Urban music artist Jacob Forever is riding a wave of success. A long-time member of Cuba's first line of reggaeton artists, Jacob was part of Gente D'Zona until his departure in 2013. While it must have stung to see GdZ conquer the international scene a year later with "Bailando", Jacob wasn't far behind and achieved international success on his own after the release of his mega-hit "Hasta que se seque el malecón" .  It reached 10 on Billboard's Hot Latin Chart and was nominated for a 2016 Latin Grammy. Jacob himself was nominated as New Artist of the Year and Favorite New Artist - Urban in the 2016 Latin American Music Awards . He is currently working on a video for his new single "Necesito ayuda" .

Jacob is signed with Sony Music Latin and wil release his 4th CD on the label. Meanwhile, he has been performing in Miami and appearing on Latin television programs. On September 24th he surprised fans by inviting  his ex-partner from Gente D'Zona - Alexander Delgado - to join him as special guest singing "Hasta que se seque el malecón" at a concert at Mokai in Miami.

Having recently toured Canada, Europe is next on his list. Jacob's tour begins October 14th in Naples and currently consists of 10 confirmed dates with more to come. To keep up with all the latest news, follow him at Facebook.

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After 24 years of operation, Descarga.com has ceased operations and posted a farewell message on their website.  For many years, especially their early years, they were the most important source of hardcopy CDs of Cuban music in the United States, but they were much more than that - album reviews, articles, in the early years they even had a wonderful newsletter until it eventually went the way of most newsletters in this industry as people began reading less and watching video more.  I was a customer myself for many years (admittedly less so in recent times, but that had more to do with my own circumstances than with theirs). In the 90s, they were even written up in some articles about e-commerce as being in the vanguard of Internet businesses.  

They weren't done in by a competitor doing the same things that they did, but rather by the changing patterns of how many people now consume music (including, unfortunately, the free file-sharing which is gradually destroying the chances for physical recordings to be sold effectively in the marketplace anywhere other than concerts and impairing digital sales in our genres as well). 

Congratulations to Bruce Pollin and the Descarga operation for many years of excellence. This is a sad day for the Tropical Latin music industry and for Latin Jazz as well. 

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Pedrito Martinez Group , City WInery
Chicago, Illinois
Wednesday, September 7 

The PMG has become a regular here and in the NYC flagship location; in fact, City Winery has even made a custom wine a couple of years ago (we are not sure whether it is still available).   

 Habanarte , Various Locations
 Havana, Cuba
 September 8-18

This is the third edition of an extended festival of the arts; in edition to concerts, there are events designed to sponsor collaboration between artists, producers and managers.  This edition will feature a forum sponsored by WOMEX in addition to the other events.  Art on La Rampa , an exposition of arts and crafts that also features textiles, footwear, jewelry, ceramic, garden furniture and other items for sale along with books, multimedia and photography presentations, already in progress in the Pabellon Cuba, has been extended until September 18 this year to permit visitors to enjoy both events simultaneously.
Habanarte has not updated its website for 2016 but does have a Facebook Page . 

and on the radio....

From the Isle of Music,   a shortwave radio program dedicated to all genres of Cuban Music (even Cuban chamber music), has a short segment with special guest William Roblejo this week; it includes a special theme that he recorded for this year's Habanarte . This week also includes a segment with special quest Maria Ochoa , sister of Eliades Ochoa . She has an interesting career of her own. For several weeks, Guido López Gavilan has been on the program narrating selections from one of Cubadisco 2016's Gran Premio winners, Caribe Nostrum . From the Isle of Music has a Facebook Page with complete program information including how to listen. 
During the two weeks following, the program will feature some of Timba 25 , a forthcoming EGREM release dedicated to a quarter century of Timba. 

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Click here for Kay Torres' full report on the San Diego Cuban Dance Conference.

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