Following on the heels of the recent concert by La Charanga Habanera, El Tosco & NG La Banda will perform June 16th at SOBs in New York. You can already order your tickets on-line. Don't miss out on your chance to see the band that started it all! And if you're a reggaeton fan, SOBs will feature Gente D'Zona and El Chacál on June 11th!

The musical genre we now call Timba was created by NG La Banda, but as Cuban music expert Arturo "Marcané" Gómez points out, it was not created out of thin air. As our "Genealogy of Timba Family Tree" shows, Pachito Alonso and Gérman Velazco played with Orquesta Revé and he and José "El Greco" Crego, Carlos Averhoff, and José Munguía played in Irakere along with flautist and leader, José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés, who had previously written and played for Los Van Van.

NG La Banda amalgamated the innovations of the groups that came before it with many of its own to create a type of music that wasn't Son, Songo or Rumba - nor was it Rock, Jazz or Funk. It had ample amounts of each blended in, but its most potent component was something entirely new - something that was born in the streets and barrios of Havana in the late 1980's as the Berlin Wall crumbled. Cortés called it "Timba". illustrates, NG began as an all-star group which drew members from the most important pre-Timba bands.

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Finding it difficult to obtain instruments for his own use -partly because of restrictions then in place on imports of instruments (and everything else) from Cuba following the Cuban missile crisis of 1962- and unable to buy congas, bongos and similar instruments of the quality he saw other performers using, Martin Cohen began making his own. As his instruments became more popular, Martin founded his company Latin Percussion (LP), making it a world-reknown brand. Martin has been a music photographer since the 1950's and his Congahead.com webiste is the source of excellent music videos. TIMBA.com will be posting some of his favorite selections here. Thank you Martin. Click here to visit the new TIMBA.com Congahead Video page.

Los Muñequitos de Matanzas
Folkloric Cuban Music Videos - courtesy of Congahead

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continue reading Pa' Ponerte en Talla

Charanga Habanera will be back in the States for the third time since "the thaw". Kay has the full details on Thursday's show at the Conga Room (including discount tickets). The next night they fly to SF and Roccapulco for a show hosted by dancing phenoms Nick & Serena of SF Rueda Festival fame. We're waiting for more dates for Europe this summer.

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continue reading La Última

(Orando Valle) Maraca's USA Tour officially begins June, 14, 2011 at the Napa Valley Opera House (8pm) in Napa, California.

Click here for his full 2011 USA Tour Schedule courtesy of TIMBA's Michelle White.

Straight from Cuba, Maraca's ensemble has been called “the most influential Afro-Cuban band of the emerging century” (Chicago Tribune) and “one of the hottest names in jazz” (LA Times). Maraca will have the Opera House moving to the authentic rhythms of salsa, mambo and cha cha cha, as well as creative Afro-Cuban jazz.

The band has been extended to 13 musicians, all coming from Cuba, with great addition as Jose-Miguel melendez (ex-Irakere), on vocals and solo percussion, and Alfred Thompson (ex-Irakere, Omara Portuondo and Ibrahim Ferrer) on tenor saxophone. The band will be playing a mix of their afro cuban jazz repertoire, danceable songs from their hits and songs from their new danceable CD which is being recorded in Havana now.

Participating Musicians & Staff:
Orlando “Maraca” Valle bandleader, flute, composer, arranger 
Josiel Pérez  trumpet 
Eduardo Martínez  trumpet 
Ariel Pérez  trombone 
Alfred Thompson  tenor saxophone 
Andrés Pérez  baritone saxophone 
Lester Ciarreta  vocal 
Alexei “El Nene” Sánchez  vocal 
José Miguel Meléndez  vocal, percussion 
Iván Llanes  drums, timbales 
Yosmel Montejo  bass 
Rafael Valiente  congas, background vocals 
Andy Rubal  piano 
Céline Chauveau  manager 

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