Tom Ehrlich has posted another great gallery from Los Van Van's recent engagement at Yoshi's SF. Van Van in performance and backstage with Bay Area luminaries Carlos Aldama, Walfredo de los Reyes, John Calloway and Rebeca Mauleón.

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Check this track out! This is apparently from a 45 from the very early 1970s. The earliest recording I'd ever heard of this was on the 1989 LP Crónicas, and of course LVV still uses it to close every set, but this may in fact be the missing link in the many conflicting stories about Van Van's name originally coming from a political slogan. If you have any information or insights about this track, please add them to the comments section and/or email me at kevin [at] timba [dot] com.

Pupy Pedroso Books

Meanwhile, I've been working around the clock on the Pupy Pedroso volumes of Beyond Salsa Piano. I'm going through the songs chronologically and finding myself amazed at how many classic tracks LVV pumped out in the 80s. They did an album a year for the entire decade. The CD compilations tend to have the same hits over and over: Sandunguera, La Titimanía, Qué palo, etc. These are great, but there are dozens of classics that are just as good that few people are familiar with.

Welcome to Bill Tilford and the Chicago Report

We have a new addition to our Reports Section, covering Chicago and its surrounding areas. It will be hosted by Bill Tilford, a fascinating and extremely knowledgeable Cuban music expert who has been researching for many years. While the section is about the Chicago scene, Bill's blogging will no doubt cover many subjects, past and present, which will be equally interesting to those of us who can't make it to the Windy City on a regular basis.

Melón and Calixto Clinics Coming

Melón will be in Los Angeles Feb. 28th, March 1st and March 2nd giving clinics, concerts and private lessons at Cal State LA and various other schools.  Calixto will be in LA in late April and also in SF, Seattle and Berklee. Stay tuned for more info.

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Click here for the full gallery.

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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. 

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