then, at 8pm the same day (March 22), she will perform at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro.  Catch her group, Bandancha, live if you can - it's a live representative of the new wave of Cuban music that I keep shouting about.  If you can't see it live, catch the WWOZ broadcast.   

Finally, in a recent blog entry about Latin on Lex in New York, I mentioned that one of the artistic directors was Brian Lynch.  He is performing with Phil Woods and We Six at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Jazz Festival in Milwaukee on Friday, March 20.  As best as I can determine, this will be straight-ahead Jazz but very much worth checking out.  This is part of a larger festival that runs from March 19-21.For complete details, click here. 

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Tom Ehrlich has posted two galleries on the 2015 SF SalsaRueda Festival, featuring Mayito Rivera, Timbalive and hundreds of phenomenal dancers from around the world.

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

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ENGLISH: In Havana, Grupo Moncada (their leader, Jorgé Gómez, was in the first few minutes of the Conan O'Brien special about Cuba), frequently gives concerts at the Jardines del 1830, which has become known as a destination for Casino dancers in that city.   
An interesting piece of the story is that Conan's encounter with Moncada also drew the attention of Rolling Stone, not normally known for showing a deep interest in our part of the musical spectrum. You can check out the Rolling Stone item here.   I doubt that this wlll turn all of  its readers into Casineros overnight, but there is no doubt that it  does help the cause...
Finally, to add a Cuban perspective, you can read a communique from the Press Office of the National Center For Popular Music in Cuba here. 

ESPAÑOL:  En La Habana, Grupo Moncada (su líder, Jorge Gómez, aparece en los primeros minutos del episodio especial  de Conan O'Brien sobre Cuba), da conciertos  con frecuencia en los Jardines del 1830, un lugar que se ha conocido como un destino para los bailarines de Casino en esa ciudad. 
Una parte interesante del cuento es que el encuentro de Conan con Moncada también señaló a la atención de la revista Rolling Stone, normalmente no conocida por mostrar un interés profundo en nuestra parte del espectro musical. Puede ver el item de Rolling Stone (en inglés) aquí. Dudo que este articulo transforme a todos sus lectores en casineros de repente, pero no hay duda que es ayuda a la causa ...
Por último, para añadir una perspectiva cubana, puede leer un comunicado de la Oficina de Prensa del Centro Nacional de Música Popular en Cuba aquí.

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