Here in Europe Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor are in full swing with their Spring 2011 tour . Pedrito Calvo Jr. is also touring Europe now with concerts in Italy, France, Austria, Macedonia and Denmark.

In the US Paulo FG has just completed a series of concerts in San Francisco that have Kevin waxing lyrical. Hopefully he will post a full report later, but I will say that Paulo and his band were in top form and made quite an impression on the fans in California.

Calixto Oviedo also stopped by to see Paulo the other night. They played together in Adalberto's band lo those many years ago. Calixto is in the US now with Afro-Cuban All Stars for the North American leg of their spring tour . Calixto will also be holding some percussion clinics : April 6 and 7th in Seattle at Pacific Seattle University and Washington University, respectively and April 26 in LA, and April 28 at Cal State U in LA. If you can\t make those clinics, check out his books in the Beyond Salsa Percussion series.

And get ready for the summer tour season! It will be here before you know it.

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Click here to listen to the new single by Pepito Gómez & José Lugo.
Oprima aquí para escuchar el nuevo sencillo. Mañana estrena en Puerto Rico. 

Pepito performing to a full house in New York last week

They say that Cuba and Puerto Rico are "two wings of a bird" and the latest collaboration between Cuba and Puerto Rico is the new single "No me saques de tu vida" lyrics and music by José Gómez "Pepito", José Lugo & Juan José Hernández  "Juanchi". Pepito needs no introduction to timba fans. His brilliant tenor voice is unmistakable and his iconic interpretations have left an indelible mark on contemporary Cuban dance music. Also a composer, Pepito contributed the mega-hit "Un poquito al revés", including the coro that gave the name to the award-winning CD "Tranquilo que yo controlo" by Pupy y Los Que Son Son. Since his arrival in the US in 2008 Pepito has performed  to rave reviews and recorded with a number of artists, and he is now part of José Lugo's latest project in the Guasábara series as composer and lead vocalist on the single "No me saques de tu vida", which premiers on Puerto Rican radio tomorrow!

José Lugo is one of the most important Latin producers with many Grammy nominations and eight wins under his belt. Lugo produced, arranged and played piano on the single, and you will recognize his style with some interesting and unexpected harmonic changes and even a bit of a timba teaser at 3:30. Juanchi is the director of the group San Juan Habana. An ex-singer for Adalberto Álvarez, he is the composer of such hits as El Gran Combo's "Arroz con habichuela" and Gilberto Santa Rosa's "El conteo regresivo", as well as "Ella menea" by NG2. This is truly a stellar combination.

So how did Los Joséses begin this collaboration? Pepito tells us:
José Lugo and I met through Issac Delgado who referred him to me. José Lugo invited me to sing on a production that he was doing for Pablo Aubia, bassist and director of the group Batambo. Mr. Aubia is Argentinean and living in Geneva. I went to Puerto Rico and we met, and after that we stayed in contact and formed a good friendship. José Lugo had now finished the first production of his CD "Guasábara". It was a project with a big orchestra where singers such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Cano Estremera, Víctor Manuel, Issac Delgado and Herman Olivera participated and it was nominated for an American Grammy. With the passage of time our friendship led us to work together. He proposed that I do two songs to start with for the project "Guasábara 2"  with a 7-musician format and the possibility of doing live performances. We recorded two songs, this one and another that is in the mixing process called "Si te quiere sola regresa" . The lyrics and music are mine, and the arrangement, production and piano are by José Lugo.

"No me saques de tu vida" was recorded in Puerto Rico at José Lugo's Guasábara Records and will be available at iTunes next week. These are the two first songs prepared for the CD Guasábara Combo.

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I was recently on a five-week vacation in El Yuma and during that time I fell out of touch with what was happening in the world. When I got back from vacation I found an e-mail from Ben Lapidus informing me that Nino Olivares, the marimbulero of Changüí de Guantánamo, passed away on January 4th, 2010 at age 90. I first met Nino at the National Changüí Festival in Guantánamo in December of 2007. He was 87 years old but playing the marimbula with a great strength in his hands and arms. He had a habit of singing along with the
Nino & I in Paris - He liked his rum
rhythm of the marimbula or with the coros as he played, supplimenting his plucking of the marimbula keys with occasional strikes on the wooden case, which served both as his stool and as a cajón. I later met him again in Paris in September 2008 where I asked him to tell me a little about how he started playing marimbula.  I don't claim that I knew Nino well, but he made quite an impression on me and so I want to do something to honor his memory and the contribution he made to Cuban music during his 49 years with Changüí de Guantánamo. Click here for his musician's page where you will find a transcription of the interview, a link to the interview and a short video clip of Nino at a changüí in Casa de Pipi in Yateras. Chao Nino, te extrañamos.

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José Torres y Salsa Tropical have scored a major coup. They have added ex-Klímax singer Juan Carlos "Juanky" Hechavarría to their line-up. Juanky is one of few young singers today with the ability to sing like a true sonero. He's also in touch with the youth culture as witnessed by the recent Klímax repertoire. His addtion brings a shot of fresh Havana energy to this already established band.

Since their formation in April 2000, Salsa Tropical, based in Wroclow, has built-up their name in Europe having performed at congresos in Germany and Poland  as well as on many Polish television programs. In addition bandleader José Torres is commited to Cuban music and  organized Poland's first salsa congress, which has now become the annual Torres Salsa Carnival. He has brought artists such as Manolito y Su Trabuco and Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor to Polish fans.

José comes from a musical family. His cousin Alina Torres is well-known as a composer of hits for groups such as  La Charanga Habanera, Los Van Van and Pupy y Los Que Son Son. His son is the band's drummer and recently Salsa Tropical has expanded it's repertoire with new songs written by yet another Torres, 18-year old Fernando Torres of La Habana. The catchy and danceable tunes "Dándole la vuelta al mundo" and "Tiki Tiki" were both written by this talented young composer who happens to be José's nephew.

José Torres y Salsa Tropical are in the process of recording their new material. The instruments are finished and now the vocal tracks, mix and master remain. But you don't have to wait, you can already listen to a good live recording of "Dándole la vuelta al mundo" with Juanky on Timba.com radio. And below is a video of the live performace. Stay tuned because we will soon be adding "Tiki Tiki" to the radio as well. Click on the link below that says "Continue reading" for a video of "Dándole la vuelta" al mundo and the list of bandmembers.

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