I love being the bearer of good news and here is something that will make you happy. Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor are finishing up the recording of their next CD. You have no doubt already heard the single "Pa' cualquiera', which was Yordi's first song after his return to the group. Maykel continues his collaboration with Planet Records, and Bis Music will handle the distribution in Cuba. The CD will contain 11 songs and the band will begin promoting one of the new numbers before they leave for the tour, so that's pretty much now.

Maykel Blanco at the 5th anniversary party of Salsa Mayor

The album won't be released until after they get back from their tour. Currently they are planning on an  April release. So by the time the summer tours begin the fans should all be familiar with the new material. The lucky Cuban audiences are already enjoying the new songs and judging from Mirco's reports about the popularity of the Salsa Mayor concerts in Havana, they are hits. Fortunately Salsa Mayor kick off their March tour of Europe on the 17th in fair Verona, Italy so we don't have to wait for too long to hear the new songs. And the singer line-up has got to be one of the most charismatic around with Pavel "La Figura", Yordi and Yasser. This is going to be a very exciting tour that you don't want to miss!

Pavel "La Figura" and Yordi at the 5th anniversary concert

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If you're in the Bay Area, this is a rare opportunity. A free clinic with the great John Santos and Raúl Rekow. We can thank drum manufacturers, LP, Remo and Sabian for making this free to the public.

Saturday, February 27th, 2010 from 4:30 to 6:00 PM
The Jazz School - 2087 Addison Street - Berkeley, CA 94704
FREE
www.jazzschool.com - (510) 845-5373

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A few people caught my error in my last post where I said that Orquesta Revé would be at Cubamemucho. In fact the band changed their European tour due to their imminent plans for touring the US in the spring (we will post the US tour dates as soon as they are confirmed). Instead Elito and the Charangón will be in Europe for the regular summer tour season. They are already confirmed for a mega-concert on July 13 at Zenith in Paris. How is this for a blockbuster line-up: Oscar D'Leon, Los Van Van and Orquesta Revé all in one night! That's the kind of concert that is worth taking a mini-vacation for.

Thanks to everyone who wrote to me about the error. If you have information about tour dates that we are missing please send me an e-mail. Or if you register here at timba.com you can make comments directly in the blogs as well as participate in the Timba.com Forum and make comments in the Guestbook.

As for the final line-up for Cubamemucho Munich it is: March 18 - Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, March 19th - Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor, March 20 - Havana D'Primera, March 21 - Los Van Van. Stay tuned for more tour updates as the summer tour season bookings get underway as well as more tours of the US are confirmed.



                                                                                            Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor
                                                                                        are on their way to a city near you!

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The Oakland Symphony will give the premiere performance of Rebeca Mauleón's first Symphony, Suite Afro-Cubano tomorrow, Friday. She was one of four composers selected from 160 nominees for a grant to write the piece, which has four movements:

I. Aboriginal Sunrise (imagine Taínos gathering at sunrise to play flutes and drums)

II. Espíritu Gitano (a juerga flamenca -- like a Spanish rumba)

III. Ancestral Voyage (a toque for Yemayá with echoes of modern jazz)

IV. Danzón-Mambo (Cuba meets Leonard Bernstein meets Pérez Prado)

For tickets and more info, click here

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