Radio Interview in English With Ernán López-Nussa

ENGLISH: On Tuesday, June 30th, The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition will run an interview in English of Ernán López-Nussa (seen here at the Cubadisco 2015 awards ceremony holding the latest of a growing collection of prizes) that Bill Tilford did with him last month in Havana. The program will also feature music from his latest album, Invencíon Lekszycki (you can read our review here), which won the Cubadisco for Jazz Cubano this year. The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition runs from 1400-1600 UTC (10am-Noon Eastern in the US) on WSLR, and you can stream it here or listen on-demand for two weeks following the show.
More CD Reviews: See the Reviews section for some new reviews of CDs.
ESPAÑOL: El martes, 30 de junio, The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition pondrá una entrevista en Inglés de Ernán López-Nussa (visto aquí en la premiación Cubadisco 2015 con su último premio en una creciente colección) que Bill Tilford hizo con él última mes en La Habana. El programa también contará con la música de su último disco, Invención Lekszycki (puede leer nuestra reseña aquí), que ganó el Cubadisco para Jazz Cubano este año.The Afro Cuban Jazz Edición se transmite desde 1400-1600 UTC (10am-mediodía hora del Este en los EE.UU.) en WSLR, y se puede sintonizar el programa aquí; también puede escucharlo en demanda durante las dos semanas después.
Mas reseñas de CD: Vea la sección Reseñas para más nuevas reseñas de CD.

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Tuesday, 23 June 2015, 02:50 PM

Now that Miami practically has a commuter culture of bands from Cuba coming up to play festivals and concerts without serious incidents, cultural events in cities like Chicago have been long overdue to catch up. Therefore, it is a great pleasure to share the news from today's press conference held by the organizers of Chicago's Festival Cubano at the 90 Miles Cafe: the performance lineup for the final day of the festival will include Pedrito Calvo and Miguelito Cuni Jr. Pedrito sang for years with Los Van Van before starting his own band, La Nueva Justicia , As for Miguelito Cuni Jr ., he has been performing with Conjunto Chappottin.
The lineup also includes José Alberto "El Canario" . It would have been even better to see him with Septeto Santiaguero , with whom he recently released No Quiero Llanto , but it is still nice to see him on the bill.
Congratulations to Festival Cubano for finally crossing the bridge. I'm already looking forward to next year when the conversations will progress to which are the most worthy acts from Cuba rather than whether it''s time to start bringing some. In the meantime, I look forward to Pedrito and Miguelito.
This is the sixth edition of Festival Cubano, and advance discounted tickets are now available at
www.thecubanfestival.com.
You can see some pictures from the press conference in the Report From Chicago entry for July 23.

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Monday, 22 June 2015, 01:49 PM

OK, so Tiempo Libre didn't go back to Havana physically, but musically, their new recording, Panamericano, which will be released June 30, for the most part recaptures the feel of that wonderfully rowdy Timba band we all first met a decade ago. As a lead-up to the CD release, they have rolled out two videos. Here's the first one:

To see the second one, go to my sneak preview of Panamericano, which you can read here.
Tiempo Libre has some key tour dates coming up in July:
July 9-10: Subrosa, NYC
July 12: Square Roots Festival, Chicago
July 19-30: tour of Spain incl. Festival de Segovia
August 13, 2015: Pershing Square, LA
October 10-November 15: Winnestad Theatre, Portland, OR*
* This is a five week run of a new musical, Cuba Libre.
November 19-25: Tour of UK including London Jazz Festival

Miguel Zenón at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Thursday, July 25-Sunday, July 28
No, it's not Cuban music, but it is some truly fascinating Latin Jazz happening in the US right now, so I'm going to cheat and sneak it in here. Mr. Zenón brings his quartet to this four-night stand (two shows nightly plus a matinee on Sunday), which includes himself on sax, Henry Cole on drums, Luis Perdomo on Piano and Hans Glawischnig on bass. These guys are deep. You can read my review of his last recording, Identities are Changeable, here.

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Sunday, 14 June 2015, 11:33 AM

ENGLISH: Pablo Menéndez of Mezcla on PRI
Earlier this year, Steve Paulson of To The Best Of Our Knowledge, a program on Public Radio International, interviewed Pablo Menéndez of Mezcla in Havana, Cuba. This segment, which aired on May 24, is part of a longer program about Cuba and Cuban-American relations. You can listen to that interview here. Mezcla's most recent album, Pure Mezcla, was released in February, and you can read a "meta review" of that album here.
ESPAÑOL: Pablo Menéndez de Mezcla en PRI
A principios de este año, Steve Paulson de To The Best Of Our Knowledge, un programa en Public Radio International, entrevistó a Pablo Menéndez de Mezcla en La Habana, Cuba. Este segmento, que se emitió el 24 de Mayo, es parte de un programa más largo acerca de Cuba y las relaciones cubano-americanos. Puede escuchar esta entrevista en inglés aquí. El álbum más reciente de Mezcla, Pure Mezcla, se lanzó in febrero, y puede leer una "meta-critica" del álbum aquí.
ENGLISH: Special Cuban Jazz and Fusion segments on The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition
Frankie Piñeiro has had one of the best Latin Jazz programs on radio for many years now, The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition, which airs every other Tuesday morning from 10am-noon Eastern Standard TIme on WSLR, (you can stream it on the Internet) and I will have the pleasure of sharing the new music coming out of Cuba with him in the weeks to come in a segment called Bill's Bag. Tuesday, June 16, the program will include an interview with Melvis Santa along with some music from her recent recordings. Then, in future shows (beginning June 30), there will be interviews with Cuban Jazz greats like Ernán López-Nussa, Alejandro Falcón, Yasek Manzano and others along with their most recent recordings which I brought back from Cuba. Frankie's program is "must hear" radio without me (yes, he includes some Timba and some Rumba in his playlists), but now you have two reasons to listen.
ESPAÑOL: Segmentos especiales de Jazz y Fusion cubano en la Afro Cuban Jazz Edition
Frankie Piñeiro ha tenido uno de los mejores programas de Jazz latino en la radio desde hace muchos años, The Afro Cuban Jazz Edition, que se emite cada dos martes por la mañana de 10 am-mediodía hora estándar del Este en WSLR, (se puede escuchar en Internet) y tendré el placer de compartir la nueva música que sale de Cuba con él en las próximas semanas en un segmento llamado Bill's Bag. El 16 de junio, el programa incluirá una entrevista con Melvis Santa, junto con un poco de música de sus recientes grabaciones. Luego, en los programas futuros (a partir de 30 de junio), habrá entrevistas con grandes del jazz cubanos como Ernán López-Nussa, Alejandro Falcón, Yasek Manzano y otros, junto con sus grabaciones más recientes que he traído de Cuba. El programa de Frankie es "hay que escuchar" radio sin mí (sí, él incluye algunos Timba y algunos Rumba en sus listas también), pero ahora usted tiene dos razones para escuchar.
SPEAKING OF MELVIS SANTA..... she'll be at Zinc Bar in NYC on Thursday, June 18 at 9pm and 10:30pm. Details HERE. She'll be leading a quartet. I heard her in a small group setting in May in Chicago - this is worth checking out.

NEW CD REVIEWS / NUEVAS RESEÑAS DE CD
See our Reviews section for several new CD reviews of recent Cuban recordings
Vea nuestra sección Reseñas para muchas nuevas reseñas de recientes grabaciónes cubanas.