Saturday December 9 2006 - 2007 Tour Dates Up - ¡Preparense Pa' Lo Que Viene!
I updated the Tours section to include the dates we have so far for concerts in 2007. The schedules are not complete yet, but it's a look at the new year. We have Bamboleo, Gente D'Zona, Arlenys Rodriguez & Yulién Oviedo, Manolín and Pupy y los que son son.

Not up yet is information about Los Van Van. By now everyone knows they are playing tonight and tomorrow in Canada. But a new date that has been brought to our attention by London Salsa Scene is February 23 in London at at Hammersmith Palais. You can already buy your tickets on-line at http://www.seetickets.com.

Gilito's New Site and New CD
Gilito was with Salsa del Esquina in Havana before moving to Sweden in 1993. He has just recorded a new CD, Al Cesar Lo Que Es Del Cesar. It is not in distribution yet, but you can listen to part of the title track and a little more at his new site http://www.gilito.net. Not only is the title just plain cool, the music is Timba! I will be back very soon to tell you more about the other songs on the CD. In the meantime, you can catch Gilito y su clave yourself at Club Mambo in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 29th.

Friday December 8 2006 - Tiempo Libre Grammy Nominated Again!
Miami-based timba group Tiempo Libre has scored their second Grammy nomination. This year they are nominated in the category Best Latin Tropical for their latest CD Lo Que Esperabas. Don't miss your chance to see this double Grammy-nominated band this Saturday at 11:30 pm at Jazid where you will have the unique opportunity of celebrating the nomination with the band. The awards ceremony will be held on February 11th in Los Angeles. Congratulations Tiempo Libre and good luck!

 Click here for more information from Lara about what is happening in Miami. It seems Timba is finally coming into its own there.

O Canada
Los Van Van
New developments in Miami's timba scene notwithstanding, more and more timberos in the US are looking to their northern neighbor. Today Los Van Van arrive in Canada. Canadian promoters are expecting up to 500 people to make the pilgrimage from the US to Toronto to see the banned band, so to speak. On Saturday they play at Kool House in Toronto and on Sunday they play at Le Medley in Montreal.  For more information check their Tours page.

Bamboleo Latin Lounge
Canada takes another step towards opening up as a market for Cuban music with a new club in Edmonton. Bamboleo Latin Lounge is  a new project by our good friend Timba Photographer Cristian Muñoz. He will soon have a new site up for the Bamboleo Latin Lounge, which will hopefully become a standard stop on all the timba tours of Canada. check out the sexy logo at Billy Bryans' Blog. Good luck Cristian!

Tuesday December 5 2006 - The French Connection
There seems to be some sort of Sweden-France connection. I know that both of the Stockholm-based groups, Calle Real and La Tremenda have been popular with DJs in France, but I didn't know how popular until last Saturday.

Calle Real
Saturday I went to see Calle Real at Hard Rock Café and was surprised to meet some French timba fans who had made the trip all the way from Paris to Stockholm just for this concert. Wow!

After the concert I did a short interview with the band and forgot to turn the microphone on, so here is a summary of the important bits.

Tours: The French fans of Calle Real can look forward to a concert during the summer of 2007. We'll post the dates as soon as we know. They are also setting up a tour of Spain and will be touring the US in March, including a concert at Calle 8 in Miami on March 11th. I have uploaded a few clips from Saturday's concert: Con Fuerza, Sueña Conmigo, El Beso and Amigo José.

New songs/arrangements: Several of the songs have had new coros added and some of the arrangements have been changed a little bit. They guys said that they have some new songs started but haven't had time to finish any of them yet. The process of working on the new songs has also inspired some of the changes to the "classic" repertoire. Due to time constraints they can't give us any date for a new CD, but they tell me I'll like the songs. Since they know my taste, I'll trust they are right and I'm looking forward to hearing a few new songs at their concerts as they complete some of them.

New bandmembers: They have added a new corista, Michel. They say we will be hearing more from him soon. They are also working with a new soundman, Frasse, who is one of the best in Sweden and adds some cool effects to the show.

The fans: The crowd was fantatstic on Staurday. The club was packed and the people were very...energetic, to say the least. Lead singer Thomas had to step back from the edge of the stage becasue some fo the ladies wouldn't keep their hands off him. And during the break between sets, someone hung panties on Rickard Valdés' congas. The guys wanted to thank the audience again for being so...enthusiastic. Ay mi madre!

La Tremenda
We recently heard from Indochino that La Tremenda played in Paris and that the concert was very good. Click here to see some pictures from La Tremenda in France. Bandleader Johan Brolund was also at the Calle Real concert. He posed for a picture with the French timba contingent and also took a minute to talk with Timba.com. Fans will be happy to hear that La Tremenda will be going into the studio in January to record their first CD. Here are a couple of MP3 samples in the meantime: Morocha Mi Corazón and Lunes La Semana Completa.