El Zorro - Sin Compromiso

El Zorro Sin Compromiso This is hardly a newsflash for the serious timbero, but Martin Lehrner, better known as "El Zorro", has released his 5th CD this time titled "Sin Compromiso". The name indicates that he made this album according to his own exacting standards and without compromise.

El Zorro must be the most prolific European timbero, although he might prefer to classify himself as simply "contemporary latin". In any case, I have finally had time to sit down and listen to the CD without distractions and am happy to tell you all that El Zorro continues to push the boundries. His arrangements venture outside the box with exciting fusions.

The album begins with a "guaguancó-funk" and songs range from ballads, to reggae, to mambo, to timbaton and timba-funk. The lyrics are a combination of his own as well as songs written by singer Roberto Pulido and collaborations between El Zorro and Roberto. El Zorro's musical fusions are really powerful. For example the title track is listed as timba-funk and it is heavily funky. A very dancable tune, it even has a "Guitar Hero" moment. I expect that this album easily crosses over in clubs that play Latin as well as other genres. It has something for everyone.

El Zorro continues his collaboration with excellent musicians. In addition to Roberto, lead vocalists are El Zorro, Ángel Bonne, Luis Fernando Borjas and Leonardo Columbie. The female coristas Yudelkis Lafuente Acea, Arlety Valdés Cana and Sarah “La Pescadora” Fischer give the CD a unique sound in this male-dominated genre. El Zorro himself plays trombone, sings coro and plays piano and keyboard on all but three of the songs. He is truly a complete musician.

"Sin Compromiso" was released by CME music last month and is also available at iTunes. For El Zorro's own comments see his website .

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domingo, 05 septiembre 2010, 08:46 am

Things are solidifying around the US tour of Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son which begins next week! We have published a number of concert dates and will update with more as soon as they are confirmed.

If you've never seen Adalberto live you are in for a treat. The music is perfectly suited to the dancer and the band sounds as good live as on CD. Plus you get the excitement of the interaction with the bandmembers. You will be surprised just how hardcore well-played son can be! On my last visit to Cuba I went to see Adalberto every week. This band keeps you coming back for more.

They have a new CD, "El Son de Altura", on the way...any minute now it should be released. As usual it is on my must-buy list. Here s a little sample from the CD, the hit "El Melón".

Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son con su nuevo éxito "El Melon" del disco "El son de Altura"

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lunes, 16 agosto 2010, 09:15 am

As the summer winds to a close there are a few upcoming timba events that you should be aware of. La Charanga Habanera will be back at Yoshi's in San Francisco August 20-22. They will be doing the two-shows-a-day thing so you can see the boys six times in a row! And at the other end of the Cuban spectrum and on the opposite coast we have our first confirmed date for El Caballero del Son, Adalberto Álvarez. They will be playing September 16th at S.O.B.s in New York City. I hope we will soon be updating Adalberto's Tours page with many more concert dates in the US. So get out there and enjoy the final days of summer with La Charanga and Adalberto! And stay tuned for tour updates on Klímax in the US as well!

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domingo, 15 agosto 2010, 02:18 pm

Calle Real - Kafri, Tomas & Michel Kafri, Tomas & Michel

Calle Real performed last Thursday night, August 12, 2010 at the Stockholm Kulturfestival on the big stage at Gustav Adolfs Square. They put on a great show and the audience loved every minute of it even insisting on a encore, which isn't always possible witrh the tight schedule of a festival. Bandleader and tresero Patricio Sobrado is still in Chile so it was a little unusual to see them without him. As always Calle Real bridges the gap between Latino and mainstream music and I'm sure they made many new fans that night and probably opened up more hearts to timba as well. Click here to check out the full concert report including 3 videos.

Here is a sample video to get you started: "Me lo gané", the title track from their latest CD.

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Me lo gané