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Type | Artist | Product | Date | Author |
---|---|---|---|---|
CD | William Roblejo |
Dreaming (Colibrí) Released 2012
This swinging album by William Roblejo is relatively unique for Cuba - a Jazz violin soloist carrying the entire recording with a variety of stylistic influences. Deservedly nominated in three categories in Cubadisco 2013. |
04/05/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Qva Libre |
Viva Qva Libre (Bis Music) Released 2011
Qva Libre is one of Cuba's best alternative bands and will especially appeal to fans of groups like Interactivo. Viva Cuba Libre is their second album, which won Cubadisco (fusion) and Cuerda Viva awards in 2011. |
04/05/2014 | Bill Tilford |
Film | Various Artists |
Miami Boheme: An American Musical Journey (Rolling Pin Music) Released 2014
Miami Boheme is an hour-long PBS documentary (also available on DVD) that chronicles Miami's current Latin Fusion music scene. It includes excellent concert footage and video clips by several groups including Palo! and Spam Allstars. |
04/13/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Palo! |
Palo! Live (Rolling Pin Music) Released 2014
This is a recording of a phenomenal concert by Palo! at the now-shuttered PAX Miami. Some video clips of this performance also appear in the PBS documentary Miami Boheme. Powerful vocals by Leslie Cartaya, serious Afro Cuban Funk beats, and Ed Calle goes insane on tenor sax. |
04/13/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Alex Bia |
Renacer (Independent Release) Released 2014
This debut CD by Cuban-born singer-songwriter-keyboardist Alex Bia includes an explosive opening track with special guest Tirso Duarte. It isn't a Timba album (except for the first track), but the other styles that it contains (Salsa, Latin Pop/R & B) are solid. |
04/13/2014 | Bill Tilford |
Concert | Orquesta Aragon |
Orquesta Aragon in Chicago 2014
Orquesta Aragón returned to Chicago after an absence of more than a decade for two shows at the Mayne Stage in Chicago. The venue was full and enthusiastic for their swinging performances. |
04/20/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Pupy & Los Que Son Son |
Sin Líimite - (EGREM) Released 2013
Sin Límite, his latest release on EGREM, is one of Pupy's most innovative albums, full of stylistic twists and turns that you wouldn't normally expect in a recording that still contains some great timba. |
04/20/2014 | Bill Tilford |
DVD | Pupy & Los Que Son Son |
Éxitos - (EGREM) Released 2012
Nominated in the Compilation category in Cubadisco 2013, this DVD contains 30 slamming Timba MP3s of some of Pupy's best material along with a 25-minute documentary. |
04/20/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Los Cubanos |
Cu-Bop - (EGREM) Released 2012
This extraordinary album is what the title says it is, and possibly the best recording of it ever made anywhere. Recorded in the EGREM studios and originally manufactured and distributed by a Japanese label, now available in Cuba as an EGREM CD. Nominated for a Cubadisco in 2013 (Vocal-Instrumental Music), it deserves to win something, somewhere. |
04/21/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | JG |
Empezar de cero - (EGREM) -Released 2011
This is the well-done debut Timba recording by a former member of Gente de Zona and includes some heavyweights like Alexander Abreu and Amaury Pérez in the brass section. |
04/22/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Adalberto Alvarez y Su Son |
Respeto pa los mayores - (Bis Music) Released 2013
The style may be retro, and the lyrics may invoke tradition, but there's nothing old about the energy level. This is Adalberto's hardest-hitting album in decades. Take the energy from Son 14, augment the brass section, crank things up a couple of notches, and you're headed in the right direction. |
04/30/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco |
Sin Freno - (Bis Music) Released 2013
Those of you who have been mourning the fact that the 80s and 90s are over can stop now. Sin Freno is a knock-you-flat-on-your-arse Timba recording (with one stray concession to the bachateros) that easily holds its own with anything we old-timers remember from our own versions of the "Golden Age". |
05/01/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Paulo FG y su Élite |
Abre que voy - (EGREM) - Released 2013
Paulo FG returns with a mix of genres including Timba, Salsa and a Bachata and Regueton track, all performed well. Nominated for a Cubadisco in the Música Popular Bailable category. |
05/01/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Augusto Enríquez |
Te doy una canción - (Colibrí) - Released 2013
This 3-CD set, which includes a short video documentary in one CD, is a Special Prize winner in Cubadisco 2014 and is a collection of Silvio Rodríguez compositions interpreted in various instrumental settings by Augusto Enríquez. More musically diverse than this writer was expecting when he first opened the package, and put together quite well. |
