Rumbankete Releases Debut CD

Rumbankete, a LA-based Salsa/Timba band, has released their debut CD, Que No Pare La Fiesta.   Rumbankete has been around since the middle of the last decade and is beginning to get some recognition away from the West Coast as well.  This first outing has a lot of strong, tight ensemble work and is mostly original songs. Read the full review here...

Two movies of interest just came through the 47th Chicago International Film Festival: 

The first, Juan de Los Muertos (Juan of the Dead), is a Cuban production filmed in la Habana.  It's a horror comedy (specifically, a zombie movie) which is well-done even just as a movie but worth our mention here because of the killer soundtrack, which opens with Irakere's Bacalao con Pan and has some sweet  Cuban Funk later in the film that we are still trying to track down.  We'll probably say more about the music in another place at a later date.  For more, see the movie's website, 
Juanofthedeadmovie.com.  Come for the music, stay for the zombies. 

The other film is Chico & Rita, an animated Spanish production that is a musical tribute to the Afrocuban jazz musicians in La Habana and NY in the 40s and 50s. The great Bebo Valdes is at the helm for the excellent musical soundtrack.  The centerpiece of the film, which is set in Havana, New York and Las Vegas,  is a love story between a pianist and a vocalist (there is one nude scene, so it's not the "g-rated" kind of animation), but there are sequences involving several different key musicians including Chano Pozo.  Except for an opening audio clip with Telmary (young people on a Havana street), the music is all period music from the 40s and 50s and beautifully done.  There are a few websites for this movie, one of which is 
chicoandrita.com
Both films are in Spanish with English subtitles. 

permalink | Share