Maykel Blanco Interview

As you know, Maykel Blanco is currently on a solo tour of Europe, i.e. without los mayores, to promote the new CD "A toda máquina". This is Salsa Mayor's 5th album and it is also the most successful so far. If you don't already have it, you can get it at iTunes and Maykel is selling the CDs during this little tour so hurry before they are sold out! The remaining dates of this 8-country tour are all in France.
January 22 Lille
January 23 Tours
January 24 La Rochelle
January 25 Bordeaux
January 26 Lyon
January 27 Paris

Solo Frank, Maykel Blanco y Moreno @ ClubCalo Solo Frank, Maykel & Moreno @ ClubCalo

It was great to see Maykel again. It's been two years since his last visit to Sweden so we did a little catching up at dinner, which was provided by Cantineros, a relatively new restaurant/salsa club in the center of Stockholm. After dinner here was a lot of action on the dance floor at Cantineros, but the event was held by ClubCalo at a venue called ARENA, so we took off for the club. Poor Maykel suffered quite a lot from the -17 Celcius temperature. This is what Maykel had to deal with last night.

Estocolmo para un cubano View from the car window

The plan for the night was a salsa party with 3 dance floors: salsa, bachata and timba, Maykel's presentation of the CD "A toda máquina" and a concert by Solo Frank to promote his new CD "A mi manera". Before Maykel went on stage I did a short interview with him. It's all in Spanish. I haven't had time for subtitles. If you don't speak Spanish, here are some interesting details. The song "El songo de todos" was originally intended to be recorded with Los Van Van, but due to differences in their tour schedules, Maykel was forced to record it without them. Thus he came up with the idea of bringing in the most popular young singers in timba. The video is up at YouTube so check it out if you are one of the few who hasn't seen it yet!

Maykel also mentioned the upcoming mega-concert in Lima on February 1st with Calle Real, Havana D'Primera, Klímax and Salsa Mayor at the Centro de Convenciones de Barranco, as well as the summer tour of Europe which will take place in June and will be with the full band of course. You can keep up with Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor via thier Facebook page and their official website maykelblanco.com.

For those who speak Spanish here is the whole 4 minutes y pico at YouTube filmed in the kitchen with workers going back and forth and bachata blasting in the background.

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viernes, 11 enero 2013, 02:25 am

La Charanga Forever

Get ready Peru! Lima is the second capital of timba, and the Peruvian timberos are starting 2013 with some amazing events! First up we have the tour of La Charanga Forever. The band will arrive on Wednesday the 16th and will give a press conference at Club Alianza on the 17th. Between the 18th and 27th the band will perform 11 concerts! Check their tours page to find the complete list of concerts, including the mega salsa event on January 26th at Alianza!

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miércoles, 09 enero 2013, 01:36 am

Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor "A Toda Máquina" In connection with the release of the new CD "A toda máquina" on Planet Records , Maykel Blanco is on a solo promotional tour of eight countries in Europe. This gives fans a great opportunity to meet Maykel in person as well as to pick up a hard copy of the CD. He is currently in Germany and will be going to Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and France before returning to Cuba. Check out the list of cites/venues below to find one near you. Don't miss this opportunity to get to know Maykel personally!

Spain
January 1-2, Madrid / Discoteca Habana8
January 5-6 Barcelona / Discoteca Sabor de Gracia

Austria
January 7 Vienna / Floridita

Germany
January 8 Munich / Circulo
January 9 Hamburg / Latin Academy-La Macumba
January 10 Essen / Cuba Lounge
January 11 Berlin / Habana

Italy
January 12 Bologna / Palacavicchi
January 13 Rome / Palacavicchi
January 14 Interview on Radio Mambo
January 15 Bari / Mulata
January 16 Brindisi / Ficoricco

Denmark
January 17 Copenhagen interview / Diskoteca Søvpavellon

Norway
January 18 Oslo / Café (Club latino) Sjakk Matt tingehuset

Sweden
January 19 Stockholm (radio interview) / Club Cantinero

France
January 22 Lille
January 23 Tours
January 24 La Rochelle
January 25 Bordeaux
January 26 Lyon
January 27 Paris

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viernes, 04 enero 2013, 11:38 am

We haven't had a habit of posting much in the way of dance videos here, but I love this one and couldn't resist. Some day when I grow up, I hope to dance in some sort of approximation of what Yanet Fuentes does. I'm not one to have idols, but Yanet is my dance idol! Here she is dancing to Van Van's "De La Habana a Matanzas" (Mayito version) with Yoannis Tamayo, another of my favorite Cuban dancers. They give a wonderful, improvised demonstration of what Cuban dancing is all about. They do a mix of rumba, afro-cuban dances and casino and are obviously just playing and having a great time. This is what the music is all about, enjoy!