Septeto Santiaguero comes to Chicago...
Septeto Santiaguero wlll be at Martyrs on Saturday, August  5 courtesy of HotHouse, which has been back in action recently.  This group, which has won more than one Premio Cubadisco and the 2015 Latin GRAMMY® award, is one of the best of its type.  I have heard them in both Santiago and Habana, and they put on a very rousing show.  They have collaborated with a galaxy of stars, but I actually prefer them in concert by themselves as they will be here. Martyrs is a dance hall, so this will be fun.   For more information and tickets, see the Hothouse event page. 
They are touring in support of their newest album Raiz.  
You can read a review in English here or en español aquí

Charanga Habanera comes to Festival Cubano...
At this writing, it isn't completely clear whether this will be Charanga Habanera classic or Charanga Light, but some version of CH is coming to Festival Cubano at Riis Park on Sunday, August 13. Festival Cubano is a 3-day festival (August 11-13) that has now expanded to two stages, lots of food, games and other good things.  They have always been quite good at showcasing Chicago's fine local talent but rather timid for some years about bringing groups based on the island.  Whichever version of CH shows up, kudos to Festival Cubano for inviting a group like CH, especially in these newly-complicated times.
For more information, see the  Festival Cubano website

Roberto Fonseca on TV...
For those of you with access to Chicago's public television station WTTW Prime, Roberto Fonseca's appearance on The Experience with Dedry Jones will be on the air every night August 3-6.  This was recorded 3 blocks from my home, so naturally I was in the studio audience, and this is goooooood.   The WTTW page is HERE

And over in Pittsburgh, Albertico Lescay visits the US, collaborates with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective.... 
What's that, you say?   Well, for openers, Albertico Lescay is the leader of one of the most interesting NuJazz groups in Cuba that you haven't heard much about yet but will over the next year, Albertico Lescay y Formas.   Here's a taste of Formas: 

Now let's add the Afro Yaqui Music Collective to the mix.  (I know you're going to ask, so yes, Gizelzanath Rodriguez, the band's co-leader and an operatic soprano, is of Yaqui descent.)   This is a group that explores indigenous music and fuses it with Jazz, Funk and Soul.  Here's a taste of what they do:

Put it all together, and what do you get?  Well, if you are in Pittsburgh, you can find out on Saturday, August 5 at the James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy.  Albertico (without Formas) is here to collaborate with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective. More informatiion about this event and tickets are available HERE.   The other coleader of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, Ben Barson, recently performed with Zule Guerra in Cuba.   Albertico is also giving workshops, there will be more performances, and there will be a lot more to come about all this in the near future.

Last but not least for now, a photo gallery of Bohemia's performance at the City Winery in Chicago is available HERE.   

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Here's Tom Ehrlich's gallery and report from the recent Bay Area performance of Jane Bunnett & Maqueque.

Here's the rest of the tour, including Richmond, NY, Ontario and British Columbia.

Other news: Pupy cancelled in the Bay Area due to visas, but the rest of the tour looks good; SJ Jazz (Aug 11-14) is packed with great Latin acts (Pedrito Martínez, Calixto Oviedo, Daymé Arocena, Carlitos Medrano, Conjunto Karabalí, Oscar Hernández Quartet, Jimmy Bosch, Pacific Mambo, Brian Andres, Manny Martínez, and others - plus George Clinton and Maceo Parker - much more on this soon; Tom's Arango photos also coming soon).

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ENGLISH: Tonight at Mojitos in Miami, La Charanga Habanera begin their North American tour with four concerts in the US and three in Canada. On the 12th they will perform at Havana 1957, and David has announced that for this concert they will focus on their "classic" repertoire, i.e. the timba Charanga we all loved back in the late 90s early 2000s. Click here to read David's statement at the Charanga Habanera offical Facebook page.

ESPAÑOL: Esta noche en Mojitos en Miami, La Charanga Habanera comienza su gira norteamericana con cuatro conciertos en los Estados Unidos y tres en Canadá. El 12 se presentarán en La Habana en 1957, y David ha anunciado que para este concierto se enfocará en su repertorio "clásico", es decir, la Charanga timbera a la que todos amábamos a fines de los años 90 a principios de los años 2000. Haga clic aquí para leer la declaración de David en la página oficial de Charanga Habanera en Facebook.

August   2, 2017 - Miami, FL. - Mojitos
August 12, 2017 - Miami, FL. - Havana 1957
August 13, 2017 - Chicago, IL. - Festival Cubano
August 25, 2017 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Phoenix Concert Theater
August 26, 2017 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada - Club Soda
August 27, 2017 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Commadore Ballroom

ENGLISH: This Saturday Qban Fest comes to North America celebrating the 15th anniversary  of Pupy y Los Que Son Son with two concerts featuring and guests Tania Pantoja, Pedrito Calvo, Mayito Rivera and Pepito Gómez. This is a must-see if you are in the vicinity of Washington D.C.  or New York City. The San Francisco concert has been postponed and the promoter has informed fans via Facebook that they are rescheduling and will announce dates for Los Angeles and San Francisco, so check their tours page regularly to keep updated.

