Monday's sold out show (over 1,000 people) was greeted with - and closed by -- the most thunderous, sincere and heartfelt ovation that I can recall hearing ... ever.

photo by Tom Ehrlich - click here to view more

The music, the dancing and the crowd were all amazing. Tonight was the formal show with one set of Afro-Cuban music and one of rumba. Tonight, Tuesday, will be a much more informal setting, at the Mission Language and Vocation Center with Los MdM's crack dancing troupe squaring off against the "the locals", who of course, in this town, include plenty of transplanted Cuban masters like Sandy Pérez, José Francisco Barroso and Rosita Villamil who played with major folkloric groups in Havana and Matanzas. Next stop is Savannah, Georgia, then Atlanta, then Florida and the buzz is that the three New York shows are already almost sold out. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL TOUR.

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continue reading La Última

Click here to listen to the new single by Pepito Gómez & José Lugo.
Oprima aquí para escuchar el nuevo sencillo. Mañana estrena en Puerto Rico. 

Pepito performing to a full house in New York last week

They say that Cuba and Puerto Rico are "two wings of a bird" and the latest collaboration between Cuba and Puerto Rico is the new single "No me saques de tu vida" lyrics and music by José Gómez "Pepito", José Lugo & Juan José Hernández  "Juanchi". Pepito needs no introduction to timba fans. His brilliant tenor voice is unmistakable and his iconic interpretations have left an indelible mark on contemporary Cuban dance music. Also a composer, Pepito contributed the mega-hit "Un poquito al revés", including the coro that gave the name to the award-winning CD "Tranquilo que yo controlo" by Pupy y Los Que Son Son. Since his arrival in the US in 2008 Pepito has performed  to rave reviews and recorded with a number of artists, and he is now part of José Lugo's latest project in the Guasábara series as composer and lead vocalist on the single "No me saques de tu vida", which premiers on Puerto Rican radio tomorrow!

José Lugo is one of the most important Latin producers with many Grammy nominations and eight wins under his belt. Lugo produced, arranged and played piano on the single, and you will recognize his style with some interesting and unexpected harmonic changes and even a bit of a timba teaser at 3:30. Juanchi is the director of the group San Juan Habana. An ex-singer for Adalberto Álvarez, he is the composer of such hits as El Gran Combo's "Arroz con habichuela" and Gilberto Santa Rosa's "El conteo regresivo", as well as "Ella menea" by NG2. This is truly a stellar combination.

So how did Los Joséses begin this collaboration? Pepito tells us:
José Lugo and I met through Issac Delgado who referred him to me. José Lugo invited me to sing on a production that he was doing for Pablo Aubia, bassist and director of the group Batambo. Mr. Aubia is Argentinean and living in Geneva. I went to Puerto Rico and we met, and after that we stayed in contact and formed a good friendship. José Lugo had now finished the first production of his CD "Guasábara". It was a project with a big orchestra where singers such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Cano Estremera, Víctor Manuel, Issac Delgado and Herman Olivera participated and it was nominated for an American Grammy. With the passage of time our friendship led us to work together. He proposed that I do two songs to start with for the project "Guasábara 2"  with a 7-musician format and the possibility of doing live performances. We recorded two songs, this one and another that is in the mixing process called "Si te quiere sola regresa" . The lyrics and music are mine, and the arrangement, production and piano are by José Lugo.

"No me saques de tu vida" was recorded in Puerto Rico at José Lugo's Guasábara Records and will be available at iTunes next week. These are the two first songs prepared for the CD Guasábara Combo.

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continue reading Timbera Mayor

Check out how Paulo FG handles this loving farandulera. When the bomba gear begins she decides that grabbing the mic stand is not enough, she's gotta "get some of that action".  Mayor tembleque ensues. When that is not enough she jumps on hoping for a ride, fully dangling from his neck. A water break is needed...and the stellar imprvisation begins...

(after Paulo grabs some air, and water......)
Las cubanas, con su gozadera
Se le puede dar un deo, se coje la mano entera
A esas cubanas, que son abusadoras
Tu no te ves muy dafne, y yo tengo mi señora

crowd: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

No me metas en compromiso, no me metas en eso
Que ya bastante tengo, que andan diciendo
Dicen que yo, por aquí, dicen que yo, por allá
Me cojen los paparazi y después, y me van a ripiar

Ahí está la gente de TIMBA, punto com
Y después dicen que Paulito es un puto, puto, puto, punto com
Y no puede ser, yo estoy tranquilo
Por que la cojen conmigo, si yo le dije a Michael pa' rriba

Pero lo que pasa es que la gente
No se da cuenta y quiere ponermela dura
Sobre todo cuando tu llegas, cuando estás pegao
Cuando eres figura, se te arriman por al lao y te rayan la pintura 

NEW CORO
Cuando estas pegao, cuando eres figura
Se te arriman por al lao, y te rayan la pintura

(When your hot on the charts, when you are a public figure
They rub up against you and scrape your paint)

HELL YEAH! Boooommmmbbbaaaaa. Te la comiste Paulo con ese coro.
Thank you delaa24 whoever you are for this great video. Aché pa' tí.

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continue reading Pa' Ponerte en Talla

La Época is a documentary about the music and dancing from the pre-Salsa period in the U.S. when the mambo, son, guaracha etc. were still distinct in the minds of the dancers as well as the musicians.  Since the Palladium ballroom in New York was an epicenter of the "Mambo Craze", there is a lot of coverage including historical footage of what happened there along with interviews with key musicians and dancers from the period.    This is touring multiple cities and includes a Q and A with the producer, Josué Joseph, some social dancing and some filming of dancers for footage for an upcoming film segment.

This is an opportunity to learn more about how la musica Cubana took parts of the U.S., especially New York, by storm.   We'll review the Chicago showing after it comes here.  Meanwhile, for more information, see the film's website at   http://laepocafilm.com/

In the future, Sin Clave No Hay Na will have interviews, reviews of CD releases, major concert reviews and other items of interest.  Stay tuned.

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continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na