Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, a wonderful event that deserves a lot more national notice than it usually receives. This year's offerings include Cuban Jazz and Fusion artist Roberto Fonseca, whose recording Yo won Cubadisco 2013 awards in the Fusion and Recording (engineering) categories this year (you can read a review of Yo here).  Roberto is playing Friday, September 27 at 10:30 pm, and this show, which will be an interesting departure from what most US listeners typically expect from Cuban music concerts if the material from Yo is performed, is highly recommended. Click here for the Lotus festival's page, which includes a live video. While you're there, check out the rest of the festival schedule, there aren't any additional Cuban acts, but it is very impressive.

In Los Angeles, the AC Jazz Project is having its official CD release party for the new recording Conga Buena at the Catalina Bar and Grill in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 26 at 8:30pm.  This group is based in Los Angeles California and features veterans of Maraca, Klimax, Afrocuba and Opus 13.  The leader, trumpeter/composer Josiel Pérez, is originally from Piñar del Rio, played with Maraca and Klimax, and is just getting established in the US after coming here in 2011. The group does both Cuban Jazz and Cuban dance music (Timba, Rumba, Son etc.), and some tracks are already on the radio in a few cities. The album is now available in CD Baby and iTunes

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Available Now:  Expectativas by Manuel Valera & New Cuban Express

Expectativas is the second New Cuban Express recording, and like the first one, it is extraordinary. You can read a review of the recording here.  Better yet, an extended sample of one of the TimbaJazz tracks, Chamber Timba, is posted on manuelvalera.com
This is available now through CD Baby, Amazon.com and iTunes. The group will be performing at a CD release party November 6 at the Jazz Standard in New York.

Available September 17:  Conga Buena by the AC Jazz Project

Conga Buena is a potent mix of Afro-Cuban Jazz and modern Cuban dance music, and the AC Jazz Project, led by Josiel Pérez (ex-Maraca and Klimax) features alumni of many of Cuba's best bands. This recording features some heavy hitters like Luis Conte, Jimmy Branly, Kamasi Washington and Dennis Chambers.  The recording will be available for purchase from CD Baby and iTunes. The group will be performing its CD release party on September 26 at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles, California.

Available October 18:  Con la música cubana no by Timbalive

Timbalive is coming out with a brand new Timba album, Con la música Cubana no, on October 18. The group will be touring Europe in November 2013. More about the album closer to the release date, but in the meantime, Timbalive has been floating a single from the album.  Here is their official video of that song, Conmigo No:

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Dayramir González (see Dayramir González Brings it to LA and Beyond , July 16) recently sent word about another great video, Iyesa con Miel:  

Ivan Llanes  (see Ivan Llanes & The Cuban Way , March 30) checked in with one of his own, La Caliente :

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Latin GRAMMY season is upon us again, and there is always a tremendous number of recordings that are submitted for consideration by Latin Recording Academy (LARAS) members each year. Cuba is now actively including recordings by Cuban artists living in the United States and other countries in its Cubadisco Awards (their equivalent to the GRAMMY awards), and it is our hope that the members of the Latin Recording Academy will be equally proactive in listening to the best of Cuba's recorded output, some of which is now being submitted to the Latin GRAMMY process. Since these recordings don't have the same marketing and publicity support as major-label projects made in the United States or Europe, the article that follows may be helpful as a tool for learning more about these excellent but not always well-known recordings. 
You can read the full article in English here.

La temporada del Latin GRAMMY ha llegado otra vez, y siempre hay un gran número de grabaciones que se someten a la consideración de la Academia Latina de Grabación (LARAS) miembros cada año. Cuba está incluyendo activamente unas grabaciones de artistas cubanos que viven en Estados Unidos y en otros países en los Premios Cubadisco (equivalente a los premios Grammy), y tenemos la esperanza de que los miembros de la Academia Latina de la Grabación serán igualmente proactivo en escuchar lo mejor de la producción grabada de Cuba, algunos de los cuales se presenta ahora en el proceso del Latin GRAMMY. Dado que estas grabaciones no reciben tanto ayuda con marketing y publicidad como los lanzamientos de las etiquetas principales hecho en los Estados Unidos o Europa, el artículo que sigue puede ser útil como una herramienta para aprender más acerca de estos excelentes, pero no siempre bien conocido grabaciones.
Se puede leer el articulo en español aquí.

UPDATE:  Editor's Picks For Your Consideration

SALSA Pasaporte by Alexander Abreu and Havana d'Primera (Colibri)   This won the Cubadisco 2013 award for Popular Dance Music, and it is one of the best Timba/Cuban Salsa albums to appear in years.  You can read our review here. 

TRADITIONAL Vamos pa' la' fiesta by Septeto Santiaguero (Picap).  This won the Cubadisco 2013 award for Traditional Popular Music and features a number of prominent singers from the United States and other countries as guest artists.   You can read our review here. 

LATIN JAZZ + ENGINEERING PMO by Pacific Mambo Orchestra (Independent Release)  This Bay Area big band plays hard-hitting, old school Mambo in a way that is mostly old school but with some modern elements of electric guitar and drum kit added to the mix.  You can read our review here. 

LATIN JAZZ + ENGINEERING San Francisco by Brian Andres & The Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel (Independent Release)   A funky and daring collaboration between some of the most talented players, composers and arrangers residing in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Click here for more info.

RECORD + ALBUM + TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL + ENGINEERING Vuelven Los Amaya! by Los Amaya (Universal Music Spain)  A comeback album from the original kings of Rumba Flamenca. Features a veritable who's who of famous artists from Spain.  Click here for more info.

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