ESPAÑOL: Este sábado Qban Fest llega a Norteamérica celebrando el 15o aniversario de Pupy y Los Que Son Son con dos conciertos presentando invitados Tania Pantoja, Pedrito Calvo, Mayito Rivera y Pepito Gómez. Este es un evento obligado si estás en las inmediaciones de Washington D.C. o la ciudad de Nueva York. El concierto de San Francisco ha sido pospuesto y el promotor ha informado a los aficionados a través de Facebook que están reprogramando y anunciará fechas para Los Ángeles y San Francisco, así que compruebe su página de tours con regularidad para mantenerse actualizado.

August 5, 2017 - Washington DC - Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club 
August 6, 2017 - New York City, NY - Highline Ballroom

ENGLISH: Formell & Los Van Van also begin their US tour on August 5th at the Latin Festival Por+ Música Miami also fetauring La India, Adalberto Álvarez & Su Son, Laritza Bacallao, Los 4 and Carlos Manuel. The tour will includes New York, Florida, California, Oregan, Washington and Puerto Rico. US audiences will get their first live look at the band with Vanessa Formell filling the rol of female vocalist. Click here for the list of concert dates.

ESPAÑOL: Formell & Los Van Van también comienzan su gira por Estados Unidos el 5 de agosto en el Latin Festival Por + Música Miami, también con La India, Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son, Laritza Bacallao, Los 4 y Carlos Manuel. El tour incluirá Nueva York, Florida, California, Oregan, Washington y Puerto Rico. El público estadounidense obtendrá su prime vistazo en vivo de Vanessa Formell llenando el rol de vocalista femenina de Van Van. Haga clic aquí para ver la lista de conciertos.

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photo courtesy Tiempo Libre    

Jorge Gómez, líder de Tiempo Libre,  habla del nuevo proyecto en español aquí

Tiempo Libre has never been afraid to take risks, whether fusing Bach with Cuban Music, working with symphonies, mixing in other genres of popular music with Timba  and  projects with Joshua Bell and James Galway. They have paid a price of sorts for that path - rather than being the darlings of the less expensive dance halls, they have sometimes had to settle for the likes of the Tonight Show, Live From Lincoln Center, several prestige festivals and three GRAMMY nominations.   They have still been a perfectly danceable música popular bailable band throughout, just maybe a little too uptown at tmes for some of the most hard core Timba purists (which has never stopped open-minded listeners like yours truly from getting into them or most of the dancers either).   

photo courtesy Tiempo Libre

Now comes a new Tiempo Libre project, Bohemia, a quartet that interprets more traditional material from the Cuban songbook.   This isn't the first time that timberos have gone to the traditional songbook- former vanvanero Mayito Rivera for example has delved deep into Rumba and Son. Tiempo Libre itself had its US road debut in Chicago, so it is fitting that Bohemia's road debuts are on Tuesday, August 1 in Minneapolis (Dakota) and Wednesday,  August 2 in Chicago (City Winery). Those of you in those cities will be the first to hear this outside of Miami.   Both of these are among the best venues in their cities for presenting this type of music (I can vouch from experience that the City WInery also has excellent food and drink). 

Jorge Gómez tells us about the new project  in English here

Basically, there will be two Tiempo Libre groups now -the Tiempo Libre that we've known for years, and the Bohemia project.    You can get a taste of  the Bohemia project on their Facebook page here. 

For more information (and tickets) for the Dakota performance, click here....

For more information (and tickets) for the City Winery performance, click here....

Both Tiempo Libre's Bohemia project and the full Tiempo Libre ensemble will be on tour in the weeks to come.  You can see their schedule here.......

Septeto Santiaguero is on the road in the US with engagements in multiple cities in support of their latest album Raiz (you can read a review here), which was nominated in the Raíces Soneras y Campesinas category in Cubadisco 2017.   (Septeto Santiaguero  already has some recent Cubadisco and Latin GRAMMY® awards under its belt.)   
As a Chicagoan, I wish to let my fellow Chicagoans know that Septeto Santiaguero will be performing here on Saturday, August 5 at Martyrs, 3855 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, Illinois:   This is being presented by HotHouse, and you can see more information here.   I have seen them live in both Santiago and la Habana, and they pack a wallop - musically speaking, I actually prefer them live by themselves, as they will be here, to their many collaborations with more "famous" artists.   
You can see an earlier version of the tour schedule here, but there have been some date changes, so be sure to verify before you go. 

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