ENGLISH:   Jazz Plaza is coming this week and will take place in both La Habana and Santiago de Cuba this year.  The addition  of Santiago de Cuba is an exciting development because Santiago has a small but very impressive and thriving Jazz scene of its own.    You can see some scenes from the last three Jazz Plaza events in various parts of the website.   The colloquium this year is dedicated to the late Leonardo Acosta , Cuba's most important Jazz critic,  who passed away recently.   
You can see most of this year's roster in a video on the Jazz Plaza Facebook Page. 
Bill Tilford still has some unpublished material from Jazz Plaza 2015 that will be published in the near future. 

ESPAÑOL: Jazz Plaza viene esta semana y tendrá lugar en La Habana y Santiago de Cuba este año. La adición de Santiago de Cuba es un desarrollo emocionante porque Santiago tiene una pequeña pero muy impresionante y próspera escena de Jazz propia. Puede ver algunas escenas de los últimos tres eventos de Jazz Plaza en varias partes del sitio web. El coloquio de este año está dedicado al difunto Leonardo Acosta, el crítico de jazz más importante de Cuba, fallecido recientemente.
Bill Tilford ya tiene algún material inédito de Jazz Plaza 2015 que se publicará en un futuro próximo.
Puede ver la mayoría del roster de este año en la página Facebook de Jazz Plaza. 

ENGLISH:  We begin a short series of pieces about JoJazz, the competition that helps ignite the career of so many of Cuba's best young Jazz musicians. 

You can read the first piece about JoJazz 2016, which includes the winners, the program, and an audio interview in Spanish with the founder, Alexis Vázquez, here. 

You can view the first photo gallery here. 

ESPAÑOL:  Comenzamos una breve serie de artículos acerca de JoJazz, el concurso que ayuda a encender la carrera de tontos de los mejores jóvenes jazzistas en Cuba.

Puede leer el primer artículo sobre JoJazz 2016, que incluye los ganadores, el programa, y una entrevista grabada en español con el fundador, Alexis Vázquez, aquí. 

Puede ver la primera galería de fotos aquí. 

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The 2017 GRAMMY nominees were announced this week. From the Cuban side Chucho Valdes was nominated in the Best Latin Jazz category for “Tribute to Irakere: Live in Marciac” and Los Van Van was nominated for "La Fantasia" for Best Tropical Album. Timba.com wishes them both good luck. the winners will be announced on February 12th.

El Tren is facing competition from Fonseca - "Conexión, Grupo Niche - "35 Aniversario", La Sonora Santanera  - "En Su 60 Aniversario" and José Lugo & Guasábara Combo - "Dónde Están?". If I may campaign for Los Van Van for just a moment, beyond the fact that "La Fantasia" is an excellent album (click here to read Bill's review) , it is special to Cuban music fans because it is a tribute to the late Juan Formell. "La Fantasia" includes some of the last songs in which Juan Formell was involved as composer and arranger. Moreover, the title track features Juan Formell himself on vocals. Formell originally recorded the song as a demo for Luna Manzanares, but after he passed Samuel decided to use his father's vocals and record it on the new album together with the children's choir of Alejandro Garcia Cartula.

Los Van Van also happen to be starting a short US tour tonight at Howard Theatre in Washington D.C. See all the dates below.

Concert Dates:
December 8, 2016 - Washington D.C. - Howard Theatre
December 9, 2016 - New York, NY. - B.B. King Blues Club and Grill
December 10, 2016 -San Francisco, CA. - Roccapulco
December 11, 2016 - Los Angeles, CA. - Conga Room

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Maykel Blanco outside the National Theater after rehearsal
photo courtesy of Maykel Blanco y Su Salsa Mayor Official Facebook page

Tonight Maykel Blanco y Su Salsa Mayor celebrate their 12th anniversary with a concert in Sala Avellaneda at Teatro Nacional de Cuba. The tickets went on sale November 15th and were sold out in just two hours. Maykel has prepared something different this time working with the National Symphony Orchestra in a presentation of their most recent CD "Que no me quiten la fe". Let's hope they also film and upload some of the concert for those of us who  can't attend. Congratulations to Maykel and Los Mayores! In the meantime we can enjoy a taste of their concert from the 2016 Festival de la Salsa  in Havana.

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#SaveTheDate Friday, November 25th Aisar y El Expresso de Cuba will release the first single "Ahora Es Cuando Es" from their upcoming album "Musica Cubana Llegó El Expresso" on the Bis Music label. The single will be available worldwide at all the typical digital sources, such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer and more. This is a must have for all DJs and timberos.

If you are in Cuba, don't miss your opportunity to see Aisar y El Expresso de Cuba live! You can catch them every Wednesday at the matinee at El Diablo Tun Tun from 5:00pm-9:00pm, the first and third Friday of every month at Café Cantante , and the second Saturday of every month at Los Jardines del 1830 from 10:00pm.

The planned release date for the full album is set for December 22 in Cuba. We are very excited about this debut album. This is the real thing ! There's no question that Ahora es cuando es!

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