I was recently on a five-week vacation in El Yuma and during that time I fell out of touch with what was happening in the world. When I got back from vacation I found an e-mail from Ben Lapidus informing me that Nino Olivares, the marimbulero of Changüí de Guantánamo, passed away on January 4th, 2010 at age 90. I first met Nino at the National Changüí Festival in Guantánamo in December of 2007. He was 87 years old but playing the marimbula with a great strength in his hands and arms. He had a habit of singing along with the
Nino & I in Paris - He liked his rum
rhythm of the marimbula or with the coros as he played, supplimenting his plucking of the marimbula keys with occasional strikes on the wooden case, which served both as his stool and as a cajón. I later met him again in Paris in September 2008 where I asked him to tell me a little about how he started playing marimbula.  I don't claim that I knew Nino well, but he made quite an impression on me and so I want to do something to honor his memory and the contribution he made to Cuban music during his 49 years with Changüí de Guantánamo. Click here for his musician's page where you will find a transcription of the interview, a link to the interview and a short video clip of Nino at a changüí in Casa de Pipi in Yateras. Chao Nino, te extrañamos.

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Tumbao Habana's long-awaited CD, Mambo duro, is finally available to the general public. The CD was supposed to be released in the summer of 2009 but was delayed. It was available this fall in France but it wasn't until December that it came out in the rest of the world. We will have a full CD review soon but for the moment I will say that it has some killer tracks on it such as my personal favorite "Padrino", the title track "Mambo duro" and a new version of the beautiful anthem "A la familia cubana", this time as a duet with guest singer Alexander Abreu. 

As with past CDs, bandleader Pascualito Cabrejas has put together an album with a mix of music styles ranging from timba to son to bachata to ballad, which makes this a CD you can take with you to "latin" parties since it has a little something for everyone. Stay tuned for the full review. in the meantime here is the track list.

Track list: 
Y tu quisieras saber 
Padrino 
A la familia cubana (with Alexander Abreu) 
No hay como mi son (son)
No me conformo (bachata)
Ella no tiene na' 
Candela 
Mambo duro 
Devuelveme la vida (ballad)
No te rompas la cabeza 
De que lado esta la luna 
La nena

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Pepitín in France

José Antonio Rodríguez González, better known to timba fans as Pepitín, is back in the studio after leaving Salsa Mayor. He is not cutting a new timba CD, but rather recording some traditional style songs that will be released when the mix is finished.

The musicians are:
Cesar 'El Lento' - tres
San Miguel - guitar
Ernesto Palmas (director of los clasicos del son) - bass
Rolando Salgado 'el niño mentira' - percussion
Robby (Manolito y Su Trabuco) - trumpet

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Speaking of Charangueros, Tirso Duarte will begin his first tour of Colombia with a concert in Santander de Quilichao on December 24th, a great way to celebrate Christmas Eve.! Tirso & Proyecto K Libre will have 6 concerts in Colombia during the holiday season, culminating in a New Year's Day concert in Robles. Check Tirso's tour page for the complete list of concerts. And thanks to salsaproducciones for posting information about the tour in the Timba.com Forum.

Meanwhile in Havana Tirso is performing at Café Cantante today in a special concert with Pachito Alonso y Sus Kini Kini and Manolito y Su Trabuco. It breaks my heart to miss it!

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