Peter Maiden Update

"¡Ahora sí!" Andy Montañéz at Roccapulco in 2001, one of the multitude of photos Peter Maiden took of Salsa and Timba giants during his intensive 17 years of coverage of the scene. He is stepping down from regular work in music, but says he will definitely still be around. "If you can handle the time involved, the crowds, if you have fast lenses, this work is incredible, and the familiarity with the musicians is wonderful." Peter is currently working on a fiction project as he recovers from a bicycle accident, and he is mastering iPod Touch photography.

Meanwhile, I've finished the latest Beyond Salsa video - this one on Salsa, Songo & The Roots of Latin Jazz - featuring a priceless video of Dizzy Gillespie talking about meeting Chano Pozo, the creation of Manteca, and the importance of Chano's legendary bass tumbao in the development of North American music.

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miércoles, 29 abril 2015, 07:24 am

Filmed by Michael Croy in Feb. 1996, this was part of a special concert at Casa de la Música.

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martes, 28 abril 2015, 12:08 pm

Live Los Van Van from their peak late-90s period with the epic front line of Pedrito Calvo, Mayito Rivera and Robertón Hernández - still several years before the departure of Pupy Pedroso and with all parts of their tremendous creative engine firing on all cylinders. This is a particularly hot performance with surprisingly good audio quality.

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sábado, 25 abril 2015, 03:07 am

Here's a fascinating live bootleg from Havana during the rage late-90s timba explosion.

Paulito and Manolín had a feigned trash-talking rivalry that served to increase the popularity of each. They would frequently show up at each others shows to duel verbally on stage. For example, Paulito had a coro "ni médico, ni cantante".

Michel Maza also appears briefly and there's a trumpet solo from Carmelo Andrés, now best known as "El Abuelo" in Charanga Habanera's trumpet section.

This tape is also interesting in that it has three Paulito songs that were never released on any official album.

I've tried to get everything in the right order, but bear in mind that this came from an unlabeled cassette. "Cuál es tu trampa" seems to be from a different show and the two Manolín controversias may also be from different nights. Please add your insights to the comments section (en inglés o español, no importa)