La Charanga Habanera US Tour

David and the boys are back in the USA with their first concert tonight at Twelve in Miami. At the top of the eastern seaboard you can catch them Sunday May 22nd at B.B. Kings in New York City. Click here to book your tickets in advance.

If you can't make either of these concerts, click here to find one near you!

David's personal invitation to B. B. King's

Friday, 15 May 2015, 12:45 AM

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!

Saturday, 15 February 2014, 07:19 AM

Mayito Rivera @ SF Salsa Rueda Festival courtesy of Mayito @ Facebook

Mayito Rivera and Timbalive perform tonight at the San Francisco Salsa Rueda Festival. They will play two sets: 10:30-11:30 and 12:00-01:00. The concert will be preceeded by dance performances and DJ Walt Digz will be spinning in between. Click here for the full festival schedule.

Mayito will continue to perform in the US with concerts in New York and again in San Francsico.

February 15, 2014 - San Francisco, CA. - San Francisco Salsa Rueda Festival
February 22, 2014 - Rego Park, NY. - Rumba night club
February 23, 2014 - New York, NY. - Gonzalez y Gonzalez
March 1, 2014 - San Francisco, CA. - Teatro Brava

Click here for the current list of Mayito's concerts in the US and Europe. More updates will be forthcoming so stay tuned.

Friday, 09 August 2013, 07:33 AM

Alexander Acost - Desafio

Alexander Acosta released his solo CD "Desafio" in November 2012 and has been touring this summer to promote the new CD. I caught up with him at a concert in Stockholm where he was collaborating with Yuly & Havana C, a band for which he was the first singer and also author of one of the songs on their first album. Alexander was born in Santa Clara and sang with bands such as Charanga Forever, Pupy y Los Que Son Son and Elito Revé y Su Charangón before going solo.

Here is a short interview with Alexander, including some video from the concert in Stockholm July 12, 2013, which was produced by Club Mambo an El Barrio. You can still catch Alexander during the summer tour season at the Latinossegor festival in Hossegor, France. I've been there and it's a beautiful location and a great festival so don't miss it! "Desafio" is available at iTunes and Amazon , as well as in hardcopy at the concerts. So take some extra cash!