Mark this date in your calendar: Wednesday November 26, 2014. Calixto Oviedo & His Latin Train will offer a Thanksgiving Eve performance of their Tribute to Maestro Bebo Valdés at Catalina Jazz Club on Sunset Boulevard. The Master Percussionist honors the Master Pianist with a night of Afro-Cuban Jazz. Calixto took time from his busy schedule to talk to Timba.com about the concert. Click here to book your tickets now! For more information check out the event at Facebook.

How did the idea arise to do a tribute to Bebo Valdés?

The idea came from my producer Guido Herrera. We decided to use my first presentation at the prestigious jazz club Catalin to honor the great musician Bebo - also utilizing my experiences with him in Stockholm, Sweden where we both lived for many years.

For you personally, what did Bebo Valdés mean to Cuban music - what is his legacy?

I met Bebo Valdés in Stockholm when we both lived there. One day he called me at home and asked me to give drum lessons to his younger son Rickard. From that moment every Wednesday for two years was spent at his home. A great friendship blossomed between our families. Now the opportunity has been presented for my Latin Train Band to perform at the prestigious Catalina Jazz Club. I decided to dedicate my debut show to one of the most important and influential pianist of Cuba. Bebo is a very important part of the history of Cuban music. He trained great artists who later became world stars and his legacy will remain for life. Bebo is Cuba. 

What other news can you give us about your band?

Well my band - I finally found the musicians I needed and who have very similar interests to mine. They are very young musicians but with a high musical level. They come from great bands and carry a large baggage of work. Yosmel Montejo on bass was formerly with Maraca and is a very accomplished musician and also an excellent person, which is very important to do a good job. He is a great connoisseur of the Latin Jazz genre and also an excellent Timbero. He is helping a lot with his compositions and arrangements. 

Joel Nunez is a tremendous saxophonist/pianist who also plays the EWI electronic instrument that brings colors and tones which I love. He has tremendous talent. Nathaniel Molina is a boricua with tremendous BOMBA who plays piano, composes, sings - he is a great all-around musician. Studious 100 x 100, he is a connoisseur of drumming and he knows all the styles. Santiago is a brother from Matanzas with a great history in Cuban music. He is very responsible my brother of the old guard - a great person. The singer Lily D Oviedo continues captivating audiences and rising to the top. She can move between "feeling", samba and ballads with incredible ease. She is very versatile in addition to singing in English or Portuguese. Lily is great. 

This is my band  - Latin Train Band - and we are now preparing our first album. It includes songs by Yosmel Montejo, a few standards and some of my songs.

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Giraldo Piloto & Klímax have landed safely and begin their West Coast tour tonight at the 333 Club in Los Angeles. Here's the full itinerary:

CONCERTS: 
Friday, 10-17 - Los Angeles - 333 Club
Saturday, 10-18 - Felton (Santa Cruz) - Don Quixote's
Sunday, 10-19 - Folsom (Sacramento)  - Three Stages at Folsom Lake College
Tuesday, 10-21 - San Francisco - Yoshi's SF
Wednesday, 10-22 - San Francisco - Yoshi's SF
Thursday, 10-23 - Seattle - Seattle Club Sur
Friday, 10-24 - Portland - The Conga Club

KLÍMAX-THEMED DANCE CLASSES:
Saturday, 10-18 - 1:00-4:00 - Santa Cruz Tannery (corner of Hwys 1 & 9)
Tuesday, 10-21 - San Francisco - Yoshi's SF
Wednesday, 10-22 - San Francisco - Yoshi's SF

CLINIC WITH GIRALDO PILOTO:
Monday, 10-20 -  Community Music Center in San Francisco's Mission District (home page here)

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Habaneros String Quartet

Here are Tom's photos from Saturday at Monterey Jazz 2014. Sunday's gallery coming soon.

Klímax will be in LA Friday and Santa Cruz Saturday. See below for more.

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If you're in Northern California, this one is absolutely not to be missed. On Klímax's one off-day, Monday, October 20th, Giraldo Piloto will do a clinic-demo session at the Community Music Center in San Francisco's Mission District (home page here). It's only $15 at the door (sliding scale), 6:30 to 8:00. No need to be a drummer or musician - this is a demo rather than a play-along master class - and an incredible opportunity to meet the greatest living Cuban musician never to have come to the United States (til now!) - and to hear him play, talk and answer your questions for 1.5 hours in a small and intimate setting. For more info, call  415-647-6015. Here are the latest concert dates.

There are drummers who compose and composers who drum, but Piloto is on the shortest of short lists in both categories, having won the timba.com award for Best Timba Drummer of All-Time and having written pivotal breakthrough hits for Issac Delgado (No me mires, Por qué paró, etc.), Charanga Habanera (Me sube la fiebre, Mi estrella, Pelirroja), NG La Banda (Te confunde ser esa mujer), Bamboleo (Yo tengo Bamboleo), and of course, Klímax.

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