05/08/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Los Hermanos Arango |
Los Hermanos Arango Y Las Estrellas del Folklor - (Bis Music) - Released 2011
This excellent folkloric fusion project won multiple Cubadisco awards in 2012 and is one of the best projects of its kind. |
05/08/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Ernesto Blanco |
Abre todas las puertas - (Bis) - Released 2013
Nominated in the Pop category in Cubadisco 2014, this recording captures many of the styles now appearing regularly on Cuban radio, from Disco to Latin Pop to surf guitar. |
05/09/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Germán Velazco & Jorge Reyes |
Duetto - (Bis Music) - Released 2011
This delightful musical conversation between saxophonist Germán Velazco and bassist Jorge Reyes won a Cubadisco award in the Instrumental Music category in 2012. Mandatory listening for bassists and saxophonists, recommended listening for everyone. |
05/10/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Frank Emilio |
Concierto de Frank Emilio -(EGREM)-
This excellent 1978 live concert was nominated for a Cubadisco in 2014 in the Música de archivo category. Part of EGREM's Cuba En Vivo series |
08/06/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Chucho Valdés |
Canto a Dios - (EGREM) - Released 2011
Canto a Dios is as deep as the river (the Mississippi) which inspired some of its compositions, and when the excitement surrounding Chucho's most recent release, Border Free, has subsided a bit, this 2011 release deserves a much closer second look by North America. It is not impossible that it will be one day be considered a masterpiece. |
05/12/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Manuel Valera |
Self Portrait (Mavo Records) - Released June 2014
Manuel Valera's formidable range of musical influences, his uncanny sense of swing in any meter and the emotional depth of his compositions combine to make Self Portrait full of a sense of wonder that listeners who enjoy any form of advanced music will find irresistible. This is every bit as distinctive among solo piano recordings as the New Cuban Express releases are among ensemble projects. This album brings more of his classical influences to light but still has plenty of Jazz. |
05/30/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Ernán López-Nussa |
Sacrilegio - (Colibrí) Released 2014
Winner of 5 Cubadisco Awards (including the Grand Prize) in 2014, Sacrilegio is an extraordinary project by Ernán López-Nussa that may very well be the most ambitious blending of Jazz, Cuban and Classical music ever recorded by any artist to date. |
06/01/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Various Artists |
Me dicen Cuba -(EGREM) Released 2014
You have probably already seen a piece of this due to the Havana D'Primera video clip that is all over the web, but that clip is part of a far larger, more ambitious project with a multitude of artists to be released to the general public in the months to come. This is a sneak preview of that project, which was awarded a Special Prize at Cubadisco 2014. |
06/03/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Interactivo |
Que líndo es el amor - (Independent) - Released 2013
Interactivo's latest release puts a heavy emphasis on Funk, R & B and modern Cuban dance music, and it brings the roster of musicians to make it all work. The best of a series of excellent releases by this group, and - a bonus- even those who live in the United States can buy it on-line. Winner of the Fusion category in Cubadisco 2014. |
06/03/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Descemer Bueno |
Bueno - (Bis Music) Released 2013
Bueno was one of two winners of the Composers Prize in Cubadisco 2013 and also won the Canción Contemporánea and Videoclip categories. Includes several collaborations with other prominent Cuban artists. This is a popular music album, but several promient Cuban Jazz musicians appear in the roster for the project. . |
06/05/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Chuchito Valdés |
Reflections - (Music Roots Records) - Released 2014
Reflections, a new release by Chuchito Valdés, represents his most mature work to date as a composer and joins the ranks of some of the best recordings that have been emerging during the current Renaissance of Cuban Jazz, although this should be taken seriously as a Jazz recording with or without labels like "Cuban" or "Latin" attached. |
06/08/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Marlow Rosado |
Salsanimal (Big Label Records) Released July 2014
Salsanimal is GRAMMY-winner Marlow Rosado's newest Salsa album. Once again, there is a distinguished supporting cast (including Mayito Rivera on one track and Larry Harlow & Richie Ray on another). Stands above so much of the industrial Salsa product that is coming out this days. |
06/22/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Tico's Mambo Drama |
Follow The Rhythm (Music Roots Records) - Released 2014
