Congratulations to the Winners of the Cubadisco 2012 Awards

Para leer este artículo en español, haz click aquí

Cubadisco 2012 was officially dedicated to the guitar, but in some ways it was also the year of the retrospective. Many of this year's nominees were recordings that looked back on the careers of the musicians. It is also worth noting that based on the number of awards (14) that it was associated with, Colibri has emerged as a new powerhouse for Cuban recordings. Bis Music was associated with at least 9 awards, and EGREM was associated with at least 7. Several other labels were represented as well. We mention this because some people still mistakenly believe that the Cuban recording industry is a monolith. Here are some of the award results that will be of particular interest to Timba.com readers:

Cubadisco 2012 - Cuban Music News - Noticias de música cubana
CUBADISCO 2012 GRAND PRIZE:   Veinte Pianos, Música de Ernán López Nussa, various artists (Colibri). Ernán has sometimes been underappreciated througout his career but had a very good year this time with 4 awards. Veinte Pianos also won the awards for CD/DVD and Didactic Recording, and Ernán was recognized as Producer of the Year. He is one of Bill Tilford's favorite Cuban Jazz artists. This is also Ernán's second Grand Prize - the first was in 2002 for his recording From Havana To Rio.

SPECIAL GRAND PRIZE:   Chucho's Steps, Chucho Valdés and the Afrocuban Messengers (Colibri). This is an excellent Jazz recording.

SPECIAL AWARD: Mis 22 Años, NG La Banda (EGREM), 30 Años de Son 14,  Son 14 (EGREM),Sueños del pequeño Quin, Joaquín Betancourt (Colibri)

JAZZ:  Travesia, Iván Melón Lewis Quintet (Casa Limón). (This actually won 2 awards. Timba.com's Kevin Moore has written a lot about Melón, who has also made major contributioins to the genre of Timba.

TESTIMONIAL  and FOLKLORIC MUSIC : Las Estrellas del folclor, Los Hermanos Arango (Bis Music). Los Hermanos Arango made a great impression on listeners during their tour of the United States a few months ago.

Cubadisco - Cuban Music News - Noticias de música cubana TROVA FUSION:   Pi 3.14, Buena Fe (EGREM). Buena Fe is a favorite of our own Timbera Mayor.

ARCHIVAL MUSIC:   Origenes, Eduardo Ramos y Grupo Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (Colibri)

LATIN MUSIC:  Mala, Haila (Bis Music). Haila's solo project is a dance album that incorporates several different genres of popular music.

*****CURRENT POPULAR DANCE MUSIC***** Acabaito de nacer, David Calzado y su Charanga Habanera (EGREM). This recording does not break new ground musically, but it is a solid dance album, and one of the selections, the fusion number La Suerte, also had a very popular video. In the near future, we will review both this recording and the other nominees for this category in more detail.

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Thursday, 17 May 2012, 06:42 AM

(To read this article in English, click here )

¡Atención Músicos! LARAS (La Academia Latina de la Grabación) añade la Categoria ”Mejor Album de Fusión Tropical”

En un comunicado de prensa 10 de Mayo 2012, LARAS anunció algunos cambios en las categorías de los premios Latin GRAMMY 2012. De interés especial para los músicos que tocan la música progresiva es las nueva categoría “Mejor Álbum de Fusión Tropical”. Veremos qué tipo de grupos y grabaciones serán reconocidas en esta nueva categoría, pero esto parece ser un cambio similar a lo que sugerimos en estas páginas en 2011 como una manera de ayudar a distinguir la formas más nuevas de la música en comparación de los estilos más antiguos la música tropical bailable.

Animamos a los músicos que tocan la Timba , funk cubana y otras formas experimental o " mixta" música tropical de aprender tanto como sea posible acerca de esta nueva categoría , ya que esto puede ser un lugar más apropiado para presentar su grabación que la categoría “Mejor Album Tropical Contemporáneo” .

Dos ejemplos recientes de fusion tropical - Palo! y Interactivo

Timba.com saluda a LARAS para la expandir las categorías y expresa la esperanza de que ayudaría a proporcionar una oportunidad de mayor reconocimiento a los grupos que tocan la Timba, Fusión, Funk cubana etc. en los Estados Unidos, Cuba y más allá.

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Thursday, 17 May 2012, 01:01 AM

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is having a special public vote to determine which of five historical figures should be the subject of a new special historical portrait. One of the nominees is Celia Cruz. The other nominees are Audie Murphy, Alice Paul, Samuel Morse and Frederick Douglass.

El Museo Nacional Smithsonian de Historia Americana está haciendo una votación especial del público para determinar cuál de cinco figuras históricas deberiá ser objeto de un nuevo retrato histórico especial. Uno de los nominados es Celia Cruz. Los otros nominados son Audie Murphy, Alice Paul, Samuel Morse y Frederick Douglass.

Photo from the Smithsonian's website.

Celia left an enormous body of work both in Cuba and later in the United States, and her style influenced generations of female Salsa vocalists.

Voting is open until May 26 , and you can vote on your choice for this portrait on the National Museum of American History's web page by using this link: Frame an Iconic American

Celia dejó un enorme cuerpo de obras, tanto en Cuba y más tarde en los Estados Unidos, y su estilo influyó en generaciones de cantantes femeninas de la Salsa. La votación está abierta hasta el 26 de Mayo, y usted puede votar en su elección para este retrato en la página de web del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana mediante el uso de este enlace: Frame an Iconic American

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Sunday, 22 April 2012, 11:26 AM

According to a few sources including an announcement from ACN (Agencia Cubana de Noticias), the nominees for the Cubadisco 2012 awards are out and include some Timba groups worth mentioning. For the Música Popular Bailable Actual (Current Popular Dance Music) category, the nominees include Acabaito de Nacer by David Calzado y Su Charanga Habanera, La Maquinaria by Juan Formell y Los Van Van, Todo Es Posible by Wil Campa y su Orquesta, Siempre Pupy by Pupy y Los Que Son Son, Al Fin by Mónika Mesa and La Timba Pa' To' El Mundo by Miami's own Timbalive.
The awards program will take place Saturday, May 19 at the Teatro Karl Marx in Havana. Some other nominees of interest include 30 Años de Son 14 (by Son 14) and Mis 22 Años (by NG La Banda) in the Premio Especial (Special Award) category, and a special nomination (Nominación Especial) for Chucho's Steps by Chucho Valdés.
In the Música De Archivo category (of special interest to collectors), two of the five nominees include Ritmo Oriental's Colección Agrupaciones Bailables Orquesta Ritmo Oriental and a collection called Origenes. Eduardo Ramos con el Grupo Experimentación Sonora (del ICAIC).
A number of interesting Jazz and Folkloric nominees also turn up on the list. For a complete listing, see
Cubadisco 2012 Nominees
Congratulations to all of the nominees but especially to Timbalive for this tangible reminder that world-class Timba truly is a global phenomenon now including in the United States.