Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcalba will perform as a duo at Smphony Center in Chicago on Friday, February 23, 2018 at 8:00pm.   Although each has a long and storied musical career, this tour is said to be their first time performing as a duo.   More information and tickets are available at the Symphony Center website. 


Omar Sosa will be on tour in the United States in  several cities in March including a key stop at the Old Town School of Folk Music  in Chicago on March 15.   This tour is in support of his new release with Seckou Keita, Transparent Water, scheduled for release this month.   We'll say more about that recording closer to the date.  For the Old Town School of Folk Music performane, tickets and more information are available here.  The rest of the tour schedule is available here.  
Here is some video of Omar and Sekou performing together:

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ENGLISH: Even as the 2018 tour season gets underway, things are heating up in Cuba with a number of great music festivals and events. I will post about them here over the next few days so stay tuned. And remember that if you can't make these events this year, most of them are recurring so you can start planning for next year!

First up is the Festival de la Salsa en Cuba, which begins Wednesday, February 21st. The festival includes dance and music workshops, An excursion in Havana with Papucho, directer of Papucho y Manana Club, as well as fantastic concerts each night in Parque Metropolitano. The opening concert will be held by Wil Campa. Participants can buy complete passes for all events and concerts, concert-only passes or a day pass that is good from 5pm for one day only. The after parties are not included in any of the passes but are something you don't want to miss with animations, DJs, and separate dance floors for traditional versus contemporary music. Foreigners will not be able to attend events this year by buying tickets in moneda nacional, but you can purchase your tickets in advance by following this link.

ESPAÑOL: Mientras la temporada de giras de 2018 se pone en marcha, las cosas se están calentando en Cuba con una serie de grandes festivales y eventos de música. Voy a publicar sobre ellos aquí en los próximos días, así que estad atentos. ¡Y recuerde que si no puedes asistir a estos eventos este año, la mayoría de ellos se repiten cada año para que puedas comenzar a planificar el próximo año!

Primero está el Festival de la Salsa en Cuba, que comienza el miércoles 21 de febrero. El festival incluye talleres de danza y música, una excursión a La Habana con Papucho, director de Papucho y Manana Club, así como fantásticos conciertos cada noche en el Parque Metropolitano. El concierto de apertura se llevará a cabo por Wil Campa. Los participantes pueden comprar pases completos para todos los eventos y conciertos, pases solo de concierto o un pase de un día que es válido a partir de las 5 p.m. durante un solo día. Las after parties no están incluidas en ninguno de los pases, pero son algo que no debe perderse con animaciones, DJs y pistas de baile separadas para música tradicional versus contemporánea. Los extranjeros no podrán asistir a eventos este año comprando boletos en moneda nacional, pero pueden comprar sus boletos con anticipación usando este enlace.

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ENGLISH: The winter tour season has really gotten underway in Europe now. Tonight BFM begin their tour with a concert in Seville, Spain at Chaney Discotek. They will be on tour for almost a month and this tour includes a lot of first such as tonight their first concert in Andalusia, their first show in the UK in London on March 9th and first time in Israel, March 11th in Tel Aviv. Click here to find a concert near you!

ESPAÑOL: La temporada de las giras de invierno realmente ha comenzado en Europa ahora. Esta noche BFM comienza su gira con un concierto en Sevilla, España en Chaney Discotek. Estarán de gira durante casi un mes y esta gira incluye muchas primeras como esta noche su primer concierto en Andalucía, su primer show en el Reino Unido en Londres el 9 de marzo y la primera vez en Israel, el 11 de marzo en Tel Aviv. Haz clic aquí para encontrar un concierto cerca de ti!

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Rumba y Candela 8 is underway today in Strasbourg, France. It is the first of the Cuban festivals in France in 2018. You can keep up with what is happening in France by following Les Festivals Cubains en France at Facebook

The festival includes dance workshops in afro-cuban and casino as well as parties with live music. Tonight Harold Lopez-Nussa trio wil play. Tomorrow Yanesito & Soneros All Stars and on Sunday Elito Revé y Su Charangón. Click here for the rest of the concert dates for Orquesta Revé.

I was planning to go to this festival myself but was not able to in the end. But since this is the first time that Soneros All Stars have performed down in continental Europe, I asked bandleader, bassist and tresero Yanesito (Jan Miklos Bogdan) a few questions on the eve of the band's departure for France.

Photo courtesy of Soneros All Stars Facebook

Para leer la entrevista en Español haz clic aquí.

How does it feel to finally get down to the continent with your group?

It feels great, but I'm also a bit nervous because the whole band has not played together yet. Everyone has been practicing. But we are musicians who are used to adapting and meeting at the soundcheck to rehearse for a couple of hours and then have a fantastic concert in the evening ... haha! The most important thing in Cuban music is the heart and the rhythm. We're going to have fun!

Tell me about the musicians - It's a must be fun to be reunited with Pepito. Have you worked with Alexander "El Caballo Grande" before?

Yes, I have played with Alex at Nefertiti in Gothenburg together with Raúl Lara y Sus Soneros, that show reminds us of what we are going to do on Friday at RYC8 - musicians from different countries/cities get together and just go for it. It requires a lot from everyone and Alex was fantastic, he's a real sonero.

It's been almost exactly 10 years since I worked with Cesar Pedroso in Egrem studio 101 in Centro Habana to record the album "La Timba Soy Yo". It was the first time I met Pepito. At first everything got a little strange. I had chosen Mandy, Sinsonte and Cristina Azcuy to lead and was still looking for another singer. I didn't want the album to sound too much like Pupy Y Los Que Son Son, so I didn't choose Pepito as lead singer but tried to find someone else. After taking with Pupy, Bombon and Sinsonte (all of whom had an important role in production), we chose Pepito. I already knew that Pepito was awesome, so it was natural to bring him in. I have a very good impression of Pepito, he is not only a singer, he also plays guitar. He keeps up on what's going on in music. And not least, his voice is the style I like, brutal output ... sonero/timba, but he also has the softer and gentler voice that suits boleros. I like him, and look forward to working with him live.

I will also bring Raciel Enrique Garces Espinosa with me on lead and coros. He is a Cuban guy who's lived in Sweden maybe 10 years? I don't know exactly. But I've met him through my "brother" Richard Ortega when we worked with Richard Ortega y La Jugada. Raciel is a sonero I love to work with.

Richard Ortega, he is my "brother". There are some men here in the world who understand how you work, how you think, how you are, and that's the kind of guy Richard is. Richard is a rumbero, and he loves jazz. When I play with him, I feel good. When I play with him, I'm Cuban.

I have also chosen to bring two musicians from Gothenburg, because just like me they love Cuban music and are very good friends: Raúl Lara and Rubens Millet Herrera. I was nominated for a GRAMMY with Raúl Lara for his album "Soy Cubano" in the BEST TROPICAL LATIN ALBUM category. Rubens is a great percussionist that I love working with.

On drums, Michel Ortiz Acosta .- a killer percussionist, killer drummer and a real timbero. He is one of those musicians you always want to bring along.

Of course, I have Sweden's best Cuban brass:
Petter Linde - Trumpet
Filip Olandersson - Trumpet
Nikolas Viisanen - Trombone
Johan Åström - Trombone

If you're not familiar with the Soneros All Stars, check out the latest release "El Que Corta El Bacalao". 

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