photo by Tom Ehrllich

This is really the most exciting timba development ever to come out of the U.S. It's timba - all timba - but it's a timba conjunto - it's got all the fire and great songs and great piano tumbaos and gear changes of timba but only about half as loud - so you can hear all the nuances. The only metal percussion is the bongosero's hand bell. Pedrito plays congas and cajón (playing kick drum parts) and all four members singing brilliantly. They're at Yoshi's Oakland tonight and the Monterey Jazz Fest on Friday. if you're on a budget (who isn't) it's a mere $15 for the whole night at Yoshis. This is the one, people. Don't miss it. VIDEO HERE. [Kevin Moore]

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No time for a full post, but get to Monterey Jazz tonight at 8:00 tonight if you can !!!
This is an astounding group. Yoshi's was sold out and minds were blown.  [Kevin Moore]

Photo by Tom Ehrlich

Photo by Peter Maiden

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This won't be released for a few more weeks yet, but Rafael Monteagudo, leader of The Music Connection, was kind enough to give us a sneak preview of the debut CD Innovation, which will soon join the ranks of the best new Latin Jazz releases to come out of New York (or anywhere else) this year.  To read our review in English, click here.

Esto no se será lanzado hasta que unas semanas más han pasado, pero Rafael Monteagudo, lider de The Music Connection, tuvo la amabilidad de darnos un preestreno de su debut CD Innovation, que pronto se unirá a las filas de los mejores estrenos de Latin Jazz desde Nueva York (o cualquier otro lugar) este año.   Para leer nuestra reseña en español haga clic aquí.

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Arturo Sandoval, who first came to our notice as a key figure in Cuba's legendary Irakere and as the leader of his own combo in Cuba, has since had an even more remarkable career in the United States (and worldwide) with 6 Grammy Awards (17 nominations), 6 Billboard awards, 1 Emmy and numerous recordings,  television appearances and film work to his credit (along with a long and successful teaching career).    He is about to start a multi-city US  tour schedule  with some of his best work yet (in this writer's opinion).  His most recent recordings, Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You)  and Tango Como Yo Te Siento currently have 5 Latin Grammy nominations between them (4 for Dear Diz and 1 for Tango).  We haven't picked up Tango yet, but we've been listening to Dear Diz for hours. 

The first tour date we have is at the Viper Alley in Lincolnshire, Illinois, on Friday, October 5 at 8pm.   The club is a little north of the city of Chicago,  about 45 minutes from Chicago's loop and a little more than an hour from downtown Milwaukee.   This venue just opened in 2011, and we saw Arturo do a great show there last year.  We look forward to this week's appearance as well.

Dear Diz was a special recording for Arturo because Dizzy Gillespie was a key figure in his life and career.  We spoke with Arturo by telephone on Tuesday while he was in Miami working on a new film soundtrack and about to leave for a few days in Lebanon.  Unfortunately, the quality of the telephone connection was too poor for us to share audio here, but we will mention that he is very excited about Viper Alley performance and the rest of the upcoming tour, and he will be bringing his regular touring band including Zane Musa, the phenomenal saxophonist who also shined through in Dear Diz.   He also mentioned during our conversation that the Viper Alley performance will include some selections from Dear Diz but probably not from Tango because that second project used some key personnel that won't be on this tour.

In lieu of our sharing the poor audio from our own conversation, we are going to direct you to an interview Arturo did with Guy Raz for NPR's All Things Considered in May 2012.  He talks about his introduction to Dizzy Gillespie and what followed from that first meeting.

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