Cubadisco: Cuba's Most Important Music Awards and More

Cubadisco 2014 is approaching soon - the nominations will be announced later this month. This year's theme is Percussion, the event will take place May 17-25, 2014, and the guest country is Trinidad and Tobago. Bill Tilford has published a new section (click here to read it in English) explaining what Cubadisco is and how it works, and he will be following this year's events and awards very closely.

Cubadisco 2014 se acerca pronto - las nominaciones se darán a conocer a finales de este mes. Este año es dedicado a la percusión, el evento se llevará a cabo del 17 al 25 de mayo 2014, y el país invitado es Trinidad y Tobago. Bill Tilford ha publicado una nueva sección (clic aquí para leerlo en español) explicando lo que Cubadisco es y cómo funciona, y él estará siguiendo muy de cerca los acontecimientos y los premios de este año.

Also, ten new reviews, many of multiple-CD collections, were published in recent weeks. See the Reviews section to read these.

Además, diez nuevas reseñas, muchas de las colecciones de multiple CDs, fueron publicadas en las últimas semanas Vea la sección Reseñas para leerlas.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014, 06:47 PM

Saturday, March 29, 2014 has been designated International Rueda De Casino Multi Flash Mob Day by Rueda enthusiasts - teams of Rueda dancers in at least 168 cities worldwide will be performing simultaneously. To learn more about where and when as well as whom to contact for more information, you can visit tha global coordinating web page.

Dos y Mas (Arturo Stable and Elio Villafranca, two Jazz artists originally from Cuba with intriguing discographies) gave an excellent performance in Chicago at the Old Town School of Folk Music on March 19. You can read a review and view a photo gallery here.

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Sunday, 16 March 2014, 07:15 AM

The Pedrito Martinez Group gave an excellent performance/party at the City Winery in Chicago AND unveiled a self-named wine there on Saturday, March 15. You can read a review and see a gallery here (but you'll have to order the wine yourself in order to try it).

Two concerts and a movie premiere of special interest during the next week:

Chicago: Dos y Más is coming to the Old Town School of Folk Music on Wednesday, March 19. This is a promising collaboration between drummer/percussionist Arturo Stable and pianist Elio Villafranca. Both are graduates of the Instituto Superior del Arte in Havana, and their original musical encounter was with Jane Bunnett's Spirits of Havana project. This will be a Jazz performance that also incorporates a variety of musical influences from around the globe.

Miami: The public premiere of an hour-long PBS documentary, Miami Boheme: An American Musical Journey, will take place at The Stage in Miami on Wednesday, March 19 at 7pm. This will be followed with a live concert by Palo!, one of several groups documented in the film (some of the others include the Spam Allstars, Locos Por Juana and Sueñalo.)

New York: Havana Nagila with the Klezmatics, Arturo O'Farrill and others at The Town Hall, Sunday, March 23
¡Oy Gocemos! Havana Nagila is part of a larger Newish Jewish Music Festival that is being presented March 19th and March 23rd in association with the World Music Institute. This is hardly the first time that a collaboration exploring the confluence of Latin and Jewish music and dance has been performed; just two of several past recordings include the CDs It's A Scream The Way Levine Does The Rhumba (the liner notes of which include some material by Arturo O'Farrill) and Bagels and Bongos (which sold more than 2 million copies in 1959), and New York's Jewish community was a key participant in the Mambo Craze of the 50s. (Photo John Abbott)
What makes this project of extra interest is that the Klezmatics and Arturo O'Farrill have the distinction of being in the top rungs of their respective genres AND a lot of experience doing other successful fusion projects. Additional artists will include Lewis Kahn, who has played with several Salsa bands including the Fania All Stars, Argentine Jazz vocalist Sofia Rei, percussionist Reinaldo de Jesus and others. (Photo Chuck Fishman)

Tickets are available at www.townhall.org and www.ticketmaster.com

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Monday, 10 March 2014, 02:46 AM

Interactivo's performance in Miami was more than worth the time and expense to travel from Chicago to see it. You can see a review and a very extensive photo gallery here .

While waiting for the concert, this writer went shopping for recordings. It is worth mentioning that the Museo del Disco (1301 SW 70th Ave in Miami) is not only stocking many of the EGREM, Colibri and Bis recordings that are reviewed on this website, but it may have the most impressive selection of those in the United States now and deserves special mention for its pro-active efforts to bring that music to buyers here.

Key Concerts This Week: Kelvis Ochoa is in Miami on March 15th, and the Pedrito Martínez Group is at the City Winery in Chicago, also on March 15th.