Havana weekly listings are up - Need a live music and performance schedule for Havana next week? Check it out in our new section = http://www.timba.com/encyclopedias/havana-live-music-listings

Music form the Cuba All Stars Festival in Perú - check some live tracks from the festival: Mandy Cantero with Los Van Van on Que Sorpresa and Alex Abreu y Habana D Primera with Cuando El Río Suena. Both on Radio Timba right now. 

Samuel Formell collaborates with Mexican guitar heroes Rodrigo y Gabriela - Ready to be released in the US this upcoming Tuesday, January 24th, Area 52 contains nine (9) of the duo's favorite songs from their own catalogue re-arranged and re-configured for a 13-piece Cuban orchestra comprised of some of Havana's finest young players, collectively known as C.U.B.A. This two-disc set includes a 30-minute 'making-of' documentary on DVD.  source

Area 52 was mixed by Rafa Sardina, one of the leading studio musicians in the Latin music world, and arranged by London-based pianist, composer and arranger Alex Wilson. Recording took place in the Miramar district of Havana, Cuba, at Abdala Studios, founded by the Cuban folk hero Silvio Rodriguez, as well as at Rodrigo & Gabriel's studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. Other players on the record include: bassist Carles Benavent (Paco De Lucia, Chick Corea, Miles Davis), drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, Testament, White Zombie), sitarist Anoushka Shankar and drummer Samuel Formell (Los Van Van). 

Radio Timba has an excerpt (with spoilers) of Samuel's killer solo (listen to track #1) of the album's first cut, entitled "Santo Domingo". Check out Rodrigo y Gabriela's iste at = http://rodgab.com/

CubaAntwerpen (title song for the festival), new video from Grupo Contrabando - Hey shameless plug, but it's always It's a great feeling to see and hear a song you mastered. I worked with leader and trombonist Andrés Fernández on this and the video blew me away. Check it out:

Felipe Lamoglia & Urban Beats in Miami - Cuban Timba All Star (Tomasito Cruz version) and ex-NG La Banda saxofonist Felipe Magnolia will be playing his special brand of Afro-Cuban jazz in Miami Beach tomorrow. Fellow CTAS drummer Reinier Guerra is also on the bill. 

Legendary, classical-style, afro-cuban "salsa suite" to be performed with 40 musicians - Pianist Larry Harlow's magnum opus "La Raza Latina" will be performed Friday night at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami as part of the Jazz and Roots series, with the composer conducting the local Mario Ortiz All-stars Band and a stellar lineup of musicians that includes the 90-year-old Cuban percussionist Candido Camero and Grammy-award winner and violinist Federico Britos. This will be only the second production of the show, first performed Aug. 14, 2011 at New York's Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, with Blades, now a Hollywood actor and former cultural minister of Panama, in the lead role. In Miami, Blades' part will be sung by vocalists Emo Luciano and Luisito Rosario. source

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It's time again for the Fiest del Tambor. Here is the introduction to the call to the 11th edition:

The Havana Rhythm and Dance Festival (Fiesta del Tambor) was born and developed giving posthumous recognition to Guillermo Barreto, one of the greatest percussionists of all time throughout the Americas.  Due to his importance, the event has had 10 editions with the participation of guests of international fame, the support of several of the most important percussion companies around the world and Cuba, and participation by the most important Cuban musicians as well as the principle dance companies, which join in the festival demonstrating the unbreakable relationship between the drum and dance.
 
The festival is a natural showcase for all percussionists, and we also celebrate the International Percussion Competition. The competition is totally open to all ages and nationalities and permits us to further and to stimulate Cuban Percussion in some of the principle instruments which identify us and that we inherit with special acknowledgement from musicians such as Chano Pozo, Tata Güines, Ricardo “Papín“ Abreu, Miguel Angá, among many other  musicians that have passed away.
 
This year it will be celebrated from March 6 to 11, 2012. The festival is organized by the Center for the Promotion of Traditional Music “Ignacio Piñeiro”.

We maintain all of the activities that have been a cultural success for Cuba in the previous editions among which are: masters classes, dance music concerts and jazz concerts, performances by the principle folkloric groups of Cuba, visits to the national Schools of the Arts and intercultural visits by alumni and professors of universities and schools of various countries, conferences and classes in Cuban percussion organized in advance, among other surprises that we continue to add.
 
We expect more than 30 000 people to attend the planned activities at different venues including some of Havana’s principle theaters (Karl Marx, Amadeo Roldán, Mella). Other venues that will host the festival are: “El Palacio de la Rumba”, El “Salón Rosado de La Tropical”, de la EGREM’s “Casas de la Música”, La Casa de la Cultura de Plaza, Hotel Occidental Miramar, Hotel Habana Libre, among other locations.

Click here for more information, including instructions to apply to participate in the drum competition (in Spanish).

The Canadian organization KoSA is organizing their annual trip to the Fiesta del Tambor, which includes hotel, meals, conferences, classes and local transportation. For more information about partcipating via KoSA click here .

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On March 1st Los Van Van begin their Winter 2012 Tour of Europe featuring songs from their latest CD, La Maquinaría and providing Europeans with our first live experience of Mandy Cantero with Van Van. Yes, there are already a number of Mandy with Van Van videos, but there is really nothing that can match the live-in-person experience. Van Van's month-long tour includes England, Belgium, France, the Nordic countries, and an extensive tour of Germany as well as dates in Switzerland and Luxembourg. Click here to find a concert near you.

If you happen to be in Germany you can also take advantage of the Cubanízate Festival de Salsa Cubana offer of a discount on Van Van tickets when you purchase your festival ticket. This is the second year for the Cubanízate Festival,  a Cuban dance congreso that is held in Nuremberg, and DJ Tomba has promised timba, timba and timba! Tomba tells us: "The deal is that if you order both tickets you save 10 Euros. Related to the concert ticket you pay 20 instead of 30 Euro. And you can choose One of the cities Van Van plays in Germany." Check out the Cubanízate Festival website for more information about how to take advantage of the festival/Van Van offer and for a complete list of classes and instructors.

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Upgrade your salsa band to TIMBA! The motherlode has finally arrived. It is now impossible to argue against this instructional behemoth. "Well I love it and I can play in that style, but of the band doesn't, so I can't do my thing .... We can't get charts for the songs we like ... The charts are always wrong and incomplete".  NO MORE EXCUSES. 365 pages and 465 audio tracks (753 MB) later, INCLUDING the full sheet music transcription for César Pupy Pedroso y los que Son Son's EL BUENA GENTE (2005 version w/ Pepito Gómez), Beyond Salsa for Ensemble is HERE  !

Immediately download the FREE, 46 page sample PDF

             order the hard copy book              order the eBook & audio (sold separately)

Once you taste TIMBA you can ask for the salsa on the side. Beyond Salsa for Ensemble Volume 1 is now THE STANDARD for instruction of modern tropical dance music styles. This new series is designed to teach modern Cuban rhythm section techniques to college and high school bands, and working professional bands. Each volume contains extensive exercises that systemically teach each of timba's many rhythmic and formal innovations and each contains a full chart of an important timba hit, ready to play at concerts and gigs.

The most frequent question I've heard people ask about Cuban music is: "What's the difference between timba and salsa? "

There are many answers to this question, most of them having to do with lyrics, dancing, melody and chord progressions, but if we limit ourselves strictly to the percussion instruments and the rhythms played by the bass and piano, there are still many key differences and that's what these books are about.   read the full details >>>

BEYOND SALSA for ENSEMBLE Volume 1
COMPLETE AUDIO TRACK LIST (465 tracks - 753 MB)

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