Interview with Kentucky Salsa All Stars Leader Edel Roque

Technical difficulties with a field recorder prevented an in situ recording, but after the Haila concert in Louisville, Bill Tilford and drummer/bandleader Edel Roque subsequently went back and had a brief recorded telephone conversation about the concert and about Edel's group, the Kentucky Salsa All Stars, an excellent 12-piece ensemble composed mostly of young musicians educated in Cuba. You can hear a recording of that conversation (in English) here. Click "continue reading" for more - including Gente d'Zona.

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Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, a wonderful event that deserves a lot more national notice than it usually receives. This year's offerings include Cuban Jazz and Fusion artist Roberto Fonseca, whose recording Yo won Cubadisco 2013 awards in the Fusion and Recording (engineering) categories this year (you can read a review of Yo here). Roberto is playing Friday, September 27 at 10:30 pm, and this show, which will be an interesting departure from what most US listeners typically expect from Cuban music concerts if the material from Yo is performed, is highly recommended. Click here for the Lotus festival's page, which includes a live video. While you're there, check out the rest of the festival schedule, there aren't any additional Cuban acts, but it is very impressive.

In Los Angeles, the AC Jazz Project is having its official CD release party for the new recording Conga Buena at the Catalina Bar and Grill in Los Angeles on Thursday, September 26 at 8:30pm. This group is based in Los Angeles California and features veterans of Maraca, Klimax, Afrocuba and Opus 13. The leader, trumpeter/composer Josiel Pérez, is originally from Piñar del Rio, played with Maraca and Klimax, and is just getting established in the US after coming here in 2011. The group does both Cuban Jazz and Cuban dance music (Timba, Rumba, Son etc.), and some tracks are already on the radio in a few cities. The album is now available in CD Baby and iTunes

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We know, "Mambo" wasn't a Latin verb until the 20th Century, but that's Rome's problem, not ours. Bill Tilford endured the Monty Python-esque Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge to catch the Pacific Mambo Orchestra over in Gary Indiana on the first leg of their national tour. He's really glad that he did - Read the review here...

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Expectativas, the killer new album by Manuel Valera & New Cuban Express (aka NCX), has been out since September, and if you listen to any of the best Latin Jazz radio programs, you have probably already heard at least parts of it, but other touring obligations of the members (including Manuel's own time in India and Europe) have delayed the official CD release party until now. The first New Cuban Express album brought home a GRAMMY nomination, and this one is as good or better, If you have the opportunity to catch this performance, it is a don't miss. The details:

Manuel Valera & New Cuban Express
November 6, 2013, 7:30pm & 9:30pm - Jazz Standard, 116 East 27 Street, NY, NY
Musicians: Manuel Valera, piano and keyboards; Yosvany Terry, saxophones and checkere; Tom Guarna, guitar; John Benitez, bass; Paulo Stagnaro, percussion; Ludwig Afonso, drums