NEW SINGLE BY MAYKEL BLANCO Y SALSA MAYOR

In preparation for the European Summer Tour 2012, Maykel Blanco has released a teaser from the upcoming CD. A 2:54 clip has been uploaded to YouTube and it includes the list of concert dates. The song is a guaguancó called "Bembe" with Yordis on lead vocals. Candela! If you didn't keep up with the dates in the video, we have posted them on the Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor Tours page .

The new CD should be out in the fall. The band still has to finish recording the horns on some of the songs before it can be mixed and mastered. I the meantime, enjoy the clip and I hope to see you at one of the concerts!

And a little Behind-the-scenes video from the recording studio...

| Share

Saturday, 16 June 2012, 03:24 PM

Only about six weeks since they left, Elito Revé y Su Charangón are back in Europe for a 40 day tour kicking off the summer tour season here in Europe. Check their tours page for the concert nearest you! There is some nice video making the rounds at Facebook of Andy Fornet on timbales and Renesto the new Revé tresero. But I can't embed that here. And a series of ridiculous technical problems have conspired to prevent me from downloading the video and interviews I filmed during the Viking Line cruises. Hopefully that will be resolved shortly and I will be able to give you something a little more recent. But for now I'll leave you with a classic video of my own from the 3rd National Changüí Festival in Guantanamo, Cuba, 22 December 2007.

| Share

Monday, 28 May 2012, 04:38 PM

A big thank you to Lani Milstein for keeping us up-to-date on what is happening in Timba Canada! Here is her report on the recent concert with Pupy y Los Que Son Son featuring Mayito & Tania!

May 19th was a fantastic explosion of great timba in Toronto, thanks to cubaintoronto.com, Casineros Unidos and Lula Lounge’s Lulaworld Festival, who presented Pupy y los que son son at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. The evening began with rising star DJ Bernal, who spun the latest and greatest timba, and the show kicked off with a dance performance by Afrolatino Dance Company. This was followed by a very special performance for Yemaya, by Melissa Noventa, in honour of the late icon and friend to many in Cuban music, Billy Bryans, who we lost recently to cancer. Billy had been a co-producer of many Cuban concerts in Toronto, and was perhaps Canada's key proponent of Cuban music. He is greatly missed by all!

Pupy with Mayito in Toronto

Cesar “Pupy” Pedroso y los que son son blessed the Toronto crowd with an electrifying concert, adding a special twist: invited guests Mayito Rivera and Tania Pantoja. You can imagine how those vocal duels went, right? Electrifying de verdad! Mayito singing with Pupy sounded, well, just like Van Van. Pupy’s band was in top form and has such a youthful energy (Bombon is truly an animal.) The crowd was loving every minute and they played for almost 3 hours- right up until around 2:30am, when the soundman pulled the plug. Noise curfew! Oh, Canada…

No matter! The fun continues June 15th with Gente de Zona and their 12-piece band feat. El Micha and Yulien Oviedo, at the Opera House in Toronto. Presented by the Cubaneando festival, once again Toronto will prove itself as one of the greatest hotbeds of Cuban music in North America, as timberos, casineros and la farandula que tu conoces come out to break it down, Torontón style.

| Share

Wednesday, 23 May 2012, 04:06 PM

Klimax - Todo está bien Good news for timba fans: 2012 looks to be a rich harvest of new CDs! This topic will be coming up again and again as the year progesses and more of the CDs become available! We will be back soon with more news about CDs by Bamboleo, Tumbao Habana, Charanga Latina, Elito Revé y su Charangón and many more to come!

We start of with the new release by Giraldo Piloto & Klímax: "Todo está bien". The album should be available online within about 24 hours! "Todo está bien" contains 11 tracks, several of which have already been dance-floor hits for some time now. This album is a must for DJs and connoisseurs alike!

1. La abusadorcita
2. La pelirroja
3. Qué sería de mí
4. La descarga
5. Lola
6. Black or white
7. Regresa
8. Todo está bien
9. Quiero salir esta noche contigo
10. Hay que recordar
11. Homenaje a Michel Legrand

Another important release this year is the long-awaited second CD by Havana D'Primera entitled "Pasaporte". I don't know the release date, but Lionel from FiestaCubana.net has posted the following track list. It includes a number of songs that have been out for a while as singles as well as some new tracks.

1. Pa' mi gente
2. Plato de segunda mesa
3. La figura
4. Carita de pasaporte
5. Se te olvidó quien soy
6. Al final de la vida
7. La celosa
8. Donde estemos tú y yo
9. Amor a la roca
10. El que sabe está caya'o
11. Verdades que hablan

Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor are also in the studio, and Maykel reports that they are recording the metales now, so they should be moving on to mixing and mastering quite soon! The CD doesn't have a name yet and Maykel says he's fielding suggestions if anyone has ideas. It would be nice if they could have it ready in time for their summer tour (June 22-July 8), but that is probably just wishful thinking! Tracks include: Yordi - Sabrosa, La calle está caliente, Tres hermanos & El artistasoy yo; Yasser - La figura & something he says is for the girls who don't like to stay at home; Alexis - El Kilo, Tremenda pinta, Tú no eres mi amigo & Hazte.

Here is a little peek into the recording studio including interviews with Maykel, where he tells us that the band is developing some new percussion patterns in the song "Tú no eres mi amigo". This sounds very exciting! So check out the video and preparense que vienen Los Mayores otra vez!