Good news for timba fans: 2012 looks to be a rich harvest of new CDs! This topic will be coming up again and again as the year progesses and more of the CDs become available! We will be back soon with more news about CDs by Bamboleo, Tumbao Habana, Charanga Latina, Elito Revé y su Charangón and many more to come!

We start of with the new release by Giraldo Piloto & Klímax: "Todo está bien". The album should be available online within about 24 hours! "Todo está bien" contains 11 tracks, several of which have already been dance-floor hits for some time now. This album is a must for DJs and connoisseurs alike!

1.  La abusadorcita
2.  La pelirroja
3.  Qué sería de mí
4.  La descarga
5.  Lola
6.  Black or white
7.  Regresa
8.  Todo está bien
9.  Quiero salir esta noche contigo
10. Hay que recordar
11. Homenaje a Michel Legrand

Another important release this year is the long-awaited second CD by Havana D'Primera entitled "Pasaporte". I don't know the release date, but Lionel from FiestaCubana.net has posted the following track list. It includes a number of songs that have been out for a while as singles as well as some new tracks.

1.  Pa' mi gente
2.  Plato de segunda mesa
3.  La figura
4.  Carita de pasaporte
5.  Se te olvidó quien soy
6.  Al final de la vida
7.  La celosa
8.  Donde estemos tú y yo
9.  Amor a la roca
10.  El que sabe está caya'o
11. Verdades que hablan

Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor are also in the studio, and Maykel reports that they are recording the metales now, so they should be moving on to mixing and mastering quite soon! The CD doesn't have a name yet and Maykel says he's fielding suggestions if anyone has ideas. It would be nice if they could have it ready in time for their summer tour (June 22-July 8), but that is probably just wishful thinking! Tracks include: Yordi - Sabrosa, La calle está caliente, Tres hermanos & El artistasoy yo; Yasser - La figura & something he says is for the girls who don't like to stay at home; Alexis - El Kilo, Tremenda pinta, Tú no eres mi amigo & Hazte.

Here is a little peek into the recording studio including interviews with Maykel, where he tells us that the band is developing some new percussion patterns in the song "Tú no eres mi amigo". This sounds very exciting! So check out the video and preparense que vienen Los Mayores otra vez!

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More soon on the second Alain book, but in the meantime, if you're in NY, be sure to see Alain's Quintet at Zinc Bar Thursday, May 23.

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First, here's the latest on the NYC Mega Timba Concert ... today we recieved this message from the event organizers in New York:

Regarding the event " De La Habana a Nueva York " / "From Havana to New York Non Stop Music ", due to time limitations in obataining exit permits for the Cuban Artists, the Mega Timba Concert has been postponed to JUNE 16, 2012 ... Same Artists Line-up, Same Time, Same Place.

New Date : Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Place: Copacabana Club
Address: 268 West 47Th St. New York, NY.
Time: 6:00 Pm to 12 Midnight. All Ages

All purchased tickets have been Upgraded to VIP Meet & Greet, no matter the purchased price.

We apologize for the inconvenience, for more information, please call 888-584-3070 or visit the official website here. Thanks again for your support.

Our Perú correspondent Feri DJ reports on a news conference for a special concert -- featuring Alexander Abreu of Havana D'Primera -- now passed on Friday, May 18. taking place in a stylish convention center, Alexander was backed by a Lima-based group of Cuban and Peruvian musicians called "Havana Light". Alexander will be on a  solo  tour of Perú from May 16 to May 27. Two other Lima timba bands, N'Samble and Rumbavana, also performed. The event also marked the first performace in Perú for one of our favorites: La Combinación de la Habana (de Gerson Valdés). Pro soccer players who are also salsa and timba fanatics were on hand to help promote the show.....read more 

Also check out Radio Timba with some new freash tracks courtesy of Feri DJ as well...

1- CONGA TOUR by Los Van Van
2- FARANDULA TROPICAL by La Combinación de la Habana de Gerson Valdés
3- EL PAQUETE by Bárbaro Fines y su Mayimbe 

New York street to be named after Arsenio -  The “Father of Salsa Music” Arsenio Rodríguez may soon have a street named in his honor. A contingent of Bronx supporters are pushing to rename the intersection of Intervale Ave. and Dawson St. in Longwood after Rodriguez. source

Link to Pedrito Martínez Group's feature in the New Yorker is here ... "Martinez and his band have won over dozens of people the writer has taken to see him, despite common confessions to not liking jazz or not understanding Latin music. If anyone can move Afro-Cuban music into greater visibility, it’s Martinez. "  Way to go Pedrito!!

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Para leer este artículo en español, haz click aquí

Cubadisco 2012 was officially dedicated to the guitar, but in some ways it was also the year of the retrospective.  Many of this year's nominees were recordings that looked back on the careers of the musicians.  It is also worth noting that based on the number of awards (14) that it was associated with, Colibri has emerged as a new powerhouse for Cuban recordings.  Bis Music was associated with at least 9 awards, and EGREM was associated with at least 7.  Several other labels were represented as well.  We mention this because some people still mistakenly believe that the Cuban recording industry is a monolith.  Here are some of the award results that will be of particular interest to Timba.com readers:  

CUBADISCO 2012 GRAND PRIZE:   Veinte Pianos, Música de Ernán López Nussa, various artists (Colibri).  Ernán has sometimes been underappreciated througout his career but had a very good year this time with 4 awards.  Veinte Pianos also won the awards for CD/DVD and Didactic Recording, and Ernán was recognized as Producer of the Year.  He is one of Bill Tilford's favorite Cuban Jazz artists. This is also Ernán's second Grand Prize - the first was in 2002 for his recording From Havana To Rio.

SPECIAL GRAND PRIZE:   Chucho's Steps, Chucho Valdés and the Afrocuban Messengers (Colibri). This is an excellent Jazz recording.  

SPECIAL AWARD: Mis 22 Años, NG La Banda (EGREM), 30 Años de Son 14,  Son 14 (EGREM),Sueños del pequeño Quin, Joaquín Betancourt (Colibri)

JAZZ:  Travesia, Iván Melón Lewis Quintet (Casa Limón).  (This actually won 2 awards. Timba.com's Kevin Moore has written a lot about Melón, who has also made major contributioins to the genre of Timba. 

TESTIMONIAL  and FOLKLORIC MUSIC : Las Estrellas del folclor, Los Hermanos Arango (Bis Music). Los Hermanos Arango made a great impression on listeners during their tour of the United States a few months ago. 

TROVA FUSION:   Pi 3.14, Buena Fe (EGREM).  Buena Fe is a favorite of our own Timbera Mayor. 

ARCHIVAL MUSIC:   Origenes, Eduardo Ramos y Grupo Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (Colibri)

LATIN MUSIC:  Mala, Haila (Bis Music).  Haila's solo project is a dance album that incorporates several different genres of popular music.  

*****CURRENT POPULAR DANCE MUSIC*****   Acabaito de nacer,  David Calzado y su Charanga Habanera (EGREM).  This recording does not break new ground musically, but it is a solid dance album, and one of the selections, the fusion number La Suerte,  also had a very popular video. In the near future, we will review both this recording and the other nominees for this category in more detail.  

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