Cuban music in the 2012 Latin Grammys! -- Los Van Van secured a nomination in the "Best Contemporary Tropcial Album" category with their recent album "La Maquinaria". This was surprising for timba fans as that release was received with mixed results. It competed with plenty of strong material but the news is a welcome addition.   

Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval also scored various nominations. His Latin Jazz album "Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You)" is listed in the Album of the Year, Best Latin Jazz Album, and Best Engineered Album. 

Other nominees listed included..
- Best Traditional Tropical = Eliades Ochoa " Un Bolero Para Ti "
- Best Traditional Tropical = Miguel García " Guarachando "
- Best Salsa Album = Mambo Legends Orchestra " Watch Out - Ten Cuidado "
- Best Latin Jazz = Jerry González y El Comando de la Clave (self-titled)
* is Alaín Pérez on the record?
- Song Of The Year = Amaury Guitiérrez & Gian Marco " Invisible "
- Best Instrumental Album = Paquito D' Rivera & Berta Rojas " Rasgando Seda "
- Best Latin Jazz = Chuchito Valdés "Live In Chicago "
- Best Classical Contemporary Composition = Yalil Guerra & Elizabeth Rebozo " Seducción "

** Update - also nominated for Best Contemporary Tropical Album is Elaín (of the Cuban Timba All-Stars) with his album " Volando Alto - Made On The Road "

Good luck to all the nominees !!!!!! Buena suerte.

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The first round of the 2012 Latin Grammys offers a variety of Cuban music for your consideration. These entries are posted for informational and consideration purposes only, as we believe it's important to highlight the steady inroads Cuban music is making into the industry amid plenty of market resistance. The one very key point to understand about the Grammys is that it is not driven by sales, only by the votes of its private, professional members. So no matter how many copies a record sold, if it gathers enough artistic accolades and merits, it is likely to be nominated. Here are the following first round entries to consider:

Best Salsa / Mejor Salsa
TIENE QUE SER MANOLÍN - Manolín "Él Médico dela Salsa"
TODO ES POSIBLE - Will Campa y su Orquesta
MALA - Haila María Monpié
RETRO - Marlow Rosado y la Riqueña (feat. Marlón Fernández)

Best Contemporary Tropical / Mejor Álbum Contemporaneo Tropical
LA MAQUINARIA - Juan Formell y los Van Van
ACABAÍTO DE NACER - David Calzado y Su Charanga Habanera 
MIS 22 AÑOS - José Luis Cortés y NG la Banda
SIEMPRE PUPY - Pupy y los que Son Son

Best Tradicional / Mejor Álbum Tradicional Tropical
UN BOLERO PARA TÍ - Eliades Ochoa
CUBANO SOY - Raúl Lara
DAYSI CELIA Y SU NOTA - Daysi Celia

Best Tropical Fusión / Mejor älbum de Fusión Trpical
TIMBA PA' TO EL MUNDO - Timbalive

**Full disclosure...
I personally mastered a few entries in consideration = http://latinmusicmastering.com
CUBANO SOY - Raúl Lara  
- Best Traditional (Mejor Álbum Tradicional) / Best Engineered (Mejor Ingeniería)
A TODO RITMO - Sergio Bonafonte
- Best Tropical Fusion  (Mejor Fusión Tropical) / Best Engineered (Mejor Ingeniería) 
THE PROJECT (DELUXE) - M.D. Machito Diferente
- Best Urban (Mejor Disco Urbano) / Best New Artist / Best Engineered (Mejor Ingeniería) 
RETRO - Marlow Rosado y la Riqueña
- Album of the Year / Best New Artist / Best Salsa / Best Engineered / Best Short Form Video

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A new Cuban music festival has been announced in New York. E.E.G. presents the 1er Festival del Son, La Rumba y La Timba: the best of the Cuban music direct from Havana, Cuba. It features the official New York City debut of Alexander Abreu & Havana D' Primera. Also...
- from Irakere, Grammy Winner Oscar Valdes (with his jazz trio - first time on US soil since 1976)
- from Los Van Van, Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso and Pedrito Calvo
- the legendary " Los Papines " (rumba group) 
- Timba sensation Tirso Duarte with La Bolá (New York Timba group).

1er Festival Del Son, La Rumba & Timba -- Friday, November 09, 2012 at 8:00 PM
Lehman Center -- 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West
Bronx, NY 10468 -- Phone: (888) 584-3070
click here for tickets

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Afro-Cuban and tropical music styles are highly featured in the upcoming barrage of Bay Area big band performances, one that includes special concerts by and the Pacific Mambo Orchestra and Marlow Rosado y La Riqueña.

The Pacific Mambo Orchestra is a (19) nineteen-piece Latin Salsa Big Band formed by trumpeter Steffen Kuehn and pianist Christian Tumalan (both experienced bandleaders in their own right), to bring back and build upon the great Latin big band sounds of the 1940s through 1960s. P.M.O. plays the music of Latin giants such as Machito, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and many others, along with their own contemporary and original arrangements. The group’s instrumentation consists of 4 Trumpets, 4 Trombones, 5 Saxophones, Piano, Bass, Timbales, Congas, Bongos plus guest vocalists.

The Pacific Mambo Orchestra will be performing at the San José Jazz Festival, Friday, August 10 at 6:30pm, at the Kaiser Permanente Salsa Stage (click here for more details). For those that attend, there will be a special announcement from this Bay Area supergroup regarding their upcoming, self-titled debut album (click on the album cover to view it in a larger size).

The album is in progress and we've got the scoop on the track list and featured guests:
1) PMO Intro - 2) El Cantante - 3) Overjoyed - 4) La Ambición - 5) Cuando estoy Contigo - 6) Mr. 5.0 - 7) Bolero Cócomo - 8) Muévete Con Prisa - 9) Querer Como ayer - 10) Bolero Cócomo (Instrumental). Featured guests include Karl Perazzo, Willy Torres, Carlos Cascante, Kenny Washington, Ray Obiedo and Tommy Igoe. Latin Jazz collector's take note and stay tuned!

The next concert highlight takes place Wednesday, August 15, 8pm, at Yoshi's San Francisco, with Miami's hard-hittin salsa dura band Marlow Rosado y La Riqueña. In support of their new album, RETRO, the band and record are a new homaje to the classic salsa sounds of the 1970's. RETRO has been touted as a "major DJ alert" with it's "army of salsa greats and killer dance-club ready tracks that throw fireballs left and right" by the editors of Descarga.com. Click here for Bill Tilford's full CD Review of RETRO.

Marlow comments: "I think our industry suffers from very few releases from orchestras (bands as opposed to individual artists). I hope this album works up an appetite for the "roots style sounds" that that we are used to hearing. This production is full of energy, with modern sound production and new arrangements, but each songs is a theme that reflects the core of "salsa dura" (heavy sauce). This record is part Eddie Palmieri y la Perfecta, Papo Lucca and La Sonora Ponceña, Raphy Levitt and La Selecta, Willie Rosario and His Orchestra, Los Hermanos Lebron....and all the other great orchestras right through the years that delivered strong and original music. This new album carry the title "Retro" because it's a throw-back and homage to a decade that all salseros and salseras remembers with real nostalgia, and for the new enthusiasts of the genre, it's a great opportunity to explore the works of the masters that have been crowned as the pillars of our Latin sound. See you at Yoshi's (click here for tickets). 

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