Edgardo Cambon & Candela present tributo al Timbal featuring guest Calixto Oviedo

To say that Calixto's recent work in Denver, Colorado has gone well is an understatement. He started out 2013 with a successful debut concert of his new timba orchestra, a project with bassist Armando Santoyo, before heading back over to Europe for concerts and Masters Classes. He has recently returned to the US after a tour of Japan and has already been featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal concerning his recent concert at Jazz Standard in New York as part of their Afro-Cuban series. You can read the article at WSJ website.

Calixto Oviedo in the Wall Street Journal

Calixto followed New York with two concerts in Boston and will now be performing in Denver before heading to the West Coast for eight concerts with Edgardo Cambon in August.  Although he's officially in the US now, you can expect him to keep up his busy travel schedule, so click here to find a concert near you! 

If you are a musician but haven't had an opportunity to take part in one of Calixto's Masters Classes, check out the Beyond Salsa Percussion series volumes 2 & 3.

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Cuba in Nijmegen / Hennes Latin Stage 2013
"Hennes celebrates his annual party and everyone is invited."

The Summer Festival Season 2013 is in full swing throught Europe now, and we are grateful to all the enthusiasts that are the driving forces behind these events. We who enjoy the fruits of their labor really have no idea how much time and effort these people put into it.

One particularly interesting case is the annual Hennes Latin Stage in Nijmegen, Netherlands. It is truly the result of the vision of a single person, Henri van Woerkum aka "Hennes". His love of Cuban music and dancing led him to decide to bring Cuba to the Netherlands. It is an ispiring story close to my heart. I think we'd all like to do something like this in our own hometowns. Click here to read the story of the origins of the Cuba in Nijmegen festival in Hennes' own words and see the full program of events for 2013.

It is a week-long Cuban music festival that takes place during the "international 4 day marches Nijmegen", the world's largest marching event, held since 1916 with particpants from 24 countries. The Cuba in Nijmegen event features DJs and top-name bands. Previous years have seen Elito Revé y Su Charangón (2012), Azúcar Negra 3 nights in a row (2007), and in 2008 Maravilla de Florida and Septeto Naborí  each had concerts for for 3 nights. The 2013 Cuba in Nijmegen festival starts today with concerts by Trio Canay at 6:30pm and Contrabando at 9:30 pm. Maykel Blanco y Su Salsa Mayor will perform 2 nights in a row July 15-16. You can also see Orquesta Salsabor, Tomi y Su Timba Light and Lariba. Each day begins with a DJ and then at 6:30 the concerts begin with Trio Caney. The headline band goes on at 9:30pm. I can't go this year due to work, but if you're in Europe, hop on a discount airline and take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy the concerts by night and the Nijmegen marches and surrounding events by day.

Concerts:
July 13 Contrabando
July 14 Trio Caney & Friends
July 15 Maykel Blanco y Su Salsa Mayor
July 16 Maykel Blanco y Su Salsa Mayor
July 17 Orquesta Salsabor
July 18 Tomi y su Timbalight
July 19 Lariba

Hennes Latin Stage on the River Waal in Nijmegen, Netherlands

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Septeto Santiaguero is back in Europe and their tour begins with a concert tomorrow in Nice, France at Festival Latino de A a Z. The list of confirmed concerts has been uploaded so look for a concert near you . The band's last CD, "Vamos pa' la fiesta", recently won at Cubadisco 2013 in the Traditional Tropical Music category. You can check out Bill's review here . Below is their excellent version of the classic Van Van hit "Qué le den candela".

Qué le den candela - Septeto Santiaguero

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The members of Interactivo during the filming of Interactivo La Película

If you are already familiar with Interactivo, just skip down to the trailer for the documentary below. If you are not yet familiar with Interactivo, allow me to take this opportunity to introduce you. Interactivo is best described as an open project or collective of young musicians under the direction of pianist Roberto Carcassés. They have released two CDs: “Goza Pepillo” (2005) winner of Cubadisco 2006 in the categories Opera Prima, Fusion and Gran Premio and “Cubanos por el mundo” (2010), the subject of a documentary by Cuban filmmaker Tané Martínez. 

Many of the names of musicians that have worked with Interactivo will be familiar to you, such as Roberto Carcassés, Yusa, Telmary, Rodney Barreto, Yaroldi Abreu, Carlos Rios, Raul Verdecia, Julito Padrón, Francis del Río, Oliver Valdés and, Melvis Santa among others. Whereas turnover of musicians is generally a negative thing for timba bands, which are better able to consolidate their sound when the same musicians have been working together for years, it has actually been a strength of Interactivo. The experimental, fusion nature of their music benefits from the constant flow of new ideas as older members leave to do their own projects and new members enter with their own unique influences and visions. Roberto describes their music as “timba funk”.  It really seems to be a fusion of whatever the bandmembers find interesting, building on the musical heritage of everything from  Afro-Cuban traditional music to timba to jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop.

Thanks to Facebook, I stumbled across a link to “Interactivo La Película”, which is available at Vimeo. The documentary is about the release concert for “Cubanos por el mundo” and follows the band from rehearsals through the final show, including interviews with key members as well as cameos by guest artists such as X Alfonso and Rodney Barreto. I contacted Tané Martínez and asked her how the documentary came about.

The project of making “INTERACTIVO La Película” arose when Roberto Carcasses saw my documentary TENGO (2008) on the NYC-based Cuban singer Xiomara Laugart. From there, Roberto proposed that I document the release of their 2nd album "Cubanos por el Mundo" and I immediately started working with them. The social presence that I found in the lyrics of the songs really caught my attention. I wanted to make a movie about Interactivo and the release of the album, but also as a filmmaker I wanted to tell a story of migration, freedom and Cuban music.
Tané Martinez

You can check out the trailer below. The full 70-minute documentary is found at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ilp/20517029

Note: the trailer is subtitled, but the full documentary is not.

Interactivo La Pelicula Teaser 1.40m from colorbox on Vimeo.

SYNOPSIS
Interactivo, is a Cuban band directed by Roberto Carcasses. The release of their 2nd CD, “Cubanos por el Mundo”, leads us to a deep analysis of migration, freedom and Cuban music. 

CAST
Roberto Carcassés, Melvis Santa, Julio Padrón, Francis del Río, Oliver Valdés + Interactivo. 

TECHNICAL DATA
HD 720, NTSC, Color, 70min
CUBA/USA 2011 

A Colorbox Productions Inc. Production
Director: Tanè Martìnez
Producer: Ivonne Cotorruelo
Script: Zulema Clares, Tanè Martìnez
Música: Roberto Carcassès & Interactivo
Director of Photography: Sveinung Bokn
Audio: Abel Calderòn
Editing: Tanè Martìnez
Post-production of Audio & Mixing: Rocio Garcia Pazos
Post-production of Images: Inti Martìnez
Still Photography: Denise Guerra
Graphic Design: Idania del Rìo

BIOGRAPHY
Tané Martínez (1981, Cuba) 
Director, Producer and Editor.
Studied “Performing Arts” at the Cuban National School of the Arts (ENA) and later studied "Film Direction” at the Training Center  of Cinematography of Mexico (CCC). 
Directed the fictional short  “Malos días mi amor” (2005) and the documentaries "Paquete Familiar" (2004), “Tengo lo que tenia que tener” (2008), “Interactivo La Película” (2011) and “Caminando Aragón” (2012). She is a partner and founder of Colorbox Productions Inc.

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