click to hear Pregúntale a mi mujer
photo by Tom Ehrlich
Click for Maraca Tour Dates

Orlando "Maraca" Valle, ex-flautist of Irakere and, as the leader of Otra Vision, has chalked up a Grammy nomination, 5 Cubadisco awards and dozens of wildly successful tours.

With dual-residency in Cuba and Europe, Maraca was able to keep touring the US throughout the dismal 2000s by using all-star groups of expatriates, but the more enlightened post-Bush era has allowed him to return to his Havana roots and put together an actual working band of top Havana musicians that's been able to play gigs, rehearse, and develop unique original material.

Click "continue reading" below for a full list, but the two names that leap off the page are monster timbalero (and singer) José Miguel (ex-Irakere, ex-Issac, and the leader of Balanza), and Alexei "El Nené" Sánchez, who sang and wrote some of Revé's greatest hits of the 2000s, including No te doy más na' and La madrugada. El Nené wrote and sang several songs on Maraca's soon-to-be-released album, including this killer timba track, Pregúntale a mi mujer , an exclusive preview on timba.com. Nené packs more excitement into one syllable ("je!") than many singers can muster in a whole night.

The tour begins at the Napa Valley Opera House on Tuesday, June 14th . Then three nights at Yoshi's San Francisco (Wed-Fri) , then Seattle (21-22) , Boulder (24) , Salt Lake City (25) , Albuquerque (26) , Jazz Glenwood Springs (29) , Aspen (30, 7-1) , Minneapolis (7-6) , Madison (7-9), Chicago (7-10), Portland Indiana (7-14), Detroit (7-15), Sioux Falls (7-16) and Washington DC (7-25). 

IN OTHER NEWS: Team Bahía, with Carlos Caro and the incredible young singer Sulkary, will celebrate their first anniversary this Saturday in Oakland at Club Antón , and Ana Pérez and Luis Cancino of Los Muñequitos, along with Ana's son Sandy Pérez, of AfroCuba de Matanzas, will be giving classes in Santa Cruz on June 17, 18, 24 and 25. Click here for more details .

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continue reading La Última

Another Cubadisco has come and gone and thanks to Timba Photographer Patrick Bonnard , we have a first hand account of the 2011 ceremony. As always he has very generously shared some amazing and exclusive photos that capture the excitement of the moment. We will also be updating other sections of Patrick's gallery over the next few days. For now here is a taste from Cubadisco and Patrick's eyewitness report!

Elito Revé y Su Charagón @ Cubadisco 2011 - photo ©Patrick Bonnard used by permission

I was able to attend both the rehearsal and the Gala night of Cubadisco Awards at Karl Marx  Theater. 

Los Van Van opened the show and were performing live. The show was recorded in  the Karl Marx Theater in Havana (a second award ceremony was taking place simultaneously in Santiago, host of Cubadisco Fair this year) and broadcast on TV the next day. Manolito performed with his Trabuco. Elito Revé closed the show with a beautiful performance of dancers, Yemayá rising in the air (you must  already have seen that on youtube!). Elito won the award for the best album of  popular dance music, and the "Gran Premio", awarded for first time in Cubadisco history to a timba band.

Elito Revé played at La Tropical on Sunday the 22nd of May and the concert was filmed and recorded for a DVD. Then he lauched his national tour in Oriente before leaving for Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela. He'll be touring in Europe end of July and August.
-Patrick Bonnard

I can only agree with the Cubadisco decion to award these two prizes to Orquesta Revé for their latest CD ¿De qué estamos hablando? . They faced some tough competion from Adalberto Álvarez y su son (El son de altura ), Paulo FG (Sin etiqueta ), Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco (Trabuco una vez más ) and Bamboleo (¿Quién manda? ). However, ¿De qué estamos hablando? is a truly outstanding album, demonstrating Orquesta Revé standing firmly at the top of the first line. If you haven't heard it yet, click here for my review.

For those of us not fortunate enough to attend Cubadisco, here is the video that Patrick was referring to where we see the beautiful grand finale of Cubadisco 2011, with Clave y Guaguancó and the Cuban Televison Ballet performing Agua pa' Yemayá with Elito Revé y Su Charangón. Enjoy and stay tuned for more reports on Cubadisco 2011!

Revé perform Agua pa' Yemayá @ Cubadisco with Clave y Guaguancó & the TVC Ballet

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continue reading Timbera Mayor

CHARANGA HABANERA - ROCCAPULCO, SAN FRANCISCO - JUNE 3, 2011
PHOTOS BY TOM EHRLICH © 2011 - WITH PERMISSION BY FUEGO ENTERTAINMENT
click here to view the full gallery - oprima aquí para ver la galería completa

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continue reading Pa' Ponerte en Talla

Omara Portuondo and Chucho Valdés are back together with their second album titled "Omara & Chucho". They continue their exploration of the emotive power of simplicity. They present a selection of tunes that bear personal meaning to them, and present these songs unadorned, naked. With the exception of Wynton Marsalis on "Esta Tarde Vi Llover" and Rossio Jimenez Blanco with backing vocals on "Huesito", the album is just Chucho's piano and Omara's voice. They are two people completely exposed, sharing an intimacy with their listeners. The music is primarily a mix of boleros, trova moving into fílin. This is not salsa, but music to be listened to as you sit drinking a glass of wine with your loved one a warm summer evening or a cold winter night in front of the fire.

Click here for the full review and a track listing.

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continue reading Timbera Mayor