Laritza Bacallao was born into one of Cuba's prominent music families. Both her grandfather and her father were singers with Orquesta Aragón, and as a child she toured and sang with the band on more than one occasion. Laritza also received formal music education attending the music schools Manuel Saumel and Guillermo Tomás. Add to this a natural talent and a powerful, versatile voice and you have the makings of a star.

While her family represents the best in Cuban traditional dance music, Laritza’s music is Pan-Caribbean electronica that freely mixes rhythms from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. In 2014 she released her first CD “Sólo se vive una vez”, Cubadisco 2015 winner in the category “Opera Prima”. She recently toured the US where she was nominated in Premios Juventud 2015 as “Revelation of the Year” and is currently touring Europe with Chacal & Yakarta.  Click here to read my review of “Sólo se vive una vez”.

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Cubanismo toured the US many times in the late 90s and early 00s with great success, but then dropped off the map. They're finally back in the game, playing Yoshi's (Oakland) on Sunday. The current lineup has several interesting timba musicians as well as Jesús Alemañy's usual cast of legends: Papiosco, who played brilliant and innovative congas with Klímax and on the Michel Maza albums; Cristóbal Verdecia, of Paulito FG and Havana d'Primera on bass; and Antonio Portuondo "Pachá", who played timabales with Issac, Pedrito Calvo and ACAS.

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ENGLISH:  Part II of Scenes From Cubadisco 2015, a multipart series about this year's event, is now available here.  This includes the International Symposium and the special reception for participants from other countries. 
ESPAÑOL:  Parte II de Escenas de Cubadisco 2015 , una serie en multiples partes acerca del evento de este año, ya está disponible aquí.  Incluidos: el Simposio Internacional y la recepción especial para los participantes extranjeros.   

ENGLISH: You may not be able to purchase it yet, but you can hear part of the wonderful new album Ruy Löpez-Nussa presenta La Academia on The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition on WSLR.  on their next program, which airs on Tuesday, July 28.  Visit the program's Facebook page for more details about when and how you can listen (yes, the station can be heard via Internet).  This album was nominated for a Cubadisco award in 2015 in the Cuban Jazz category.
ESPAÑOL:  Puede ser  que no sea capaz de comprarlo todavía, pero se puede escuchar parte del maravilloso nuevo álbum Ruy López-Nussa presenta La Academia en The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition en WSLR. en su próximo programa, que se emite el martes 28 de julio. Visite la página Facebook del programa para obtener más detalles acerca de cuándo y cómo se puede sintonizar (sí, la emisora está disponible a través de Internet tambien). Este álbum fue nominado para un premio Cubadisco 2015 en la categoría de Jazz cubano.

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Tonight At Catalina Jazz Club Calixto Oviedo & his Cuban Jazz Train will present their new album "Como suena" with two sets starting at 8:30pm. The CD will be available for purchase at the concert for $10. Click here for tickets and more information. If you can't make the concert tonight, you can still order a signed copy of the CD from the Cuban Jazz Train website. From August 1st it will also be at CD Baby in digital format. Here's another look at what you can expect tonight and on the CD.

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