LOS VAN VAN

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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Friday, 24 April 2015, 07:07 PM

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)

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Wednesday, 22 April 2015, 06:10 AM

Click here for El Pikete: Mi detalle.

A new Beyond Salsa mini-documentary and two musical treasures. The documentary is on Beyond Salsa Bass, Vol. 2: Arsenio, Cachao and The Golden Age of the 50s, but especially about Arsenio Rodríguez, the mid-century musical visionary whom I call "the first timbero".

The second link is for a brand new demo from the most exciting lineup El Pikete has put together, featuring the great Reinier Guerra on drums and many other top Miami players.

Finally, we have two never-released-on-CD Arsenio tracks from his absolute prime.

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Saturday, 18 April 2015, 09:25 PM

After the tragic death of Elio Revé in 1997, his son Elito took over and within a few years had proven himself to be his father's equal in terms of assembling talent. Lele (now in Van Van) and ex-Trabuquero El Gallo each passed through the group alongside Revé's long-standing lead vocalist Dagoberto Vásquez and like his father, Elito employed a succession of brilliant musical directors - Jiovanni Cofiño, Arnaldo Jiménez and now Aisar Hernández.

This live show comes from the brief but wonderful period during which Michel Maza sang with Revé.