Michel Maza

Fantastic news came out of Lima yesterday! According to Cato TimbaDJ at Facebook, the sublimely talented singer Michel Maza has been acquitted of the charges for which he has been incarcerated in the San Pedro prison (ex-Lurigancho) for the past 17 months. We have not been able to find any Peruvian news site with the exact details of the verdict yet which is supposed to come on Monday, but the timberos of Peru are saying that it is 100% confirmed. This is the result his supporters have been hoping for. We certainly hope it is true!

In January of 2012 Michel and another person were arrested and charged with kidnapping, intimidation and armed robbery of a taxi driver. While Michel admitted to having problems with drugs, he denied the other charges. Fans and friends rallied around him creating Facebook pages dedicated to him, but just one month ago reports came that he had been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The preliminary indications today are that he has actually been acquitted of those charges and will be released on August 7th for time-served for the drug-related charges.

Timberos around the world are already rejoicing at the news and in some cities parties are being planned in honor of the acquittal. We at Timba.com hope to soon see Michel back on stage. We have missed his extraordinary voice.

Michel Maza at 18 singing "Lola, Lola" with la Charanga Habanera in 1997
at the now-famous "Suspension Concert"

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Photo courtesy of http://www.milanespablo.com/

Today Pablo Milanés releases "Amor de otoño"   at iTunes . It is the first single from his highly anticipated new album "Renacimiento" , which will be available worldwide from September 17th . "Amor de otoño" is a ballad that will delight fans for Pablo's signature use of harmonies, his graceful turn of phrase and that iconic voice.

Pablo has also launched an updated official website with his exensive discography, concert dates, a biography, photos, videos and more. Check it out and suscribe to keep up on the lastest news of this legend of Cuban music. In August Pablo will begin a national tour of Cuba, and in September he will perform in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Click here for concert dates.

Debut performance of "Amor de otoño" 19 May 2013 Karl Marx Theater - Havana, Cuba

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At a press conference on November 29th, Samuel Formell announced that Los Van Van will release their tribute to Juan Formell - "La fantasía" - on Friday, December 5th at the final concert of their national tour, which will be held at the steps of the University of Havana. This will be only one day after the band celebrates its 45th anniversary.

The new CD - recorded at Estudios de 18 EGREM - contains 14 tracks with compositions and arrangements by Juan Formell, Samuel Formell, Juan Carlos Formell, Boris Luna, Jorge Leliebre, Pacho Chibás, Robertón, Mandy Cantero and Juan Ballestero. Alexander Abreu makes an appearance with a brilliant trumpet solo on track 14 - "Soy Van Van". Various DJs have posted short sections of some of the songs, and I am going to say that from what I have heard, I believe that "La fantasía" will be Van Van's strongest album since "Chapeando". Samuel has the daunting task of taking the helm of Cuba's most famous musical instituion, and all indications are that his father prepared him well by making him musical director several years ago. El tren va por buen camino. 

As we were discussing the new album via e-mail, Kevin made the following observations on the subject of remakes, of which "La fantasía" contains two.

Kevin Moore:
1) "Es mucho" is from vol. 5 - 1979 - I think I'm on firm ground in saying the vols 5 & 6 were by far the worst sounding Van Van albums but had some great songs that were unjustly debuted with bad recordings - thus, re-recording anything from those (especially "La rumba no está completa" and "El montuno" - which they've already done and which are two amazing tracks) is a great idea because now Van Van has world-class singing and infinitely better recording capabilities.

2) "Me basta con pensar" started as the B-side bolero of the early 70s single "Que se sepa" - neither of which ever got onto an official album - unless the version Omara did of the A-side with them did got onto one, but "Me basta" was turned into an uptempo arrangement in 1990 for Los Van Van - not by Formell, but by Pupy (this only happened twice and both were masterpieces in my opinion). That version of "Me basta" contains within it - among many other things - the seeds of Manolito y su Trabuco's whole harmonic sello - it sounds like late 90s Trabuco back when Manolito was still in Maravillas de Florida. It's a hugely important timba precursor and one of the best post-revolution tracks period in my opinion - no idea what the new one will be like, but it's definitely anything but a tired old song swept out of the closet for lack of creativity. I'm very curious to hear this whole album.

As are we all Kevin. The first thing I plan to do Friday morning is buy "La fantasía" from whichever on-line store uploads it first. I predict that it will be a great holiday gift for all the Cuban music fans on my list.

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The 4th annual Festival Cubano, a 3-day celebration of Cuban music, will take place on August 2-4 in Riis Park in Chicago. The band roster this year has a really nice mix of local and out of town acts - some of Saturday's highlights include Xiomara Laugart and Alfredo de la Fe (the closing act that night is Salsero Jerry Rivera ). Sunday packs a wallop with Charangueo, Mambo Fino, Hector Silveira y su Orquesta, and Sureya followed by the Cachao Mambo All Stars.  Timbalive, which was nominated for a Cubadisco award in 2012, a rare honor for a dance band in the United States, closes the festival. For tickets and the complete schedule for this don't-miss event visit thecubanfestival.com

In Los Angeles, on Saturday August 3 at Vitello's, the AC Jazz Project is having a pre-release party featuring material from its new CD Conga Buena, which is due for release in September.  This band is led by trumpeter Josiel Pérez, who played with Maraca's band and Klimax in Cuba, and it brings together a formidable team of musicians (some of them cut their teeth in NG la Banda, Grupo Afrocuba and Opus 13, and percussion monster Luis Conte is the featured conguero). This writer has heard the tracks from the new recording, a potent mix of Jazz and Música Popular Bailable, and it is going to turn some heads when it comes out. For more information, see vitellosjazz.com

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