photo by Tom Ehrlich - 2009 - with the Afro-Cuban All Stars

Calixto Oviedo - of NG La Banda, The Afro-Cuban All Stars, Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, Pachito Alonso (to say nothing of Pacho himself), and Beyond Salsa Percussion - will lead a incredible band at New York's Jazz Standard club tonight, Tuesday, July 9, as part of the New Dimensions In Lazz Jazz, Cuban Drum Series.

It's an amazing band, featuring:

Gustavo Ramírez: played with NG, now probably the best timba pianist on the West Coast.

Mauricio Herrera: played drums with Paulito, 90 Miles, and many others; has now been tearing up the New York scene and YouTube for several years. Here he is with Pedrito Martínez. 

Carlos Averhoff, Jr.: Issac's ex-saxophonist and the son of NG La Banda's and Irakere's Carlos Averhoff, Sr.

Nestor Del Prado: an accomplished Latin jazz bassist, played on varios projects with saxophonist Carlos Averhoff, trumpeter Zoltan Grof, and vibist Pedro Alfonso among many others.

Catch them if you can. Calixto will also be in California later this summer playing a series of gigs with Edgardo Gambón's Candela.

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Mezcla gave a very successful performance at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on June 29, 2013.  Kudos to the OTS for its continued leadership role in presenting this music in Chicago. For a photo gallery and review of the concert, click here.

If you weren't at their California, Colorado or Chicago concerts, there is still a way for you to connect with the experience.  The group has set up a Kickstarter page to help defray some of the expenses of the tour (yes, this is an unusual step for a band from Cuba, but this was largely a "do-it-yourself" tour on their part), and as is the case with Kickstarter generally, some interesting premiums are being offered for different levels of support. The page will be active until July 22, so visit now if you are a fan of Mezcla. 
Click here for Mezcla's Kickstarter page, which includes a video.

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continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na

Septeto Santiaguero is back in Europe and their tour begins with a concert tomorrow in Nice, France at Festival Latino de A a Z. The list of confirmed concerts has been uploaded so look for a concert near you . The band's last CD, "Vamos pa' la fiesta", recently won at Cubadisco 2013 in the Traditional Tropical Music category. You can check out Bill's review here . Below is their excellent version of the classic Van Van hit "Qué le den candela".

Qué le den candela - Septeto Santiaguero

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continue reading Timbera Mayor

photo by Tom Ehrlich

HdP was only in the Bay Area for three nights but we have now have 5 galleries of world-class photos. Enjoy!

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