ALEXANDER ABREU in "7 Days in Havana"

The trailer of "7 Days in Havana" is now up at YouTube and I was thrilled to see the segment with Alexander Abreu! As far as I know this is his movie debut and he plays a taxi driver / musician. Felicidades de Timba.com Alexander!

The film has 7 directors who each took one day of the week. The segments in order of appearance are: El Yuma by Benicio Del Toro, Jam Session by Pablo Trapero, La tentación de Cecilia by Julio Médem, Diary of a Beginner by Elia Suleiman, Ritual byGaspar Noé, Dulce amargo by Juan Carlos Tabío and La fuente by Laurent Cantet.

I don't know when it will be at theaters but the trailer looks great, although the girl-on-girl dancing action is a bit unrealistic for Cuba. Anyway, check out the trailer. If you look closely you cna see some of the other musicians from Havana D'Primera as well. Look for the movie at a theater near you!

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miércoles, 28 marzo 2012, 10:12 am

Calixto Oviedo

Master Percussionist Calixto Oviedo will be back in Boston June 18-20 for the Berklee Percussion Festival. Calixto will be teaching Masters Classes as well as performing in a concert. This is an invaluable opportunity to learn directly from one of Cuba's most important modern percussionists! You can apply now on-line to attend the workshops.

If you're not able to attend the Berklee classes, check out the Beyond Salsa Percussion series. In this series Calixto teaches drums and timbales, both basic patterns and timba gears. You can choose from books, videos and audio files.

Calixto Oviedo: Beyond Salsa Percussion

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miércoles, 22 febrero 2012, 04:11 am

Yoel Cuesta - new conguero Los Van Van Yoel Cuesta Fernández is the new conguero of Los Van Van upon the passing of Manolo. Timba fans know him from his work with Azúcar Negra and Adalberto Álvarez y su Son. In addition to being a stellar conguero, Manolo was a wonderful human being who contributed to the group with his kindness and his love. Yoel, in addition to being an excellent conguero, is also a genuinely nice person and thus a fitting choice to fill the huge space left by Manolo's death. We wish him the best as he steps into the shoes of one of Cuba's legendary percussionists.

We will soon see Yoelito with El Tren as Los Van Van begin their European Tour on March 1st. This will be the first European tour for Los Van Van since the departure of Mayito Rivera and the entrance of Mandy Cantero, and now the first international presentations with Yoelito on congas. Click here for the list of Van Van concert dates.

Below you can check out video of Los Van Van with Mandy singing Este amor que se muere - qué riiico!

Los Van Van with Mandy Cantero singing Este amor que se muere

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miércoles, 15 febrero 2012, 03:55 am

Tirso Duarte in New Jersey

Tirso Duarte "El Charanguero Mayor" and timbero de excelencia arrived in Miami on Monday and is preparing for his New York / New Jersey concerts, which begin on Friday February 17 with a concert at Chango in Astoria . He will perform at La casa de la timba in New Jersey on the 18th and the S.O.B.s date has now been confirmed for March 30 . Tirso has recently performed a number of concerts in Colombia where he had an overwhelming reception by his ecstatic fans, so much so that they sang every song from start to finish. Now his US fans can enjoy the energy of his live concerts during this, his first ever solo tour of the US! Keep checking Tirso's Tours page because we will update it as other concerts are confirmed during February/March.

To whet your appetite, here is a sample of what you can expect, filmed on August 5, 2011 at Teatro Jorge Isaacs in Cali, Colombia by Eventos Timpop. Con Tirso no hay casualidad!

Tirso Duarte - Dejala que corra - live in Colombia