Mayito Rivera "El Poeta de la Rumba" photo courtesy of mayitorivera.net

Editor's Note: A venerable rumba poet and former lead vocalist of the legendary Cuban band Los Van Van, the now solo artist Mario "Mayito" Rivera joins the blog writing team here at TIMBA.com to bring us a fresh perspective from a singer's point of view.  Here, in his first article, we begin to recognize his direction and fundamental philosophy, and like all of you, we highly anticipate his views and comments. We will provide Mayito with uncensored support and sincerely hope you all enjoy his new column.

Nota del redactor: El poeta de la rumba, ex-cantante del la legendaria orquesta cubana Los Van Van, y ahora un artista solista, Mario "Mayito" Rivera, se una al grupo de escritores de TIMBA.com para traerles la persepectiva y punto de vista de un sonero y intérprete del género. Aquí, en su primer artículo, empezamos a reconocer su dirección y concepto fundamental, y como todos ustedes, esperamos sus opiniones y observaciones con mucha anticipación. Le brindamos el apoyo a Mayito sin censura. Que lo disfruten.

Resulta difícil analizar con certeza todo lo que está pasando dentro del mundo musical, tantos y tantos proyectos en todos los rincones del universo, todos tratando de abrir caminos y crecer. Es digno de admirar, de verdad es algo muy serio a tener en cuenta...y me detengo aquí, para hacer una observación que pocas veces decimos aunque en verdad creo que casi todos valoramos y sabemos. Me quiero referir al honor que representa para CUBA, para nuestra cultura en particular, el fenómeno mundial que se ha desatado a partir de la música cubana bailable...llamase son, timba , rumba y otros géneros. Se trata simplemente del solo hecho de HACER BAILAR, hermosa contribución al patrimonio universal de la humanidad, hoy el mundo BAILA, el mundo se mueve, con el ritmo de los cubanos...de nuestra humilde tierra, encerrada y asediada por las carencias materiales de todo tipo, carencias que todos los que allí vivimos sabemos y conocemos, hasta la hemos aprendido a soportar y casi tengo la seguridad que se ha convertido en un GAME para the daily life del cubano...

Dale clic aquí para seguir leyendo el primer artículo de
Mayito Rivera "El Poeta de la Rumba".

deja un comentario

continue reading El Poeta De La Rumba

ENGLISH:  Eliel Lazo & The Cuban Funk Machine are here.  Be funky.  Be VERY funky. 
ESPAÑOL:  Eliel Lazo & The Cuban Funk Machine están aquí.  Sea funky.  Sea MUY funky. 

Read a review of the new CD here / Lee una reseña del nuevo CD aquí. 
ENGLISH:  US Tour coming (including Chicago 2/6) in February.   
ESPAÑOL:  Eliel vendrá a los Estados Unidos para una gira (incluyendo Chicago 2/6/15) en februaro.

ENGLISH:  Haila is coming to Louisville, KY on December 26.   The venue has hosted Charanga Habanera in the past.  More information in the near future. 
ESPAÑOL:  Haila vendrá al Louisville, KY el 26 de diciembre.  El venue ha presentado Charanga Habenera en el pasado. Más información en el futuro cercano. 

deja un comentario

continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na

(photo supplied by Alejandro Riera courtesy of Festival Cubano)

This is what success looks like from the air, and it's what happens when the whole world is invited to your party and decides to accept the invitation. This was taken during the Saturday night session of the festival. No more "small, upstart festival" for YOU, Festival Cubano.  Now you're going to have a rep to defend. You'll find that it's a mixed blessing but a nice problem to have. 

Click here for part 2 of our coverage with a story and photo gallery including Timbalive's closing act.

deja un comentario

continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na

This is the legendary late 90s Van Van group with Pedrito Calvo, Mayito Rivera and Robertón Hernández.

If you want to see the band from the front with multiple camera angles, search for the Miami Arena 1999 video, currently on YouTube by Pimienta Records and others and probably still in print as a DVD/CD package.

This video, shot by pianist Robert Schwentker in June of 2000 at the Conga Room in Los Angeles, is of special value for a variety of reasons:

1) It has a lot of closeups of the piano (for those who want to learn piano and history buffs, here are introductory videos for two Beyond Salsa Piano books on Pupy Pedroso (Vol. 10 - Vol. 11).

2) This also results in lots of closeups of Juan Formell's baby bass technique.

3) ... and to a lesser degree, closeups of Samuel Formell, who has a very unusual setup (for him), playing from a standing position as he did in his first job, with Issac Delgado. By this point, Samuel was almost always playing seated at a full drum/timbales set. Probably a snafu with the sound rental company, but as you can see, it doesn't seem to cramp his style in the least.

4) This is within 6 months of the departure of Pedrito Calvo and within 1 year of the departure of Pupy Pedroso.

Enjoy!

deja un comentario

continue reading La Última