SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO TOUR CONTINUES
Saturday night, Septeto Santiaguero tore the roof off of Martyrs at their Chicago concert.  I know that I may start some arguments and hurt some feelings, but this IS Cuba's best working traditional Septeto right now.  Your can see a photo gallery here.  Meanwhile, they are in Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota and Los Angeles next, as follows:
Tuesday, August 8:  North Street Cabaret, Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, August 9:  Dakota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 
Thursday, August 10: The Central Park Sessions, Central Park, Madison, Wisconsin
Friday, August 11:  Grand Performances, Los Angeles, CA (with Vocal Vidas)
IF YOU CAN, GO SEE THIS GROUP!!!!!!!   

VOCAL VIDAS US TOUR
The a capella tradition is Cuba is not just a man thing - there's Vocal Vidas, a female quartet from Santiago de Cuba.  Well, OK, they cheat just a wee bit - they use a little hand percussion, but other than that, they are a capella, and that does not diminish them at all - their voices are wonderful.   They are out in California right now and very much worth seeing as follows in metro LA: 
Tuesday, August 8:  Herb Alpert's Vibrato  Grill
Friday, August 11:  Grand Performances (with Septeto Santiaguero)

ALBERTICO LESCAY IN THE EASTERN US 


We mentioned recently that Albertico Lescay is visiting the US and performing both as an invited guest with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective and presenting some of the music of his own project, FORMAS, with US musicians.   Here are this week's dates with more to follow in the future:
Friday, August 11:  Afro Yaqui Music Collective with special guest Albertico Lescay 
Ginny's Supper Club, New York, NY
Saturday, August 12:  Albertico Lescay presents the music of FORMAS with invited guests opening for Villalobos Brothers, part of a benefit performance for migrant justice 
Barnard Vermont
Albertico also did a workshop in Pittsburgh at the Pryse Academy in Pittsburgh, an institution that works with refugee youth, presenting his music and discussing the importance of music in cultural identity.   
Albertico Lescay  is an artist to watch.   You'll be hearing a lot more about him within a year. 

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Here's Tom Ehrlich's gallery from the recent performance of Feliciano Arango and Amistad Cubana at Ashkenaz in Berkeley. 

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Septeto Santiaguero comes to Chicago...
Septeto Santiaguero wlll be at Martyrs on Saturday, August  5 courtesy of HotHouse, which has been back in action recently.  This group, which has won more than one Premio Cubadisco and the 2015 Latin GRAMMY® award, is one of the best of its type.  I have heard them in both Santiago and Habana, and they put on a very rousing show.  They have collaborated with a galaxy of stars, but I actually prefer them in concert by themselves as they will be here. Martyrs is a dance hall, so this will be fun.   For more information and tickets, see the Hothouse event page. 
They are touring in support of their newest album Raiz.  
You can read a review in English here or en español aquí

Charanga Habanera comes to Festival Cubano...
At this writing, it isn't completely clear whether this will be Charanga Habanera classic or Charanga Light, but some version of CH is coming to Festival Cubano at Riis Park on Sunday, August 13. Festival Cubano is a 3-day festival (August 11-13) that has now expanded to two stages, lots of food, games and other good things.  They have always been quite good at showcasing Chicago's fine local talent but rather timid for some years about bringing groups based on the island.  Whichever version of CH shows up, kudos to Festival Cubano for inviting a group like CH, especially in these newly-complicated times.
For more information, see the  Festival Cubano website

Roberto Fonseca on TV...
For those of you with access to Chicago's public television station WTTW Prime, Roberto Fonseca's appearance on The Experience with Dedry Jones will be on the air every night August 3-6.  This was recorded 3 blocks from my home, so naturally I was in the studio audience, and this is goooooood.   The WTTW page is HERE

And over in Pittsburgh, Albertico Lescay visits the US, collaborates with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective.... 
What's that, you say?   Well, for openers, Albertico Lescay is the leader of one of the most interesting NuJazz groups in Cuba that you haven't heard much about yet but will over the next year, Albertico Lescay y Formas.   Here's a taste of Formas: 

Now let's add the Afro Yaqui Music Collective to the mix.  (I know you're going to ask, so yes, Gizelzanath Rodriguez, the band's co-leader and an operatic soprano, is of Yaqui descent.)   This is a group that explores indigenous music and fuses it with Jazz, Funk and Soul.  Here's a taste of what they do:

Put it all together, and what do you get?  Well, if you are in Pittsburgh, you can find out on Saturday, August 5 at the James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy.  Albertico (without Formas) is here to collaborate with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective. More informatiion about this event and tickets are available HERE.   The other coleader of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, Ben Barson, recently performed with Zule Guerra in Cuba.   Albertico is also giving workshops, there will be more performances, and there will be a lot more to come about all this in the near future.

Last but not least for now, a photo gallery of Bohemia's performance at the City Winery in Chicago is available HERE.   

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Here's Tom Ehrlich's gallery and report from the recent Bay Area performance of Jane Bunnett & Maqueque.

Here's the rest of the tour, including Richmond, NY, Ontario and British Columbia.

Other news: Pupy cancelled in the Bay Area due to visas, but the rest of the tour looks good; SJ Jazz (Aug 11-14) is packed with great Latin acts (Pedrito Martínez, Calixto Oviedo, Daymé Arocena, Carlitos Medrano, Conjunto Karabalí, Oscar Hernández Quartet, Jimmy Bosch, Pacific Mambo, Brian Andres, Manny Martínez, and others - plus George Clinton and Maceo Parker - much more on this soon; Tom's Arango photos also coming soon).

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