Yemayá's Verse - currently being updated from Havana almost daily - is opinionated as hell, but she pulls no punches, and for giving you the ambience of being there, nothing comes close - unless of course you want to dig up one of Bill Wolfer's Hunter S. Thompson-calibre rants from the early 2000s. The takeaway? Watch out for a new Los Que Son Son singer named Dayán. And on a related opinionated subject, the San Francisco brain trust (myself included) have come to the unanimous conclusion that the hottest bass player we've seen in years is Pupy's Daymar Calvario.

And CUBAN WOODSTOCK? If this thing happens, I'll definitely be on a plane for Miami.

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Yeni Valdés has arrived. She's developed an effortless command over her powerful, perfectly in-tune voice and a personal charisma that knocked everyone out each of the 8 sets at Yoshi's. I got major chills on two separate occasions. 

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Juan Formell with Conga Room CEO Brad Gluckstein

Our LA correspondent, Kay Torres, who flew up for one of the SF shows, has logged her first Van Van report from LA. Van Van will play the famous Conga Room tonight, Tuesday and tomorrow, Wednesday.

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First of all, being that the world only partially revolves around San Francisco, Los Van Van will be playing in LA on Tuesday and Wednesday at The Conga Room. 

Van Van demolished the Bay Area for 4 straight nights, and Tom Ehrlich  took time off from his still shots to capture two great videos. Geek that I am, I had to start with Manolo and Samuel, but the upcoming Yeni video is truly the bomb. Wait for it! jajajajaja

video courtesy of Fuego Entertainment

And speaking of Fuego Entertainment, the big rumor is ... wait for it again  ... CUBAN WOODSTOCK ... 21 Cuban bands from both sides of El Puente ... I know ... don't hold your breath, but if it actually happened it could be Team Cuba II. Hope springs eternal!

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