El Noro y 1ra Clase Europe 2017

El Noro y 1ra Clase Stockholm 2017

El Noro y 1ra Clase begin their 2017 tour of Europe next Thursday June 15th at Cabaret Sauvage in Paris. I'm excited because I will get to see the band live for the first time on Friday June 16th in Stockholm! Note: If you're planning to go to the Stockholm concert, buy your tickets in advance because they will not be sold at the door. Click here for the concert dates .

For those of you who have only recently come to timba, here is a short retrospective of El Noro's career. Although he began singing with Doble Impacto, I first met Norisley Valladares "El Noro" in 2007 when he was with Maykel Blanco. His distinctive voice, charismatic stage presence and trademark blond spikes made him instantly recognizable. During his time with Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor, El Noro became a household name among timba fans around the world.

Cuba took note and in December 2007 during a Salsa Mayor national tour, El Noro received a call from Manolito Simonet asking him to join the Trabuco as replacement for Sixto Llorente "El Indio". Honestly, replacing a master-sonero like El Indio is not an easy position to be in, but I went to the second concert El Noro did after joining El Trabuco and was very impressed when the time came for him to sing "Marcando la distancia". He really was able to pull it off, and during his time with Manolito, he also tried his hand at composing. One of his signature songs from that period is "La bomba". Here is El Noro performing "La Bomba" with Manolito in Rome in 2008.

In 2009 none other than César "Pupy" Pedroso invited El Noro to join Los Que Son Son. Here he sang updated versions of "Ni bombones, ni caramelos" and "Parece mentira" and many hits such as "Un loco con una moto", "Seis semanas" and "Dicen que dicen" as well as some of his own compositions: "No te deje por mala", "Esta es mi música" and "La preferencia".

On October 20, 2013 after nearly 4 years with Pupy y Los Que Son Son, El Noro decided to take a big risk and start his own orchestra. Now he could establish his own sello reinterpreting his hits and creating a new repertoire according to his personal musical tastes.

The first CD by El Noro y 1ra Clase - "Sin escalas" - was released in 2015 and was awarded "Best Dance Music - New Talent" at Cubadisco 2016. The album includes a couple of his previous hits "La bomba" feat. Alexander Abreu and "La preferencia", as well as ten new compositions. He chose to only use his own compositions for the first CD.

El Noro has not been idle since then and a new CD is in the works. He has also begun working with other composers. You can find some of his other songs at YouTube such as "3 con 2", "Estoy en 0", "Música diferente", "Pa' lo mal hecho" and "Cinturita."

Summary: For the past ten years El Noro has been one of the most popular and recognizable young singers in Cuba. His career path took him through three important Cuban bands where he learned from each bandleader. His orchestra - 1ra Clase - has already received honors from the Cuban music industry and has completed successful tours of Europe and Peru. If you get the chance to see the band live, don't miss it! I wont!

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sábado, 20 mayo 2017, 12:10 pm

Maykel Blanco Distinción de la Cultura Natural

English: On the afternoon of May 17th at a ceremony in the José Martí Memorial, the Ministry of Culture awarded the Distinction of National Culture on 74 musicians and promoters.The award was established in 1981 and is conferred upon people or institutions for outstanding contributions to Cuban culture. Many of the names are familiar to timberos: Maykel Blanco, Rolando Luna, Samuel Formell, Alexander Abreu, Orlando "Maraca" Valle, Pedro Lugo "El Nene", Leo Vera and more. Click here for the full list of award recipients and congratulations to all of them.

Español: En la tarde del 17 de mayo en una ceremonia en el Memorial de José Martí, el Ministerio de Cultura otorgó la Distinción de Cultura Nacional a 74 músicos y promotores. El premio fue establecido en 1981 y se otorga a personas o instituciones por destacadas contribuciones a la cultura cubana. Muchos de los nombres son bien conocidos a los timberos: Maykel Blanco, Rolando Luna, Samuel Formell, Alexander Abreu, Orlando "Maraca" Valle, Pedro Lugo "El Nene", Leo Vera y muchos más. Haga clic aquí para ver la lista completa de receptores del premio y nuestras felicitaciones a todos.

