La Charanga Habanera has passed through several distinct incarnations in its 21-year existence starting as a traditional charanga in 1988, transforming into one of the most influential timba bands of the 1990s and changing with the times into a timbaton/timpop band in the past couple of years. Each epoch has had it's own character and made the questions "which is your favorite version of La Charanga Habanera?" a favorite topic among timberos. If you are new to timba, check out the History articles about the Charanga Habanera.

La Charanga Habanera - Stockholm, Sweden 28 November 2009

What is undisputeable is that under director David Calzado’s guiding hand, the band has remained at the top of the Cuban charts since 1992, adapting to the recent reggaeton explosion in Cuba by successfully integrating reggaeton into their music and collaborating with some of the most popular reggaeton bands such as Eddy-K, Gente D’Zona and Baby Lores & El Chacal. With the approaching “new premier” of the Charanga Habanera in the US, I think it is timely to share my concert report from Stockholm, November 28, 2009. Click here to read the full concert report including video.

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Speaking of Charangueros, Tirso Duarte will begin his first tour of Colombia with a concert in Santander de Quilichao on December 24th, a great way to celebrate Christmas Eve.! Tirso & Proyecto K Libre will have 6 concerts in Colombia during the holiday season, culminating in a New Year's Day concert in Robles. Check Tirso's tour page for the complete list of concerts. And thanks to salsaproducciones for posting information about the tour in the Timba.com Forum.

Meanwhile in Havana Tirso is performing at Café Cantante today in a special concert with Pachito Alonso y Sus Kini Kini and Manolito y Su Trabuco. It breaks my heart to miss it!

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Two time Grammy nominee Sammy Figueroa will be showcasing at the APAP convention on Friday 1/08/2009 at 12Midnight at Iridium Jazz Club in New York City.  Sammy wil be presenting his Cal Tjader inspired group called "Sally's Tomato."  Sammy played in a gala event at Arscht Center for Performing Arts in Miami on 12/04 in a concert produced by Larry Rosen titled "Jazz Roots - An Evening with Dave Grusin."  The concert also featured Jon Secada, Patti Austin, Gary Burton, Arturo Sandoval and Nestor Torres.

Latin Grammy nominated master Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdes, has been tearing it up at festivals all summer including the Detroit Jazz Festival, Lancaster Music Series, Oakville Jazz Fest, Daytona Beach International Festival and the Pensacola Jazz Festival.  He just completed a 3 day engagement at Latino Arts in Milwaukee where he conducted a number of clinics and a sold out grand performance to rave reviews. Chuchito was featured in a 3-disc CD with his father Chucho and his grandfather Bebo on "Dinastia Valdes" released by Sony this past April.

Click on "continue reading" below for video and tour dates...

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Nuestro amigo el timbero canadiense Billy Bryans y sus comapdres de SomosDeBarrio y Havana Productions anuncian esta pista nueva de El Tosco y NG La Banda: Con Que Tu Cuentas! Lanza a RADIO TIMBA para escucharla. 

También les ofrecemos este video de NG con muy buen sonido grabado en Japón en el 1992. Incluye el equipo clásico de Feliciano Arango (bajo), Calixto Oviedo (batería), Humberto Sosa (congas), Ignacio (piano) Miguelito Pan con Salsa (teclado), Mena (cantante), Tony Calá (cantante) entres otros. Para ver los videos de NG haz click aquí. Chequeate la versión rusa del bailecito Azucar. Ataca Chicho!

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