Bill is currently in Havana for Cubadisco and other events and will get back to us with a full report. In the meantime, the Cubadisco 2015 awards have been given and I'll just mention those closest to our hearts at Timba.com.

Alexander Abreu & Havana D'Primera won big, taking home the Best Dance Album award as well as Grand Prize, which they shared with Digna Guerra (choral music). These awards come as no surprise to anyone who has listened to Havana D'Primera's new CD "La vuelta al mundo". It is an exceptional album of which a review will be forthcoming from Bill after he gets back from Havana.

If you missed it, Havana D'Primera has just released a remix of the song "Trece", available at CDBaby. A rap section has been added to the song. In terms of lyrics "Trece" is by far the most "urban" song Havana D'Primera has done. It makes references to the "charada china" or "la bolita" throughout the song. Doce, trece, cincuenta and noventa y seis each take their meaning from this popular yet unofficial lottery. Like many of you, I was ignorant of the whole charada, so I will share here the meanings of these numbers and it will give a whole new dimension to the song. 
12 - prostitute
13 - peacock (or a conceited man)
50 - police
96 - old prostitute

Another winner at the 2015 Cubadisco Awards was Emilio Frias "El Niño y La Verdad" who won Best Dance Album by a new group. I have to say that I am so glad Cubadisco had this category because honestly I would have found it very difficult, if not impossible to choose between "Llegó la verdad" and "La vuelta al mundo". My own review of the brilliant debut album by La Verdad will be published soon. "Llegó la verdad" was also nominated for Opera Prima (Laritza Bacallao took that category) and Best Recording, which went to Maykel Bárzaga for "Cuba now danzón". 

Septeto Santiaguero took home the award for Best Traditional Son with their magnificent album "No quiero llanto - Tributo a los Compadres" featuring José Alberto "El Canario". Here is SuenaCubano's full list of winners while we await Bill's return with all the gossip from the event and what's up in Havana. Timba.com congratulates all of the 2015 Cubadisco winners!

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Filmed by Michael Croy in Feb. 1996, this was part of a special concert at Casa de la Música.

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This is flat-out one of the hottest things I've ever seen. It's probably February 1997 but I'm not sure. Pututi II looks a bit older than he does here. Apparently Pututi I, who was playing drumset on the Marianao video, was out sick with la gripa, so his brother, who normally played timbales, had to play both drums and timbales on short notice. This is itself is not such a feat - many bands, like Van Van and el Trabuco, require their drummers to do this every night, but to do it on the fly - and to do it like THIS is just mind-boggling. Pututi II, and the güiro player, and the whole band, are just out of their minds. I saw Manolín at this same Quinta Avenida outdoor nightclub the very first night I ever spent in Cuba (Feb. 1999) - a concert that led to the creation of timba.com (and the loss of my sanity). There was something truly magical about that outdoor venue that seemed to set every band on fire. The camera stays on the percussion but if you listen carefully you can hear that Issac Delgado is sitting in on two songs.

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More historic footage from the final tour of one of Cuba's all-time greatest bands - the 1998 Paulito FG y su Élite. This video is everything that this one (http://goo.gl/DCsSCl) is not: it's not complete, has barely any songs that go all the way from beginning to end and doesn't stay on the tripod. BUT - it has better audio quality, substantially better video quality and some pretty amazing camera work. My suggestion is to study the Miami concert until you've got the gear system and then enjoy this one for the closeups and detail. This is Set 1 - Set 2 is here: http://youtu.be/v-gTbbQN9lQ

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