Maykel Blanco Distinción de la Cultura Natural

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viernes, 19 mayo 2017, 03:22 am

Havana D'Primera S.O.B.s

Alexander Abreu & Havana D'Primera kicked off their US tour with a concert last night at La Scala in Miami. Tonight they will be at SOB's in New York before heading to the other coast for concerts in California, Oregon, Washington and also Las Vegas. The California concerts will also feature Mayito Rivera . Click here to see the US tour dates. I leave you with a song I have not stopped listening to since it came out. Click here to buy the "Siempre sí" single at Cubamusic - highly recommended!

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sábado, 13 mayo 2017, 07:56 pm

Dairon Rodriguez Lobaina @Latinoamericando 18 August 2012
Haz clic para leer el artículo en español.

I was going to do a post about Cubadisco at Timba.com today. In just a few hours we’ll find out who the 2017 winners are. But at about noon CET, my day ground to a halt when I saw the terrible news that Dairon Rodriguez Lobaina had passed away from a heart attack this morning at only 32 years of age. I know he’s not a household name among timba fans but certainly fans of Cuban popular music know Buena Fe, where he was electric guitarist, corista and even rapero for about 9 years. He was also my friend, and like friends and fans he left behind around the world, I am finding it hard to conceive that he is gone.

I first met Dairon in 2012 at 10:00pm in a hotel in Milan. It was the night before the Buena Fe concert at the Latinoamericando festival. The guys were hanging out in the lobby taking advantage of the wifi. Dairon was hungry because earlier that evening he ordered a pizza, ate half of it and wanted to take half back to the hotel room for later. He thought that to speak Italian he just had to say things loudly in Spanish and gesticulate a lot. The result was that the waiter took the other half of his pizza and threw it away. So we ended up going on a late night food run to a nearby gas station and Dairon learned to say “per portare via”.

Dairon was always friendly, laid back and had a great sense of humor. I was once at his home studio in Marianao where he was going to record a song for a new artist. I had to use his restroom and couldn’t help but tease him afterward about how many hair products he had. His response: “Yeah, it looks like a French whore lives here.” He and the guys were always joking around. Here are a couple of typical Dairon moments that I have on film. This is how I remember him.

Dairon always made me laugh

Dairon was also a very talented musician, and in addition to his work with Buena Fe he recorded some solo tracks but never released them on any label that I know of. You can find a few at YouTube as well as hundreds of Buena Fe videos featuring Dairon. I did see him perform “Mírame Madre” - the song he recorded with Javier Milanes for the "Motivos Martianos" project - and captured that on video. He had a beautiful voice. Considering that tomorrow is Mother’s Day in the US and Cuba, it seems the perfect video to leave you with.

Dairon & Javier singing "Mírame Madre"

Dairon made friends wherever he went, and I know that friends and fans around the world were stunned by the news today. The band just got back from a tour of Canada. They are scheduled for a Mother’s Day concert tonight at El Ajibe and are in the running for Best Fusion Album for the 2017 release “Sobreviviente” at the CubaDisco awards tonight as well. That must feel surreal to the band members. My deepest sympathy to Dairon’s parents and family, the band and all his friends around the world. To conclude I leave you with Dairon in his own words from his Facebook account: “I’m a musician, guitarist with the Cuban group Buena Fe. I like to dance, read, challenges (life is the constant surprise of knowing that I exist).”

I would like to invite everyone who knew him to post comments as a tribute to him. We could all share our memories and help one another in the healing process.

UPDATE: Buena Fe won the Grand Prize as well as Best Fusion Album and Best Recording for "Sobreviviente" at Cubadisco tonight. They dedicated the awards to Dairon.