As is the case with Transcribe!, AmazingSlowdowner and Emulator X, if you showed Tutti's new music education software to a musician from the Dark Ages (2005 or earlier), he or she would pass out in disbelief. In the case of Tutti, you see a whole band playing together in little video squares on your screen. If you click on a musician, you now see four different camera angles of just that musician and there are many other bells and whistles, like slowing the tempo and viewing sheet music as it scrolls along under the video.

The best news is that Vasík Greif and Michael Caba - the Czech Republic geniuses who brought you the video for the books on Alain Pérez and Melón Lewis - have filmed Calixto Oviedo playing all four parts (each with four camera angles) for a variety of Cuban rhythms. This will be a Tutti product soon!

Vasík, Calixto and Marek Caba (Calixto cooked the pasta - a man of many talents)

Calixto will also be playing in New York on July 9 as part of the New Dimensions Jazz series with Calixto's Way, featuring Gustavo Ramírez (ex-NG), Armando Gola (ex-Manolín), Mauricio Herrera (ex-PFG) and Carlos Averhoff, Jr. (ex-Issac). What a band!

Meanwhile, Calixto's son, Yulién, has rejoined Charanga Habanera - at least for their upcoming tour, replacing the departing Randy Martínez - Aned and Lachy Fortuna have apparently also left the group.

Here's Yulién with fellow ex-Charanguero Tirso Duarte, the subject of the soon-to-be-released Beyond Salsa Piano Vol. 14, which, in addition to being packed with piano tumbaos that will leave you speechless, tells the great Charanga Breakup story in greater detail than ever before, with lots of juicy new details from the world's leading Charangalogist, Majela Serrano van der Heuson.

Havana d'Primera: Next tour stops are today in Folsom California, May 30, at the historic Los Globos club in LA, and the two nights at Yoshi's SF, next Friday & Sat. 5-31 and 6-1 and then in Santa Cruz at Kuumbwa on Tues. June 4. These last two will sell out soon. You can take your HdP ticket stub to Cócomo afterwards on Saturday to hear Mayimbe for $5 - and their set starts after midnight, so you can do it without missing a note. Sorry for being Bay Area-centric here, but seriously, Miami, you've got nothing to be centric about. Miami is absolutely the least supportive Cuban music city in the world. Hang your heads in shame - and your basketball team is also choking. Okay, enough cross-coastal trash talk for one post - but this ain't over! [Kevin Moore]

leave a comment

continue reading La Última

Here's Tom's article (with video and photos) on hip-hop artist Danay Suárez and the Bay Area's DJ Leydis. They'll be performing on May 29 at The New Parish in Oakland.

leave a comment

continue reading La Última

Carlos Medrano is a very talented Cuban musician currently living in the Bay Area. He returned to Cuba to produce a very cool album with his old compays, including Alexis Bosch of Havana Ensemble and singer Aldo Isidro Miranda of Azúcar Negra and Adalberto Álvarez fame. Click here for Tom's review.

leave a comment

continue reading La Última

Carlos must have a time machine to keep coming up with this stuff. This is more from the concert - the only known video concert - with the insanely great Sergito Noroña on piano (he played on Con la conciencia but left the group in Jan. 1998 - this concert is Dec. 1997). Mayito and Lele, Sr. both sit in. [Kevin Moore]

Keepers of the Flame - Chuck Silverman is relaunching his Keepers of the Flame Cuban Rumba Drumming Traditions project. This could be amazing. Please check it out and consider helping in whatever ways you can.

leave a comment

continue reading La Última