In 2007, Cinquillo (Colibri's main label for modern music) released a truly remarkable debut recording by young Cuban composer and pianist Dayramir González titled  Dayramir & Habana enTRANCe. It justifiably won three Cubadisco awards that year for Best Debut Album, Best Jazz Album and Best Engineered Recording. In an alternate timeline, he would have cranked out a series of recordings that would have put him front and center of those of us who follow Jazz and Fusion, but he chose instead to continue his studies including most recently at Berklee, where he was the first Cuban national to receive a full scholarship. 

Dayramir will be in California until August, and those of you in or near Los Angeles can check him out on Sunday, July 21 at the Catalina Bar and Grill:

Click here for his full bio, which is already impressive.  Here's a promotional video to give you a taste of what they are about:

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Edgardo Cambon & Candela present tributo al Timbal featuring guest Calixto Oviedo

To say that Calixto's recent work in Denver, Colorado has gone well is an understatement. He started out 2013 with a successful debut concert of his new timba orchestra, a project with bassist Armando Santoyo, before heading back over to Europe for concerts and Masters Classes. He has recently returned to the US after a tour of Japan and has already been featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal concerning his recent concert at Jazz Standard in New York as part of their Afro-Cuban series. You can read the article at WSJ website.

Calixto Oviedo in the Wall Street Journal

Calixto followed New York with two concerts in Boston and will now be performing in Denver before heading to the West Coast for eight concerts with Edgardo Cambon in August.  Although he's officially in the US now, you can expect him to keep up his busy travel schedule, so click here to find a concert near you! 

If you are a musician but haven't had an opportunity to take part in one of Calixto's Masters Classes, check out the Beyond Salsa Percussion series volumes 2 & 3.

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The next three weeks are a great time for both Jazz and dance music in Chicago.

First up, tonight (Sunday, July 14) Hector Silveira brings some seriously good Salsa Cubana (the modern kind) to the 39th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival at the Dusable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place, Chicago. There is also other entertainment throughout the day, and this group hits at 7pm.   Hector fronts one of Chicago's best dance bands, but he also carefully rations his performances, so catch him while you can. 

Next, on Friday and Saturday, July 19-20, the 7th Chicago Latin Jazz Festival at the Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1359 N. Sacramento Av in Chicago brings Jane Bunnett, Hilario Duran and Candido Camero to perform together in trio on Friday and Bobby Sanabria's Quarteto Ache on Saturday. Hilario is a phenomenal Cuban pianist who is now based in Toronto; Candido, who is now 92 years old, is one of the giants of the music, and Jane, also based in Canada, began doing cooperative recordings with musicians in Cuba over two decades ago. New Yorker Bobby Sanabria just came off his 7th GRAMMY nomination.   For the complete schedule, click here. 

TImbalive to join Festival Cubano lineup:   Festival Cubano (August 2-4, Riis Park, Chicago) now has Timbalive on the bill for the final day in place of Manolin.   Buy your tickets now for a discount at Festival Cubano's website. 

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We're now getting close to catching up with the timbanado that hit the Bay Area last month: 5 HdP galleries and about 6 videos; selected Mayimbe shots, soundcheck photos from PMG in SF, and now Tom's PMG gallery from the mind-boggling Santa Cruz show. Still to come are the videos from this show.

PMG comes to the Mendocino Music Fest this coming Friday, July 26.

Everything else is just rumors - maybe Manolito, maybe Revé - keep your fingers crossed, and don't forget Issac in Boston for free on Thursday (see previous post).

Book news - Tirso Duarte is done and on sale at createspace and LPM. Now about 50% done with Beyond Salsa Bass, Vol. 2. Volume 1 ended with Arsenio, and Volume 2 begins with the most adventurous Arsenio survey yet - the cierres and diablos of almost 50 tracks - Arsenio, my friends, Arsenio - what can I say? Everything keeps coming back to the blind tresero from Bolondrón. Volume 2 will also cover Cachao, Dizzy & Chano, and the 1950s Puerto Rican roots of salsa: César Concepción, Cortijo, Ismael Rivera and the two Titos. Stay tuned!  

Late-breaking news! - timba.com contributor Pepe Martínez reports that Yosvel Bernal has joined Havana d'Primera! Yosvel, the nephew of Van Van's trombonist Mundo, played teclado and then piano with Paulito FG for close to 10 years before moving to Spain. He has a gorgeous voice and has been recording a lot of original R&B flavored tracks. He will apparently sing coro with HdP and help with material. [Kevin Moore]

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