La Fantasía @ Descarga

The new Van Van album "La Fantasía" is now available at Descarga.com in hardcopy. It is their best album of the past decade so you don't want to miss it! Click here to read Bill's review. It's the best way to prepare yourself for the upcoming US tour celebrating 45 years of Van Van. For more information about the tour click here.

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lunes, 16 febrero 2015, 02:55 pm

Fiesta del Tambor 2015

As promised we have uploaded the full program for the 2015 Havana Rhythm & Dance Festival. Over six days music and dance events will be held in nine venues across Havana. In addition to the percussion competition and the Casino competition, highlights include the Giants of Percussion at Teatro Mella March 4th at 8:30pm and the concerts at La Tropical on March 7th and 8th with Paulo FG y la Èlite, Pupy y Los Que Son Son, Cándido Fabré y su Orquesta, Lazarito Valdés y Bamboleo, Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco, Giraldo Piloto y Klimax, Jose Luis Cortés y NG la Banda, Compañía Santiago Alfonso, Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor, and El Niño y La Verdad. Click here to check the full program or to download the program in PDF format, click here.

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martes, 03 febrero 2015, 01:50 pm

Dale cliq aquí para leer la convocatoria en español.

Fiesta del Tambor 2015 Havana

One month from today sees the start of the 2015 Havana Rhythm and Dance Festival. This is one of the major Cuban music and dance events every year with masters classes and performances as well as competitions for hopeful young percussion musicians in the categories drums, timbales, congas, bongos and batá. The Festival also hosts the International Competition in Casino Dance. Prizes are provided by the event sponsors, which include Hotel Palco, Melia Hotels, Havana Club S.A., Sabian Co, Pearl Drums, Evans, Regal Tip, Bucanero S.A. among others. The competitions are open to both Cubans and non-Cubans. If you are interested in participating, you can click here for contact information.

After an intense day of classes and competitions, relax in the evenings with the top bands in Cuba including Havana D'Primera, Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor, Manolito Simonet, Paulo FG, Klímax, Robertico Carcarsés and Interactive, Companía Santiago Alfonso, Companía Liszt Alfonso, Havana Dance Compás, Muñequitos de Matanzas, Afrocuba Matanzas, Osaín del Monte, Yoruba Andabo, Rodney Barreto, Oliver Valdés, Ramsés Rodriguez, and Eliel Lazo among others.

The complete program with times and venues for all events will be released shortly so stay tuned! As travel opportunities open up, this festival is a must for musicians and dancers who want a chance to learn from the very best. Click here for the full announcement with contact information.

If you need any more convincing, just check out this video from the 2014 Festival!

Klímax - "Aquí estoy" Havana Rhythm & Dance Festival 2014

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lunes, 12 enero 2015, 01:28 pm

La Liga Habanera released their first album "Tremenda Unión", in the summer of 2013. They are back heating up Stockholm's cold, dark winter with their new single "Estocolmo Se Pone Caliente". The songs starts with a tribute to NG La Banda's "El Trágico" and quickly slips into a dance groove with an urban edge courtesy of rap by Bamma B. Definitely timba caliente. We asked bandleader Max Alton to tell us a little about the song.

"Daniel Baro (Flecha) wrote the lyrics together with me, except for the rap which was written by Kevin Dennis (Bamma B) from Trinidad Tobago. Daniel is a singer from Havana who has sung in various son orchestras. The arrangement is by me, Oldrich González, and Petter Linde. We are also working on another song that will be released in 2015."

"Estocolmo Se Pone Caliente" has been released at iTunes and Spotify. Dale clic para escuchar!

Daniel Baro (Flecha) - Lead vocals
Bamma B (Kevin Dennis) - Rap
Oldrich Gonzales - Piano
Aleksander Bdarski - Bass
Alexander Waljansson - Guitar
Jan Kohlin - Trumpet 1
Rickard Lindgren - Trumpet 2
Johan Åström - Trombone
Pablo Cepeda - Backing vocals and congas
Max Alton - Drums, timbales, güiro, bongo and backing vocals
Måns Ek - Mixing
Farmerstreet studios and Mastertone studios