We have added a section for Monika Mesa y su Máquina Perfecta , whose 2012 Cubadisco-nominated CD "Al Fin" will be available soon outside of Cuba. In the meantime you can browse through the new section with a brief biography, information about the new CD, photos and most importantly videos so you can get to know her music. Timberos already know Monika from her time with bands such as Anacaona, Azúcar Negra and NG La Banda. She has now started her own group under the musical direction of Joel Dominguez (Issac Delgado, Manolín and Paulo FG) and they have already toured Europe twice. They will be back in Europe this fall so keep an eye out for updates to their Tours page. Below you can enjoy a little behind-the-scenes documentary of the Making of the song "SMS".

You can listen to "SMS" at Timba.com radio.

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Havana weekly listings are up - Need a live music and performance schedule for Havana next week? Check it out in our new section = http://www.timba.com/encyclopedias/havana-live-music-listings

Music form the Cuba All Stars Festival in Perú - check some live tracks from the festival: Mandy Cantero with Los Van Van on Que Sorpresa and Alex Abreu y Habana D Primera with Cuando El Río Suena. Both on Radio Timba right now. 

Samuel Formell collaborates with Mexican guitar heroes Rodrigo y Gabriela - Ready to be released in the US this upcoming Tuesday, January 24th, Area 52 contains nine (9) of the duo's favorite songs from their own catalogue re-arranged and re-configured for a 13-piece Cuban orchestra comprised of some of Havana's finest young players, collectively known as C.U.B.A. This two-disc set includes a 30-minute 'making-of' documentary on DVD.  source

Area 52 was mixed by Rafa Sardina, one of the leading studio musicians in the Latin music world, and arranged by London-based pianist, composer and arranger Alex Wilson. Recording took place in the Miramar district of Havana, Cuba, at Abdala Studios, founded by the Cuban folk hero Silvio Rodriguez, as well as at Rodrigo & Gabriel's studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. Other players on the record include: bassist Carles Benavent (Paco De Lucia, Chick Corea, Miles Davis), drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, Testament, White Zombie), sitarist Anoushka Shankar and drummer Samuel Formell (Los Van Van). 

Radio Timba has an excerpt (with spoilers) of Samuel's killer solo (listen to track #1) of the album's first cut, entitled "Santo Domingo". Check out Rodrigo y Gabriela's iste at = http://rodgab.com/

CubaAntwerpen (title song for the festival), new video from Grupo Contrabando - Hey shameless plug, but it's always It's a great feeling to see and hear a song you mastered. I worked with leader and trombonist Andrés Fernández on this and the video blew me away. Check it out:

Felipe Lamoglia & Urban Beats in Miami - Cuban Timba All Star (Tomasito Cruz version) and ex-NG La Banda saxofonist Felipe Magnolia will be playing his special brand of Afro-Cuban jazz in Miami Beach tomorrow. Fellow CTAS drummer Reinier Guerra is also on the bill. 

Legendary, classical-style, afro-cuban "salsa suite" to be performed with 40 musicians - Pianist Larry Harlow's magnum opus "La Raza Latina" will be performed Friday night at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami as part of the Jazz and Roots series, with the composer conducting the local Mario Ortiz All-stars Band and a stellar lineup of musicians that includes the 90-year-old Cuban percussionist Candido Camero and Grammy-award winner and violinist Federico Britos. This will be only the second production of the show, first performed Aug. 14, 2011 at New York's Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, with Blades, now a Hollywood actor and former cultural minister of Panama, in the lead role. In Miami, Blades' part will be sung by vocalists Emo Luciano and Luisito Rosario. source

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(Photo by Massimo Montovani)

Let us begin with a few words of praise for the terrestrial CD store, or as we used to call it, the record store   A recent trip to Miami gave us an excuse to run through two of our favorites, the Museo del Disco on SW 70th Street (close to Calle Ocho) and Casino Records  (no website) on Calle Ocho. We also like Lily's on Calle Ocho for some things, but our best finds are usually at the first two.Yes, we know that most of you probably buy on-line these days, but you are missing out on some things when you don't do the physical experience.  For one thing, it's a lot harder to go crate-digging on line. When I'm in a real store, I usually walk out with finds that I was never looking for in the first place. Those finds are often better than the things I was looking for. You may also hear something over the loudspeakers that you never dreamed you might like. This has happened to me more than once.   

(Photo by Alejandro Azcuy)

Also, the physical CD, if done as well as it should be, will come with liner notes telling you more about the band, the musicians and the project.   If you truly care about the details surrounding the band and the recording, track downloads won't get you there from here, and if you hope to rely on the band's website, well, good luck with that. Some are better than others, and most websites aren't forever.

(Cover photo by Jose Ortega)

So, if you have one of these kinds of stores where you live, take the time to go check it out.   It's worth the trouble.  In the meantime, here are three reviews of interesting CDs we acquired recently; the last two came from the stores in Miami: 

For a review of Omar Sosa 's EggÅ«n,  click here.
For a review of Maykel Blanco 's A Toda Maquina , click here.
For a review of Leslie Cartaya 's No Pares , click here.  

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It's like the holidays all over again for bassists! Kevin is hard at work finishing the first book in the Beyond Salsa Bass series, and Feliciano Arango will be giving a clinic at the Berklee College of Music about the role of the bass in Cuban jazz/salsa/timba and his work with the group Los Hermanos Arango on February 22nd at 1:00pm. The night before the clinic, Los Hermanos Arango will perform (February 21st) at the Berklee Performance Center at 8:15pm.

Now as all timba fans know, there is no one better to talk about the role of the bass in contemporary Cuban music. But since there may be some readers who have recently discovered timba and who are not yet on a first name basis with all the major players, here is an excerpt from the announcement by the Bass Department, which is sponsoring the event as part of the Visiting Artists Series.

Feliciano Arango was born in the Guanabacoa section of Havana, Cuba where Yoruba, Abakua and other African traditions are preserved in their most authentic form in the Americas. He was mentored by seminal Cuban bassist Orlando 'Cachaito' Lopez and attended Escuela Nacional de Arte where he studied with the top musicians from around the island. Soon after graduating from ENA, Arango joined the group of legendary pianist/composer Emiliano Salvador who was a leading figure in Cuban jazz through the 1990s. After extensive touring and recording with Salvador, Arango went on to be the founding bassist for N.G. la Banda, whom he performed with for the next fifteen years. With N.G. la Banda, Arango developed a new style of Cuban dance music called 'timba'. He was responsible for leading Cuban bassists in a new approach to playing salsa that greatly enhanced the melodic, percussive sound of the bass. Since leaving N.G. la Banda, Arango has been the top call bassist for jazz, salsa, timba and other forms of Cuban music.

Feliciano Arango now leads Los Hermanos Arangos along with his two brothers Eugenio and Ignacio and sister Cristina. The Arangos are the only Cuban band to use completely unaltered Afrocuban ritual voice/hand drumming as the basis for a modern repertoire that integrates electric bass, keyboards, brass/winds (no drumset).

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