More Timba in Stockholm

Click here to listen to the single “No Tiene Caso”

Jonas Pomo Once again I am amazed and confounded by the Cuba - Sweden connection. In a country where the entire population is only equivalent to New York City, we have now at least 8 timba bands that all produce original material at an international level. In addition there are a couple of groups that are currently doing timba covers and several son groups. I still don't know why Swedish musicians seem to be so attracted to timba, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? I just enjoy the fruits of their labors.

The newest timba group in Stockholm is so new it doesn't even have a name but it does have two original singles. Under the direction of 21-year old pianist Jonas Pomo and with the lovely Cecilia Ferrer on lead vocals, they are bringing timba fans a soulful timba. Jonas does the arrangements and he and Cecilia have worked on the lyrics together.

The first single “No Tiene Caso” is at Soundcloud now and will be released on iTunes and Spotify in early December. The second single, “Toco Fondo”, will be out in January.

I did a short interview with Jonas where he answered questions about his background, the singles and the sello of the band, which is currently just going under his name. Click here to read the interview.

Bandmembers:
Jonas Pomo, piano & coros
Cecilia Ferrer, lead vocals
Pablo Cepeda, coros
Whitney Hernandez, coros
Linus Svanberg, congas
Magnus Almqvist, drums & timbales
Viktor Nyberg, bass
Simon Monserrat, güiro
Johan Nordfeldt, trumpet
Rickard Lindgren, trumpet
Peter Fredriksson, trombone
Lisa Bodelius, trombone
photo right: Cecilia Ferrer

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Tuesday, 11 October 2011, 07:57 AM

The 2011 Latin Festival in Copenhagen will take place November 5th at Amager Bio. The bands this year are Manolito y Su Trabuco and El Micha . This event is highly recommended! The Trabuco is in top form right now with a selection of great new songs, so they are really worth seeing una vez más . The Trabuco concert is from 9:00pm-10.30pm. It will be followed by 30 minutes of dance shows and then El Micha will close the evening with a concert from 11:30pm-00:30. El Micha is hugely popular among reggaetoneros and has done a number of timbaton songs such as with Issac Delgado, La Charanga Habanera and Alain Daniel. You can get all the information at the Latin Festival website . Note that if you don't buy your ticket in advance they will only accept cash at the door!

Here is a little taste of something new by El Trabuco, a song written by Alexander Abreu and sung by Mayami that has Gabriel from Yemayá's verse raving! Check her blog for more estrenos direct from Havana. Now that she's back, she starting to upload.

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Monday, 10 October 2011, 08:44 AM

In just under a week the 10th Annual Contest of Popular and Traditional Cuban Dance and Rueda de Casino will take place in Parque Céspedes in Santiago de Cuba. While the contest name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, it is a very accurate descriptor of the event. Couples who wish to compete must be acredited by the provincial commitee of UNEAC (Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba). Competitions will be held in Danzòn, Son, Mambo, Cha Cha Chá, Pilón, Mozambique, Casino in couples and Rueda de Casino. Winners will be chosen in each category and an award will also be given to the couple that has the best overall command of Cuban dances. This will be the first year that a Children's Contest will be held for ages 5-15. The children's contest will take place the 15th and 16th of October. If you are going to be in Santiago don't miss this opportunity to see over 100 years of Cuban popular dances as interpeted by the best local dancers. The event will also include music performances by artists from Santiago de Cuba.

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Wednesday, 05 October 2011, 12:55 PM

Leonel Limonta Fans are eagerly awaiting the new Azúcar Negra CD "Se acabó el pescao" hoping it will be out in time for their holiday shopping. Limonta tells us that he will be able to give us a release date very shortly. He is leaving for Mexico at the end of this month and plans to take the CD with him. So if all goes as planned we may be able to buy it by the end of October! Stay tuned for more!

In the meantime, Limonta has released a demo CD titled "Salsa y mucho más". It is available at iTunes in Europe, Canada, USA, Japan and Mexico as well as Amazon and Emusic(usa). So while you wait for the new CD, you can get yourself a fix of Azúcar Negra.

Track List:
La mala de la película
Qué risa me da
Identidad
Así somos
Lo tuyo no tiene nombre
La pasamos bien
Amor por Internet
Mi barrio