This recording by Tico's Mambo Drama captures the feel of both the New York Mambo craze and Cachao's early descarga period in the late 50s-early 60s. A nice mix of retro song styles. |
07/02/2014 | Bill Tilford |
DVD | Chuchito Valdes |
Mi Voz (Music Roots Records) - Released 2014
This is a nice video single filmed in Havana featuring Mercedes Cortes Alfaro singing a ballad accompanied by two of her sons, Chuchito Valdes and Roberto Fonseca. |
07/03/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | César López y Habana Ensemible |
César López & Habana Ensemble Live (Bis Music) - Released 2013
One of the very best Jazz combos in Cuba today in a CD/DVD combination package of a live concert in Havana in 2012. The music, audio and video are all superb. This was nominated for a Cubadisco in the Jazz Cubano category in 2014 and received a Cubadisco for best Live Recording. |
07/31/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Michel Herrera |
Madre Tierra - (Colibrí) - Released 2013
This extraordinary Jazz recording would be remarkable in any country and represents the best of the youth movement in today's Cuban Jazz. It was nominated for multiple Cubadisco 2014 awards - Jazz, Audiovisual Concert, CD/DVD, Video Clip, Making of, and Liner Notes. It won the Audiovisual Concert category. |
08/03/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Julio Valdés |
Pentajazz - (Independent Release)
Pentajazz is an intriguing independent release by one of the best Jazz violinists in Cuba today, Julio Valdés Fuentes. It includes a few of the heavy hitters in the current Jazz scene in La Habana. |
08/04/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Various Artists |
Tonadas Campesinas - (Colibrí) - Released 2013
This imprerssive three-volume set of field recordings of tonadas, a form of campesino music, includes a video documentary and extensive musicological notes. It was awarded the Cubadisco for Folkloric Campesino Music in 2014 and was also nominated in multiple other categories. |
08/05/2014 | Bill Tilford |
Concert | Havana d'Primera |
Havana d'Primera at Logan Square Auditorium
This is a great band, and it should have been a great show, but the apparent indifference to production values on the part of the presenter led to an epic battle between the band and a hostile acoustic setting and sound system. The band fought bravely to the very end, but only moments of clear music emerged from the muddled audio, and were it not for the fact that the audience was composed almost completely of hard core fans who were happy to even see their faces, the evening could easily have been a disaster. |
08/09/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Septeto Santiaguero & José Alberto El Canario |
No Quíero Llanto -Tributo a Los Compadres
An exciting 2-CD release by Septeto Santiaguero, José Alberto "El Canario" and an impressive supporting cast - practically an extravaganza of Son. The final result is quite distinctive while respecting the traditions and remaining authentic.
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02/04/2015 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Manuel Valera |
In Motion (Criss Cross) - Released September 2014
In Motion, the third album by New Cuban Express, continues the forward momentum of NCX with the addition of a trumpet to half of the songs, a more acoustic feel, and all of the excitement of the first two recordings. |
09/26/2014 | Bill TIlford |
CD | Daniel Peña |
Eleven (Big Label Records) Released August 2014
Rising percussionist Daniel Peña's debut solo album, Eleven, a Latin Jazz project, includes cameo appearances from the likes of Tito Puente Jr. Richie Ray and Marlow Rosado along with very well-crafted arrangements and considerable drive. |
10/20/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Eliel Lazo |
Eliel Lazo & The Cuban Funk Machine (STUNT) - Released December 2014)
Some of the best elements of the Cuban dance music of the 70s return with a vengeance, but with new compositions and fresh blood. The album's title is quite accurate: it is VERY funky, Cuban, and relentless. |
12/06/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra |
The Offense of the Drum (Motema) - Released May 2014
If one had to pick one album that captures the diversity of Latin Jazz in a way that will make you want to explore all of it, this would be it. A singular achievement. |
12/11/2014 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Los Van Van |
La Fantasia (EGREM) Released December 2014
Its founder, Juan Formell, only performs (posthumously) on one track, but a resurgent Los Van Van captures the best of his spirit and comes roaring back in this new release on EGREM that is one of their best albums from any decade. |
02/01/2015 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Omar Sosa |
ilé (Otá Records) Released March 10, 2015
ilé brings Omar Sosa closer to his Afro Cuban roots including guest appearances by Pedrito Martínez, Yosvany Terry and "Don Pancho" Terry, but there is also a heady mix of Flamenco elements, Jazz and West African ingredients. |
03/10/2015 | Bill Tilford |