ENGLISH:  Every year, more of the best recordings from Cuba are being submitted to LARAS for consideration in the Latin GRAMMY© Awards.  Cuba also has its own superb awards program, Cubadisco, and many recordings are now submitted to both programs.

Although these recordings are of excellent quality and well-known in many countries, in some cases, TIMBA.com may be the resource in the United States that contains a review of them.   Bill Tilford monitors this situation closely, and based on what he has learned, we want to bring to your attention the following reviews and other documentation about several of the recordings from Cuba that are likely to appear in the Latin GRAMMY® process.  This is almost certainly a partial list, but we hope that this will serve as a valuable resource for learning more about these recordings.  Read more here...

ESPAÑOL: Cada año, más de las mejores grabaciones de Cuba  se entregan a LARAS para consideración en los premios Latin GRAMMY®. Cuba también tiene su propio programa de premios magníficos, Cubadisco, y muchas grabaciones se entregan ahora a ambos programas.  

Aunque estas grabaciones son de excelente calidad y muy conocidas en muchos países, en algunos casos, TIMBA.com puede ser el único recurso en los Estados Unidos que contiene una reseña de ellas. Bill Tilford monitoriza de cerca esta situación, y en base a lo que él ha aprendido, queremos traer a su atención  los siguientes reseñas y otra documentación  sobre varias de las grabaciones de Cuba que puedan aparecer en el proceso del Latin GRAMMY®. Esta es casi seguramente una lista parcial, pero esperamos que esto sirva como un recurso valioso para aprender más acerca de estas grabaciones. Lea más aquí...

leave a comment

continue reading Sin Clave No Hay Na

Three great new galleries from Peter Maiden - click on each photo to see the full gallery for that group.

Pedrito Martínez Group

QBA

Orquesta Borinquen

leave a comment

continue reading La Última

Pedrito Martínez Group - Álvaro Benavides on bass - photo by Peter Maiden

Pedrito Martínez Group - San Jose Jazz Festival - photo by Peter Maiden

The 25th San Jose Jazz Festival was absolutely tremendous, capped by the Pedrito Martínez Group playing three stunning shows - one with special guest Calixto Oviedo and another with Jerry González sitting in on trumpet. Among dozens of other amazing acts was the California debut of the classic plena band Viento de Agua, led by Tito Matos, who will be conducting a plena clinic with John Santos at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco.

Tito Matos Clinic Tonight
6:30 to 8:30
2868 Mission St.
510-295-7685

leave a comment

continue reading La Última

Sunday at SJ Jazz is truly a day for the ages. 

Three Pedrito Martínez Group concerts within a 12-hour period provide the incredible opportunity to experience just how differently this historically great band plays each time they pick up their instruments.

Here's my plan to get he most out of this tremendous lineup. Start by waking up a bit early to catch every note of PMG's 12:00 noon show on the main stage. While you wait for their 5:30 set at Café Strich you can hear the tremendous plena group Viento de Agua (with monster plenero Tito Matos) at 2:00 at the Blackbird stage, then slide back over to the main stage for John Santos' and Poncho Sánchez's musical tribute to the late great Armando Pereza, a wonderful man who did as much as anyone to put Northern California on the Latin music map. Next, there should be time to catch part of QBA's set on the salsa stage before the second PMG set at Café Stritch at 5:30. Next you can the tail end of either David Sanborn or the second Viento de Agua show before relaxin' at the Big Easy with Donald Harrison as you build up strength for Pedrito Martinez' climactic 9:00 closer at the Blackbird. [Kevin Moore]

leave a comment

continue reading La Última