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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Photo courtesy of Cristian MuñozAlexander is amazingly charismatic on stage as witnessed by this audience. Don't miss Havana D'Primera as they return to Europe this March.

The 2010 tour season is underway here in Europe with Alexander Acosta currently on tour and Tumbao Habana's upcoming French concert dates this weekend. Also starting this weekend is Los Van Van's traditional winter tour, which begins with concerts in Helsinki and Copenhagen terminating in Spain in March before they return to the US for a longer tour in June. Also touring in March is Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor. We have just updated their tour page with additional dates today. Havana D'Primera will be returning to Europe for the second time and will finally play in my hometown of Stockholm on March 25th. In April Monica Mesa will be doing a promotional tour with her band Maquina Perfecta under the musical direction of Joel Dominguez. Orquesta Revé is also expected to tour in March and April just as they complete the mixing of their new CD "De que estamos hablando", but currently the only date we have for them is March 21 at Cubamemucho in Munich. And finally El Indio and Tirsio Duarte will be in Europe from March through May so keep a lookout for their concerts. Right now all we know about is the festival in Dampierre - Nevoy, France on March 12-13. If you know of any tours we have missed send me an e-mail.

And in the US this spring there are a number of exciting tours planned as the floodgates open. While we wait for the confirmed dates to be released we can at least tell you that Alaín Daniel has announced a US tour at his Facebook site, so all you Mikis get ready.

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UPDATE: Tom's new Issac Gallery is Up

This is like watching the actual ballet performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring  after hearing the music alone for years. Rueda con Ritmo have started with Issac's December 1997 El Palacio version of La vida sin esperanza -- in my humble opinion the greatest  single live timba performance of all time --  carefully edited it down to 5 minutes and choreographed an elaborate rueda routine that does justice to all the incredible gear changes.

Behold!

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