There is no question that Cuba está de moda with all the celebrity visits these days - most recently Mick Jagger. Who knows? Maybe Los Van Van - often called "The Rolling Stones of Cuba" -  will feature the Rolling Stones as guests on their next album, which is rumored to be a collaboration with both Cuban and international artists. But enough of my fantasias.

In the meantime, we have some very successful Timba/Salsa collaborations such as Marc Anthony and Gente D'Zona with a salsaton "La gozadera" and Septeto Santiaguero's third Latin Grammy nominated album "No quiero llanto - Homenaje a Los Compadres", which features a number of leading salsa artists from different countries. Amusingly, Bill just posted on it shortly before I did, so I will just direct you to scroll down and check out his post including video. You can also click here to read his full review of the Cubadisco-winning album. On November 19th we'll see if the third Latin Grammy nomination is the charm for the septeto.

Closest to my heart I am pleased to say that the official video of "Muévete pa quí" by Elito Revé y su Charangón featuring Gilberto Santa Rosa is now being promoted in Cuba, having recently been featured on Piso 6. While I feared that Gilberto's romantica voice wouldn't suit the sound of the Charangón, he really did a fantastic job and it is a version I highly recommend to dancers and DJs.

But the TImba/Salsa collaboration goes both ways. Here in Scandinavia Tito Nieves recently performed in Norway backed by a team of leading timberos residing here in Europe. The musicians adapted beautifully to Nieves style. The band included: Tony Moreaux, Peter Ehler, Jorge Egües, Richard Ortega, Yaser Morejon, Oslen Ceballo, Adam Rapa, Jakob Johansen, Andres Mena, Yemi Valdés and Henry Hourrutinier. 

With the normalization of relations between the US ands Cuba and the recent Sony licensing agreement with EGREM, I expect we will see international collaborations snowballing. Van Van and the Rolling Stones...it could happen.

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Tomorrow - October 13th in Madrid - Havana D'Primera begin their Autumn European tour, which will take them to 27 cities in 12 countries. Click here to find the concert closest to you. Los 4 are also currently on tour and will be in Bologna tomorrow. For the remaining Los 4 concert dates, click here . Both groups are at the height of popularity in their respective genres and both have relatively new albums they are promoting.

Here in Stockholm Cuban music fans will be blessed with a joint concert by Havana D'Primera and Los 4 on October 23rd. It will be the concert of the year and they are calling the event "Sólo se vive una vez". It will be held at Quality Hotel Friends and the technical details are in the hands of Stockholm's best light and soundmen. I will - of course - be reporting on it. Doors open at 8:00pm and close at 03:00am. It is simply going to be awesome!

Due to the popularity of the event the promoters and the hotel have arranged special pricing for concert-goers who are traveling to the concert from other countries or cities. For information on how to take advantage of the special pricing, click here. The pre-concert tickets are nearly sold-out, so get yours before the price goes up. To book concert tickets now click here. VIP tickets are also available for those who want to hang with the bands.

To whet your appetite I leave you with two recent videos. The first is "Regalito de Dios", is one of the most popular songs from Havana D'Primera's album "La vuelta al mundo".  The second is a recent collaboration between Los 4 and La Charanga Habanera "Lo que tengo yo". You've gotta love the Star Wars intro!

Havana D'Primera "Regalito de Dios"

Los 4 & La Charanga Habanera "Lo que tengo yo"

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Saturday October 24-28, Isla Margarita, Venezuela will host the ¡Baílalo! Cuban Dance and Music Convention. It is an initiative of dance schools and organized by Kala Entertainment. The Congreso is eight days of Cuban dance workshops with parties every night featuring the best DJs and the top Cuban orchestras. Check out the poster above to see the dates and artists. There will also be a couples dance competition. We found out about it a bit late so I don't know what packages are still available, but I imagine at least the day passes must be. Click here to check out the convention packages . This is supposed to be an annual event so hopefully we'll be able to get the word out a little earlier next year. For now we leave you with the promotional video from their Facebook site.

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I had a little chat today with Luisin Martí, executive producer and president of Oye Mi Musica Records , and he told me about a few projects that they will release next year. Yeni Valdés of Los Van Van is recording her first solo album! The first single is called "Ya no me llevas de la mano".

Yeni Valdés single "Ya no me llevas de la mano"
coming soon by Oye Mi Musica Records

Don't worry, Yeni is not leaving Los Van Van. Luisin tells us "It is nothing related to what people are used to hearing Yeni sing with Los Van Van. It's a salsa dance track and recording is currently underway in Havana and Puerto Rico with the participation of outstanding artists such as pianist José M. Lugo of Guasabara Group. The album will have 10 salsa songs and some surprises".  Luisin has promised to bring us back un cachito pa' huele when he gets back from Havana.

Another Oye Mi Musica project is Maikel Dinza's album "Regalando corazones" with the very sexy cover below. They expect to release it in January/February 2016. I've heard a number of his songs that are up at YouTube and am very much looking forward to his album.

Maikel Dinza - "Regalando corazones" should be released in early 2016

In 2016 Oye Mi Musica will also release a CD by Dominican singer Sergio Vargas. It is a collection of boleros he recorded in Cuba. Stay tuned for more info!

Dominican Sergio Vargas singing "Boleros en La Habana"

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