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New Stuff[hide]
Resenas: Vacilón Santiaguero (Circle 9 ...
Grupos: Pupy y los que S... : Discography - 1995- F...
Reportes: From The St... : Cubadisco 2...
Staff: Bill Tilford
Reportes: From The St... : Jazz Plaza ...
Fotos: Tom Ehrlich : Irakere 50th Annivers...
Fotos: Tom Ehrlich : Irakere
Resenas: Joey Altruda Presents: El Gran ...
Timbapedia: 09. Interviews -... : Carlos del Pino ...
Fotos: Tom Ehrlich : 2023 Monterey Jazz Fe...
Fotos: Tom Ehrlich : 2023 Monterey Jazz Fe...
Fotos: Tom Ehrlich : 2023 Monterey Jazz Fe...
Fotos: Tom Ehrlich : 2023 Monterey Jazz Fe...
Grupos: Tirso Duarte
Photos of the Day [hide]
La Última
Pt. 1 of Tom's Photos of LVV at Yoshi's - 2010
The Missing Links: Cuban Music, Rock, Soul and Jazz
Why is it that so many North Americans and Europeans, raised on rock, soul and jazz -- in many cases unable to understand a word of Spanish -- become so utterly obsessed with Cuban music? The answer is that over the the last 500 years, Cuban music has provided a huge part of the underpinning of these, and most other English-language genres. As Ned Sublette points out, the ubiquitous rock anthem, Louie Louie, is based almost entirely on René Touzet's El loco cha cha; ragtime's basic rhythm cell is based on contradanza; and the early R&B hits of Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino were based on Cuban basslines. It goes on and on - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, The Doors, even Irish rocker Van Morrison. Here's a link to a great Ned Sublette radio show with non-stop revelations over a perfectly-paced soundtrack. For more info, click here.
Habana de Primera in the Studio
Gabriel of Yemayá's Verse has returned from nearly two months in the promised land and has a mountain of great posts, including this report on Havana d'Primera in the studio with Tony Rodríguez on piano.
Virtual Vacation in Havana
Yemayá's Verse - currently being updated from Havana almost daily - is opinionated as hell, but she pulls no punches, and for giving you the ambience of being there, nothing comes close - unless of course you want to dig up one of Bill Wolfer's Hunter S. Thompson-calibre rants from the early 2000s. The takeaway? Watch out for a new Los Que Son Son singer named Dayán. And on a related opinionated subject, the San Francisco brain trust (myself included) have come to the unanimous conclusion that the hottest bass player we've seen in years is Pupy's Daymar Calvario.
And CUBAN WOODSTOCK? If this thing happens, I'll definitely be on a plane for Miami.