Musicians born in Cuba figure prominently in four of the five nominees in the Latin Jazz category of the 56th GRAMMY® Awards, and two of the nominees (Yo by Roberto Fonseca and La noche más Larga by Buika) are good illustrations of why it can be a challenge to assign a genre to some of the best new music being made today.   Here are the nominees in alphabetical order by title:

Eggῡn by Omar Sosa.  Omar was born in Cuba and is now based in Spain.This recording's origins are in a commission from the Barcelona Jazz Festival.
You can read our review in English here

La noche más larga by Buika.  Although Buika herself was born in Mallorca and is still based in Spain, her key collaborators (including Musical Director Ivan Melón Lewis) have usually been Cuban in recent years. 
You can read our review in English here
Se puede leer nuestra reseña en español aquí 

Latin Jazz - Jazz Latin by the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet.  This quintet is based in the San Francisco Bay Area,   This writer admits that he didn't see this one coming, but it's a quality album from a bandleader who was already a five-time GRAMMY® nominee. 
Not yet reviewed.

Song For Maura by Paquito d'Rivera.  Born in Cuba and now based in the United States, Paquito needs no introduction, and he now works in multiple styles. This time, he teamed up with Brasil's Trio Corriente for a Brasilian Jazz recording. 
Not yet reviewed. 

Yo by Roberto Fonseca.  Roberto was born and is still based in Cuba, and the group toured the United States earlier this year, electrifying audiences wherever they went. This recording won the Cubadisco Award in the Fusion category (it was also nominated in Jazz) earlier this year.
You can read our review in English here 
Se puede leer nuestra reseña en español aquí

Finally, one of the recordings that this writer had hoped would make the cut was Expectativas, the second recording by Manuel Valera and the New Cuban Express.  It didn't, but a video from the recording session was recently published on YouTube and is worth sharing: 

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Leonel Limonta & Azúcar Negra are on tour in Lima and tonight they will play at Budu and at La Makumba in a concert also featuring Team Salsa, La Timba Criolla, Michel Maza & Bárbaro Fines y su Mayimbe. If you are in Lima, try to catch them at one of their upcoming concerts. Check back with us as we will be updating the Azúcar Negra tours page as more dates are confirmed.
Dec. 7 - Voodoo
Dec. 7 - La Makumba
Dec. 13 - Hipnotic
Dec. 15 - Salsa King
Dec. 24  - La Makumba
Dec. 31 - Salsa King

If you live in Europe, Azúcar Negra will be back during March/April 2014. In the meantime here is their latest video, the title track from the new CD "A bailar con tacones". 

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Giraldo Piloto & Klímax

Following up on their brilliant 2012 CD "Todo está bien" (read Bill's review here) , Giraldo Piloto & Klímax are back with a new video, new songs and concerts in Peru and Europe. Piloto took a moment to tell us about the new songs, the next CD and their plans for 2014, which include the Latin Festivalen in Norway! Read his comments below and then check out the new video, which is another hit for the band! Click here for the tours page, which will be updated soon with more concert dates.

Can you tell us about the new video "Si te descuidas"?

In the new video by Klímax we are presenting the first single from the group's new CD that will be ready in mid-2014, and we are introducing the new singers on coros, Raimel and Victor Andy. The composer is Noel Díaz Cruz and the arranger is Yusef Díaz. We already have other songs that we are presenting in our concerts and their titles are: “La ternerita” and “Aquí estoy”. They have all been popular with the dancers.

Plans for2014?

On the 15th of this month will be participating in a concert in Lima, Peru with Tania Pantoja and Ángel Bonne, and for 2014 we will have several presentations in Scandinavia, primarily in Norway from January 24 until February 2. In March I will do various collaborations and hold masters classes in the USA via the company Lucumi Prods of Mrs. Peggy Jo Oliva, who will in turn organize a tour for June with the whole band for the USA.

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(Source of photo: EGREM's Facebook page)

Felicitaciones a Juan Formell por su Premio a la Excelencia Musical de la Academia Latina de la Grabación®!   Se puede leer más aquí...

Congratulations to Juan Formell for his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy®!   You can read more here...

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