PRIMERA LINEA POSTPONED TO NOVEMBER

ENGLISH: Our hearts are with everyone affected by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey. Cuba was hit hard by Irma, and Primera Linea, which was to take place this week (see our post of July 4), has been postponed to November 27-30, 2017. You can see more information and get updates here.
ESPAÑOL: Nuestros corazones están con todos los afectados por el huracán Irma y el huracán Harvey. Cuba fue duramente golpeada por Irma, y Primera Linea, que iba a tener lugar esta semana (vea nuestro puesto del 4 de julio), se ha pospuesta al 27-30 de noviembre de 2017. Más informacion y actualizaciones están disponibles aquí.

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST

Louisville, Kentucky: Louisville has a growing Cuban-American musical colony and community, and The Clifton Roots, Jazz and Heritage Festival is presenting local favorite Cosa Seria, led and powered by some very talented Cuban conservatory graduates, on Thursday, September 21, as well as with pianist Elio Villafranca on Friday, September 22. More information and tickets are available on the Clifton Center website.

Baltimore: Chuchito Valdés is performing in quartet at An die Musik LIVE! in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, Sept. 22 at 8pm and 9pm.
The rest of the quartet for these performances includes Rafael Monteagudo on drums, Steve sachse on bass and Julio Matta on Conga. This writer has heard Rafael and Steve with Chuchito in Chicago - this should be excellent. More details and tickets are available on the An die Musik LIVE! website.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
Albertico Lescay, one of the leading lights of Cuba's Nu Jazz movement, has been spending enough time in and around Pittsburgh during his visit (which ends next month) that I won't be shocked if that city starts showing up as a locale of serious interest to fans of Cuban Jazz within a few short years - he has engaged in an ongoing musical dialogue with several progressive Jazz musicians there (including with members of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, which fuses Jazz and indigenous music). His next performance in Pittsburgh is on Monday, September 25 at the Frick Fine Arts Building Auditorium at the University of Pittsburgh, and he is presenting the music of Formas with the musicians he has been collaborating with here. This concert is free and open to the public, and there is a Facebook event page.

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martes, 05 septiembre 2017, 03:02 pm

Miami, Florida, Saturday, September 9:
Sintesis, one of Cuba's most important Afrocuban Fusion groups, will be performing at Copper Fest at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 770 Northeast 125th Street, North Miami, Florida.. They are the last of four bands and the festival and are scheduled for 9pm. Degnis Bofill, one of Cuba's most impressive young percussionists (and a 2016 JoJazz winner as a soloist) will be on tour with them. More details about Copper Fest can be found on the Copper Fest web page.

New York, Saturday, September 9:
Albertico Lescay will be playing with Arturo O'Farrill and Blitz at the 4th Annual Music on Southern Blvd Festival (Southern Boulevard and 163rd St, NYC) at 12:30 in the afternoon. More information is available at the Casita Maria website. This is an excellent opportunity to hear Albertico, one of Cuba's rising young Jazz and NuJazz artists who is visiting a few cities in the Eastern US. He has been collaborating with a few groups while here, and one hopes that we will eventually be able to see his ensemble, Formas, perform in the United States.
As for Arturo O'Farrill, he has been doing a lot of impressive work both in the studio and on stage with musicians from Cuba and may now have the most extensive current resume of such projects among Jazz musicians in the US.

Palm Springs, California, Saturday, October 14:
Most of Chuchito Valdes' recent outings in the US have been with a trio, this is an opportunity to hear him with percussionists Calixto Oviedo and Luis Conte as well as Diego Figueirdo, Carol Welsman and Geraldo Aguillon. More information and tickets can be found at tickets.psmuseum.org.

Chuchito Valdés, incidentally, will soon release a new album, Sueño que te beso, in collaboration with Juan Poch. More on this in the future.

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martes, 22 agosto 2017, 07:53 am

For followers of Cuba's Fusion scene, Sintesis, founded in 1976, needs no introduction. They have been one of the most important groups performing Afrocuban Fusion there for decades. They are currently still doing performances in their 40th Anniversary tour, which sadly only includes a couple of dates in the US. One of those is Friday, August 25, at 8:30pm at the Ford Theatres in Los Angeles. An extra reason to go see this if you can is that they are bringing percussionist Degnis Bofill with them. Degnis is one of the most impressive young percussionists in Cuba today (and that is saying a LOT). He won first place in Solistas Mayores at JoJazz in Havana last year AND 3rd place in Composition. I have seen him perform with a few groups already, and he has elevated whatever he was in so far. Not only do you get to help Sintesis celebrate 40 years of excellence, you'll also get a glimpse of part of Cuba's percussion future.

Also on the bill is Cuban-born violinist Dayren Santamaria and her band Made in Cuba. Dayren plays in Los Angeles with several excellent groups.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TICKETS FOR THE CONCERT, SEE THE IGNITE @ THE FORD EVENT PAGE

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viernes, 18 agosto 2017, 12:04 am

ENGLISH: Bill Tilford's shortwave radio program, From the Isle of Music, will have Feliciano Arango, Albertico Lescay and Gizelxanath Rodríguez as special guests along with their music on the next episode. This program can be heard as follows:

1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in all directions with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
From the Isle of Music is not available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website WBCQ.COM (ONLY during the broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.

Soon after, there will be a review of the new album by Los Hermanos Arango, The Arangos World, on this website, along with some additional material that Bill recorded with the Arango family in Cuba that did not air on the program.

ESPAÑOL: El programa radial en onda corta de Bill Tilford, From the Isle of Music, ofrece como invitados especiales a Feliciano Arango, Albertico Lescay y Gizelxanath Rodríguez con su música en el episodio siguiente. Se puede escuchar el programa:

1. Para Europa del Este pero audible más allá de la zona objetiva en todas las direcciones con 100Kw, domingo 1500-1600 UTC en SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, desde Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. Para las Américas y partes de Europa, martes 0000-0100 UTC en WBCQ, 7490 KHz desde Monticello, ME, EE.UU. (lunes 8-9PM EDT en los EE.UU.)
3 y 4. Para Europa y a veces más allá, martes 1900-2000 UTC y sábado 1200-1300 UTC en Channel 292, 6070 KHz desde Rohrbach, Alemania.
From the Isle of Music no está disponible para escuchar en demanda, pero algunas emisiones pueden ser escuchadas en línea durante la hora de la emisión usando Web SDRs o el sitio web de WBCQ, WBCQ.COM (SOLAMENTE durante la emisión) si Uds no están recibiendo la señal via radio.

Publicaremos despues una reseña del nuevo álbum de Los Hermanos Arango, The Arangos World, en este sitio juntos con material adicional que Bill grabo con la familia Arango en Cuba y no incluyó en la emision.