Van Van with Pedrito!

Mike Racette, producer/drummer of the highly recommended Havana Heavy Hitters was at Los Van Van's three hour concert in Toronto and reports that none other than the iconic Pedrito Calvo (Sandunguera, Que le den candela, El negro está cocinando etc.) was singing with the band. Meanwhile, Melao reports that the visas came through for la Yuma, so next up are LA, Houston, Austin, three nights at SOBs and then four nights at Yoshi's SF, then finally on to Tampa, Miami and Louisville. For the full tour click here. [Kevin Moore]

thursday, 25 july 2024, 12:04 am

Yeni Valdés has arrived. She's developed an effortless command over her powerful, perfectly in-tune voice and a personal charisma that knocked everyone out each of the 8 sets at Yoshi's. I got major chills on two separate occasions.

thursday, 25 july 2024, 12:04 am

UPDATE: eBook and audio now available

Sorry for the delay but the first Pupy Pedroso book is finally done! Getting the research and photos for Pupy's amazing musical childhood turned into a bit of a ... errr ... "labor of love", but it was worth the extra time and I'm very happy with Volume 10 of Beyond Salsa Piano. It's the first of four books on Pupy. I'm organizing them by the order in which the songs were originally composed, so while Vol. 10 covers the Los Van Van albums from 1979-1983, some of the songs were re-recorded by Van Van or Los Que Son Son later - for example, Seis semanas is part of LQSS's live show and the version transcribed (which includes the cuerpo) is the current version. Another example is Con el bate de aluminio, where we compare the changes in Pupy's style from 1979 to 1998.

Finally, this is the first volume to include a fully transcribed solo - in this case La rumba no está completa. You can get the hard-copy book here, and the audio files and eBooks will be available soon and will be announced here, in Pa' ponerte en talla. NOTE: The eBook is only for PC - not for Mac.

thursday, 25 july 2024, 12:04 am

Monday's sold out show (over 1,000 people) was greeted with - and closed by -- the most thunderous, sincere and heartfelt ovation that I can recall hearing ... ever.

photo by Tom Ehrlich - click here to view more

The music, the dancing and the crowd were all amazing. Tonight was the formal show with one set of Afro-Cuban music and one of rumba. Tonight, Tuesday, will be a much more informal setting, at the Mission Language and Vocation Center with Los MdM's crack dancing troupe squaring off against the "the locals", who of course, in this town, include plenty of transplanted Cuban masters like Sandy Pérez, José Francisco Barroso and Rosita Villamil who played with major folkloric groups in Havana and Matanzas. Next stop is Savannah, Georgia, then Atlanta, then Florida and the buzz is that the three New York shows are already almost sold out. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL TOUR.