ENGLISH:  The twentieth Edition of the International Competition of Young Jazz Artists (JoJazz)  will take place November 16-19 in Havana, Cuba.  JoJazz is short for Jovenes Jazzistas but is also a play on words (joyas=jewels).   It is a competition rather than a festival and is therefore almost unattended by foreigners, but it is a fascinating event because much of Cuba's young emerging Jazz talent passes through this event on the way to bigger and better things.   You can read an English translation of the official call for contestants here (click on the link) - it explains the stucture of the competition in detail.   You can also view some scenes from last year's JoJazz, which I attended, here, here, here and here.

Brenda Besada Rodríguez of CNMP introducing the Jazz Band Femenina de la ENA, JoJazz 2016

ESPAÑOL: La vigésima edición del Concurso Internacional de Jóvenes  Jazzistas (JoJazz) tendrá lugar del 16 al 19 de noviembre en La Habana, Cuba. JoJazz es la abreviatura de Jovenes Jazzistas pero también es un juego de palabras (joyas). Es más un concurso  que un festival y, por lo tanto, tipicamente experimenta poca presencia de extranjeros, pero es un evento fascinante porque gran parte del joven talento emergente del Jazz de Cuba pasa por este evento en el camino a cosas más grandes y mejores. Puede leer la convocatoria oficial para concursantes aquí (haz clic en el enlace) - se explica la estructura de la competencia en detalle. También puedes ver algunas escenas de JoJazz del año pasado, a lo que asistí, aquí, aquí, aquí y aquí.

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Omar Sosa is touring the US with his Quarteto Afrocubano from October 11-17 with stops in Detroit, Albuqueque, Las Vegas, Berkeley and Washington. You can see the full schedule at the omarsosa.com tour page. 


Omar has  also been working on a new project, Creole Spirits, and is using crowdfunding for at least part of the project,   You can learn more in a couple of videos on their indiegogo page. 






Bay area residents are reminded of the Pablo Menéndez & Mezcla special concert and film premier event at the Brava Theater on Saturday, October 14.   See our original post here. 

Alejandro Falcón's project Alejandro Falcon y Cubadentro is working on an exciting new recording expected to come out in a few months.      Here is a taste of things to come:

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Pablo Menéndez & Mezcla  just arrived in the United States for some special concerts

1. Friday, October 6 at 7:30pm, Pablo Menéndez & Mezcla are perfoming a free concert at the Bates Recital Hall at The University of Texas at Austin, Texas.  Complete details are at the Bates Recital Hall Event Page 

2. On Saturday, October 14, the Brava Theater Center is presenting a concert by Pablo Menéndez & Mezcla hosted by Chuy Varela of KCSM with special guests John Santos, Barbara Dane, John Calloway, Greg Landau, Camilo Landau and others.  The concert will by preceded by the new documentary So Near, So Far, by the award-winning Cuban director Lourdes Prieto and L.A. Chicago David Sandoval.  This documentary is about the life of Pablo Menéndez, Mezcla's leader.  Complete details and tickets can be found at the Brava.org website. 

Incidentally, if you never obtained their 2015 release Pure Mezcla (Direct from Cuba -Live at Yoshi's) - you can still purchase the digital release with special extras on Latinpulsemusic.com

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ENGLISH: Our hearts are with everyone affected by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey.   Cuba was hit hard by Irma, and Primera Linea, which was to take place this week (see our post of July 4), has been postponed to November 27-30, 2017.  You can see more information and get updates here. 
ESPAÑOL:  Nuestros corazones están con todos los afectados por el huracán Irma y el huracán Harvey. Cuba fue duramente golpeada por Irma, y  Primera Linea, que iba a tener lugar esta semana (vea nuestro puesto del 4 de julio), se ha pospuesta al 27-30 de noviembre de 2017. Más informacion y actualizaciones están disponibles aquí.

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST

Louisville, Kentucky:  Louisville has a growing Cuban-American musical colony and community, and The Clifton Roots, Jazz and Heritage Festival is presenting local favorite Cosa Seria, led and powered by some very talented Cuban conservatory graduates, on Thursday, September 21, as well as  with pianist Elio Villafranca on Friday, September 22.  More information and tickets are available on the Clifton Center website. 

Baltimore:  Chuchito Valdés is performing in quartet at An die Musik LIVE! in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, Sept. 22 at 8pm and 9pm.
The rest of the quartet for these performances includes Rafael Monteagudo on drums, Steve sachse on bass and Julio Matta on Conga. This writer has heard Rafael and Steve with Chuchito in Chicago - this should be excellent. More details and tickets are available on the An die Musik LIVE! website. 


Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:  
Albertico Lescay, one of the leading lights of Cuba's Nu Jazz movement, has been spending enough time in and around Pittsburgh during his visit (which ends next month) that I won't be shocked if that city starts showing up as a locale of serious interest to fans of Cuban Jazz within a few short years - he has engaged in an ongoing musical dialogue with several progressive Jazz musicians there (including with members of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, which fuses Jazz and indigenous music).  His next performance in Pittsburgh is on Monday, September 25 at the Frick Fine Arts Building Auditorium at the University of Pittsburgh, and he is presenting the music of Formas with the musicians he has been collaborating with here.     This concert is free and open to the public, and there is a Facebook event page. 

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