The 2015 Havana Rhythm and Dance Festival begins tomorrow at 8:30 pm at Teatro Mella with a tribute to drummer Chuck Silverman, who passed away unexpectedly almost a year ago. Chuck was well-known to many of the writers and readers here at Timba.com. He was a great educator and driving force behind Afro-Caribbean rhythms in drumming. Participating in this opening show and tribute are Afrocuba de Matanzas and guests; Osaìn del Monte and Rodney Barreto; Jeff Coffin`s Big Band Project and Yoruba Andabo. Havana's annual festival of drumming and dance under festival president Giraldo Piloto is a must-see event. Click here for the full program. 

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Today is the worldwide digital release of the debut album by Aisar y El Expresso de Cuba "Música Cubana, Llegó el Expresso".! If you're in Havana you can celebrate with the orchestra at their concert tonight at Gran Teatro de La Habana from 9am - 2am. Only 5 CUC so don't miss it! February 28th will be the release for the press and on March 5th, the hardcopy will become available - probably only in Cuba to begin with.
You can purchase the digital CD now at:
iTunes
Amazon
Spotify

The album contains eleven tracks including updated versions of the four songs that they released as demos previously. Although Aisar has a long list of hits that he wrote during his 10 years as Musical Director of Elito Revéy su Charangón, he chose to use a new material for El Expresso de Cuba to define the band as a completely new project. He sees their repertoire as a compendium of all expressions of Cuban popular dance music with lyrics that reflect the way of life of Cubans.

Track list:
Llego el expresso
La manteca
Cuando beso tu boca
El son del dinero
Tu me propones
Ahora es cuando es
Amor oculto
El patio
No me canso
La tía
El solar

Aisar y El Expresso de Cuba just celebrated their first anniversary on January 21 and the band still has all the original members, despite the high level of turnover in general in Cuban orchestras. He attribuites his to a strong sense of family among the bandmembers. You can catch them live in Havana 6 times a month. They have the following standing gigs: Wednesdays at El Diablo Tun Tun 5-9pm, matinee at Café Cantante the first and third Friday of each month from 4-8pm, the second and fourth Friday of each month from 9pm-2am in the Salon Tablao of the Gran Teatro de La Habana, and the second Saturday of each month from 10pm-2am in Los Jardines del 1830 with the Rueda de Casino project.

Bandmembers:
Bass & director
Aisar Hernández Segundo
Vocals
Eric Eduardo Broche Vidal
Akaena Rodríguez Armentero
Wilmer Muñoz Pérez
Jorge Luis Peres Llamares
Trombones
Omar Claramont Alfonso,
Joel Enrique Sagó Bell
Hendry Drake González
Piano
Rafael Ernesto Nocedo González
Keyboard
Yuniel Camilo Ibáñez
Drums/timbal
Osmany Moya Prat
Congas
Yosvani Bárbaro Nelson Caliste
Bongo & cowbell
Rafael Lesmes Armentero
Güiro
Miguel Pena Martínez

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ENGLISH:  Global Cuba Fest begins in Miami Saturday, March 7 with a don't-miss lineup featuring a marathon of some of Cuba's superb young pianists (Harold López-Nussa, Aldo López-Gavilán and Jorge Luis Pacheco) followed by Volcán with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Horacio El Negro Hernández, Giovanni Hidalgo and Armando Gola.   A Latin Fusion group from Switzerland, Lariba, closes the show.  It continues on Saturday 13-14 with Yissy García and Bandancha, an exciting new project in the current music scene in Cuba.  Bill Tilford interviewed Yissy, who is in  DC March 7,  via telephone earlier this week, and you can listen to that (in Spanish) by clicking here.   Yissy's YouTube channel is here and worth visiting. 
Fundarte's page is here. 

ESPAÑOL: Global Cuba Fest comienza en Miami el sábado 7 de marzo con una "no se lo pierda" colección de artistas ofreciendo un maratón de algunos de los pianistas jóvenes magníficos de Cuba (Harold López-Nussa, Aldo López-Gavilán y Jorge Luis Pacheco), seguido de Volcán con Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Horacio El Negro Hernández, Giovanni Hidalgo y Armando Gola. Un grupo de fusión latina desde Suiza, Lariba, cierra el espectáculo. Global Cuba Fest continúa  13-14 de marzo con Yissy García y Bandancha, una nuevo proyecto emocionante en la escena musical actual en Cuba. Bill Tilford entrevistó a Yissy, que está en  DC el 07 de marzo, a través del teléfono a principios de esta semana, y para escuchar la entrevista, haga clic aquí.  El canal de Yissy en YouTube está aquí y vale la pena visitar.  
La página de Fundarte está aquí. 

L: Jorge Gómez, R: Bill Tilford, La Habana, Cuba, May 2014

ENGLISH: If you happened to watch the Conan O'Brien episode about his trip to Cuba, you would have seen him handling a guitar in the presence of a bandleader during the first few minutes. That bandleader was Jorge Gómez of Grupo Moncada, who is also a man who helped Bill Tilford get around during Cubadisco 2014.   You can see a photo gallery and learn a little more about the group here. 
ESPAÑOL:  Si le pasó a ver el episodio de Conan O'Brien sobre su viaje a Cuba, habría visto a Conan manejando una guitarra en la presencia de un líder de una banda durante los primeros minutos. Ese líder de la banda es Jorge Gómez del Grupo Moncada, que también es un hombre que ayudó a Bill Tilford a ir a muchos lugares durante Cubadisco 2014. Puede ver una galería de fotos y aprender un poco más sobre el grupo aquí.

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Timba.com wishes to congratulate Maestro Adalberto Álvarez and all of the musicians who have been part of this important group over the years on the 33rd anniversary of Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son . They will be celebrating with a concert tonight at the Festival de La Salsa en Cuba . Also performing tonight are Anacaona — who just celebrated their 85th anniversary — and relative newcommers Alexander Abreu y Havana D'Primera.

Timba.com desea felicitar al Maestro Adalberto Álvarez y a todos los músicos que han formado parte de este importante grupo a lo largo de los años en la ocasión del 33o aniversario de Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son . Estarán celebrando con un concierto esta noche en el Festival de La Salsa en Cuba . También esta noche estarán Anacaona — quien acaba de celebrar su 85o aniversario — y los relativamente recién llegados Alexander Abreu y Havana D'Primera.

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