ENGLISH:  Chuchito Valdés and Conjunto Chappottin y Sus Estrellas  both visited Chicago this week during multi-city tours. 
A photo gallery and mini-review of Chuchito's performances are available here. 
A photo gallery and mini-review of Chappottin's performances are available here. 
ESPAÑOL:  Chuchito Valdés y Conjunto Chappottin y Sus Estrellas  ambos visitaron Chicago esta semana durante sus giras en varias ciudades.
Una galería de fotos y mini-reseña de los shows de Chuchito Valdés están disponibles aquí 
Una galería de fotos y mini-reseña de los shows de Conjunto Chappottin y Sus Estrellas están disponibles aquí 

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The 14th annual Festival Bayamo is in full swing. To my knowledge it is Europe's longest and certainly the most beautiful Cuban festival of the year, located at Fort Napoleon on the French Riviera. While it's easy to get caught up in the line-up of outstanding bands performing each year, there is much more to the Festival Cubain Bayamo. The festival also offers dance classes, conferences, art exhibitions and Cuban cuisine. Click here for all the information (in French).

But getting back to the bands...each year features four nights of dancing under the stars to the most exciting orchestras on tour. This year the first concert was Contrabando from Belgium. Esto sí es pa' gozar!

Tomorrow Los Conquistadores de La Salsa from Peru take the stage, Friday it will be Elito Revé y Su Charangón and closing the festival is Oderquis Revé y Su Changüí. I was lucky enough to attend in 2008 and what more can you ask than lounging on the Riviera, shopping and soaking up Cuban culture by day, and sweating to timba by night? This festival is really a must for all serious timberos. If you can't make it this year, start planning for July 2015!

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The long wait is finally over! It has been four years since Elito Revé y Su Charangón released their last album, and now in the middle of their European Tour, "La Aplanadora de Cuba" has arrived at digital stores worldwide! You get it now at iTunes and Cubamusic. 

The album was originally reported to be a two-CD set including one CD of new songs and one with remakes of classic Revé hits featuring guest artist such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, José Alberto El Canario and Mayito Rivera. Today's release is the first of the CDs and contains eleven original songs. See the track list below. The second CD with the anthology of hits will be released in November, just in time to make your Christmas list! So get on over to your favorite digital retailer and get the first CD now! And as a treat, we give you the official video of Susel singing "Esa soy yo".

The tracks are:
Intro: La aplanadora de Cuba
No me da la gana
Esa soy yo
El jala jala 
El negocio personal 
La pastillita 
El nombrecito
No debo explicarte nada
Piso 6: Lo más pegao
Maricusa
Tony sin money

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Conjunto Chappottin y Sus Estrellas is in the middle of a first-time-ever US tour.  This legendary band dates to the Arsenio Rodriguez era and continues to defend that music with a powerful conjunto that includes 4 trumpets.  Chicagoans can (and should, we might add) catch them tonight, July 14 at Martyrs'  (the photos are from yesterday's excellent performance at the Square Roots Festival). The rest of the tour dates can be found here: 

Conjunto Chappottín y Sus Estrellas Summer Tour

We'll have a lot more pictures and a full review later this week. 

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