There is nothing quite like Timba live,  and Timbalive is quite an experience too.   When they performed in  Chicago, their first appearance in the area,  they played  like they had something to prove, and they were able to do just that.  There are reasons why this group is able  to perform with the likes of Mayito Rivera and Manolin, and we heard those reasons here.    
Click here to continue reading our concert review and view the photos from the performance. 

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continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na

The Creole Choir of Cuba or Grupo Vocal Desandann as they are called in Cuba, formed in 1994.  Their ancesters are from Haiti and the group is from Camagüey, Cuba.  The Creole Choir sing and dance to traditional Haitian music, using only drums, percussion instruments and beautiful lush vocal harmonies.  Their first US tour began in September, 2011.  I caught them in San Francisco on November 3, 2011 - click here for the full gallery. [Tom Ehrlich]

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continue reading La Última

El Zorro is one of the most prolific timberos of Europe. With five CDs to his name, trombonist, composer, arranger and vocalist El Zorro has a rich repertoire to draw on. He has recorded with many of today's biggest names in Cuba such as Ángel Bonne, Sinsonte, Mayito Rivera, Arnaldo Jimenez, Ulises Benevides, Serio Noroña, Roberto Linares and Aisar Hernández to name a few. El Zorro y Su Clan recently put on a great show for their Swiss fans at the jazz club Moods, an important venue for both jazz and Latin music in Zürich. A 14+ minute video potpourri of the concert has been uploaded to YouTube. Check it out, pass it on and see if we can't get the venue owners to set up a nice summer tour across Europe for El Zorro y Su Clan.

El Zorro y Su Clan @ Moods

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continue reading Timbera Mayor

Up until now, we thought that the odds of our using the words "Timba", "dance band" , "explosive" and "quartet" in the same sentence were roughly equal to our chances of feeding a real live unicorn at the local zoo.  Well, two nights of the Pedrito Martinez Group in Milwaukee and Chicago have persuaded us that we might need to consider the possibility that those unicorns could be real after all.  This quartet really is  an explosive Timba dance band with added measures of killer funk bass and excellent Rumba chops.  They tore the roof off in Milwaukee and Chicago and lifted the crowds out of their seats both places.  What's more, they did it without the electronic toys that some bands use for cheating. 

(CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT AND CHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS )

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continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na