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PMO = (Lo Mejor) Para Mis Oidos.... What a night! Standing room only at Café Cócomo celebrating Pacific Mambo Orchestra's first San Francisco appearance after their Grammy(R) win for Best Tropical Album. A full on smorgasbord of MAMBO and SALSA... free dance lesson by Jake Jacobs, the PMO joined by special guests Karl Perrazo (timbalero of Santana fame) and Armando Cordoba (Avance), special performances by 4 different dance groups, some crazy latina working me for half an hour asking for her money back because she had no room to dance (que pasó con el apoyo latina? - había una pila, pero una pila, de parejas bailando) DJ Hong and just an overall great feeling through the whole night. 

The PMO extended crew was also in full force -- the stamp police Christina Chang helping me make sure no one snuck in through the front exit doors (also thanks for the painting pics Christine) -- as people posed with directors Christian Tumalan (piano) and Steffen Kuehn (lead trumpet) and the band with their special autographed photos. Also a shout out to PMO F.O.H. sound engineer Jimmy Goings for the amazing sound.

PMO co-director Christian Tumalan

PMO co-director Steffen Kuehn

Also in the house...very cool and incredibly talented artist by the name of Nataliya Tyaglo, who donated a painting she made right there, live during the show. The painting was auctioned for $1200... way to go Nataliya! Check out the painting below...

Live art courtesy of Nataliya Tyaglo

Some of the PMO horns with Steffen Kuehn (top left) - Tony Peebles, Aaron Lington, Jamie Dubberly, Jeff Cressman 

The next PMO show is Saturday, April 19 at the SF Salsa Festival 2014 (Westin San Francisco Market Street). 

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After doing a well received run of concerts in San Francisco, New York, New Jersey and Virginia, one of our favorite Timba singers, "El Poeta de la Rumba" Mayito Rivera of Los Van Van fame has collaborated with 2013 Grammy® winner Marlow Rosado on his new album with La Riqueña (Marlow's salsa orchestra). The singer recorded at Marlow's new Miami recording facility "Pink Chaos Productions". His new record also counts with the participation of puertorican salsa legend Richie Ray, Fania All-Star Larry Harlow and the recent winner of the Premio Lo Nuestro, the dominican singer Alex Matos. Stay tuned for more info on this new record...

Después de ejecutar varios conciertos muy bien recibidos en San Francisco, Nueva York, Nueva Jersey y Virginia, el destacado cantante de timba cubana "El Poeta de la Rumba" Mario "Mayito" Rivera ha participado en un nuevo tema de la próxima producción del pianista y director salsero Marlow Rosado (y la Riqueña), ganador del Grammy® 2013 . La voz del estelar cantante se grabó en Miami, en el nuevo estudio del Sr. Rosado llamado "Pink Chaos Productions".  El disco cuenta con otros artistas invitados como la leyenda boricua Richie Ray, el Fania All-Star Larry Harlow, y además el reciente ganador del Premio Lo Nuestro, el cantante dominicano Alex Matos. Te brindaremos más información sobre este nuevo disco tan pronto sea posible...

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West Coast in the house! This Saturday March 22 marks the first hometown SF appearance by the Pacific Mambo Orchestra since their Grammy® win. There will be many local musicians and dancers on hand to celebrate with. This is the first time in the history of the awards that a salsa band from San Francisco wins the Best Tropical category. The show will also feature dance performances by Couture Dance Alliance, Salsamania, Rica Salsa and Manny & Mireille & SLDC plus DJ Hong.

Grammy® membership applications will be available at the door. 
Call your local Recording Academy Chapter by clicking here
Atlanta - Chicago - Florida - Los Angeles - Memphis - Nashville - New York
Pacific Northwest - Philadelphia - San Francisco - Texas - Washington D.C.

On the East Coast and nationwide, the PMO was featured in the March 15 print edition of the New York Times (March 14th for the web edition) with the headline....

"Oakland’s Surprise: Grammy-Winning Caribbean Sound" .... check it out.

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La Loma del Chivo - Guantanamo, Cuba

I continue my Guantanamo reports with something that isn't exactly music or dance, but is tangentially related to both. If you have been listening to Cuban music for a while, you have undoubtedly heard singers mention "La Loma del Chivo" (goat hill). Speaking for myself, I will tell you that this neighborhood took on legendary proportions in my mind. I imagined some rural community or peripheral neighborhood with lush, green hills where goats grazed lazily in the ever-present Guantanamo sun.

In 2007 I took my first trip to Guantanamo to attend the Third National Changüí Festival. You can imagine my consternation when I found that La Loma del Chivo has neither a hill nor any visible goats. You never know what people may be raising in their houses, however, so I won't rule goats out yet.

Upon my return to Guantanamo seven years later, I took a bicitaxi to various landmarks in the city that I wanted to film. Here is a video of part of my trip around La Loma del Chivo where you will find La casa del Son, La Casa del Changüí and La Casa de la Tumba Francesa all in the same block; where there is an outdoor stage with a life-sized statue of Elio Revé Matos and a wall with the names of famous musicians who have passed away. We even found a nice guy who could tell us the story of why what is apparently a flat, non-agricultural neighborhood bears the name "Goat Hill". I hope those of you who have never been there will enjoy a little look around, and I encourage everyone to attend the Changüí Festival this year May 29 - June 1. For information contact For information contact  José Cuenca or Ernesto Chacón or even me if you want.

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