El Niño y La Verdad pack the house with their matinee at Casa de La Música Miramar

In March 2013 Emilio Frias "El Niño" and Wilfredo Naranjo "Pachy" decided it was time to leave Orquesta Revé, Cuba's greatest music school, and create their own orchestra. Joining them was Roberto "Chino" Vázquez, formerly bassist for El Trabuco, and shortly thereafter Pascual Matos "Sinsonte" of La Revé. We all know what a tough crowd the timberos of Havana are, but Emilio's popularity as a singer and the strength of the band's repertoire have made them an overnight success. Their Friday matinee at Casa de la Música Miramar is always well-attended and the atmosphere is great! Advice: If you are going to Havana, make sure to catch them at the Friday matinee!

I went to see them on January 17th and the show surpassed expectations. To keep the tourists happy Miramar has become nothing more than a sea of tables with no space left for a dance floor. But everyone was on their feet dancing anyway, as you can see in the picture above, from El Niño's Facebook page. They were filming for a promotional DVD that day. I'm looking forward to seeing the results! There were several guest artist in attendance. Juan Guillermo took a turn on stage with Emilio, and Arlenys ( El Niño's mujer) sang one of her own songs much to the delight of the audience. El Niño and Arlenys are definitely a power couple in Havana. 

Towards the close of the show, Oderquis Revé took the stage but even as he was singing "estás loco" the CDLM was struck by an apagón. Apparently power outages continue to be a problem for Habaneros. We adjourned to the bar in the garden, and I spent some time talking with Pachy and Sinsonte. 

In 2013 El Niño y La Verdad released a five-song demo, which has been very popular among DJs and dancers around the world. Fans will be happy to know that the band went back into the studio on January 24th to begin work on their album! Currently they are promoting the 5th single from the demo "Dime Cuanto". You can check it out in the Timba.com radio below. Alaroye no, alaroye y bien!

leave a comment

continue reading Timbera Mayor

Today is the 161st anniversary of the birth of José Martí. Cubans around the world have been honoring this great father of the Cuban nation in various ways. Exactly one week ago I had the good fortune to attend one of the first celebrations, which took place at Teatro Mella. The event was called "Motivos Martianos" and was put on by the José Martí Cultural Society under the Artistic and General Direction of Israel Rojas. Rojas is also the organizer behind the upcoming Martí tribute album where each number is either inspired by Martí or in some cases the song lyrics are based on Martís poetry.

The event was sold out, and as you can see by the poster above, it featured a cast of stars from various musical genres and even a childrens' acting company. From a timbero's perspective some of the highlights were Clave y Guaguancó and of course Los Van Van, who closed the event with the song "Dicha Grande". Other performances that particularly struck me were the accoustic offerings of trovadores Eduardo Sosa, Leonardo Garcia and Polito Ibañez. Buena Fe guitarrist Dairon Lobaina and singer Javier Milanes performed a beautiful ballad dedicated to mothers and D'CoraSon will have another hit on their hands with the piece they have written for the Martí album.

Click here for more on the concert, including an interview with Israel Rojas and video of Buena Fe and Los Van Van.

leave a comment

continue reading Timbera Mayor

For months DJs and fans have been uploading videos of Alexander Abreu & Havana D'Primera performing their 2013 hit "Me Dicen Cuba", only to be forced to remove them. Finally the official video is up and it will hopefully be there to stay!

What can I say about this song? It is another brilliant Alexander Abreu lyric and in my opinion "Me Dicen Cuba" is the new timba anthem for Cuba. The video is a montage of everday scenes of everyday Cubans. It is the product of collaboration between EGREM , the José Martí Cultural Center and the ICAIC. I will be surprised if some tour agency doesn't pick this up as part of an ad campaign! Enjoy!

leave a comment

continue reading Timbera Mayor

Nils Fischer with Timbazo singers
Alberto Caicedo, Fabian Nodarse "Huracán" & Nando Vanin

The second installment of our Eurotimba 2014 series is all about the new project by Nils Fischer & Timbazo. Following up their highly acclaimed debut CD ¡Gracias Joe Cuba!, Nils Fischer has brought together an amazing constellation of artists to do something new. Although he has not revealed the title of the new album to us, Nils did tell us that it will contain original material as well as some existing material á la Timbazo.  Check out the guest list: Lucrecia, Calixto Oviedo, Alexander Abreu, José Luis Quintana ‘Changuito’, Carlos Del Puerto, Julito Padrón, Amik Guerra, Jan Hartong, Ernesto Paz, Bart Platteau and Volkan Bayda.

Below is a promo video with clips of Timbazo and the recording sessions. Timbazo is doing something a little different with this album. In order to fund the mixing, mastering and artwork for the album, They have set up a crowdfunding site. I asked him about this.

Crowd funding is increasingly common in the arts. What made you decide to take the step to use crowd funding?

I got the recordings together by emptying my own wallet, and I appreciate a lot the patient and passionate help of my friend, piano/arranging/soundtech-genius Marc Bischoff who also has a recording studio. The album is almost ready to rock right now, recordings are done. A big part of the production however will be the mix, the mastering, the rights, the artwork, promotion, shipping and so on. 

All that will still cost a lot of money. Nowadays (the CD market is down) you can't earn back your investments by selling the product, to break even is impossible. Besides that, basically all work is for free, too - the problem is that we love music... before I start crying, that's how I discovered crowd-funding which is great, it brings a positive side to all this. Everybody can become a part of the production,  you can already buy the new CD in advance so that we can bring it out. You can even pledge more and there are great rewards for those who do, it is all on the website www.voordekunst.nl. If we don't succeed, all money goes directly back to the pledgers.

The site is in Dutch, but there's a full English translation on my site at voordekunst. I also love to receive emails about it to info@nilsfischer.com

By the way: All who participate will be mentioned in the liner notes ;) Dear timberas & timberos: once more, we do need you to bring our music to you! Please check the possibilities here. Our deadline is 01. of March 2014. ¡Gracias mil!

Click here to read the full interview including videos and anecdotes from the recording sessions.

Timbazo is:
Nils Fischer - leader, congas, bongos, batá & other percussion
Fabian Nodarse “Huracán”- vocals
Alberto Caicedo - vocals
Nando Vanin - vocals
Marc Bischoff - md, grand piano, keyboard & Rhodes
Adinda Meertins - bass
Armando Vidal - drums, timbales
Wigbert Martina – bongos
Joe Rivera - trumpet
Alex Rodriguez  - trumpet
David Rothschild - trombone
Frans Cornelissen – trombone

leave a comment

continue reading Timbera Mayor