CHUCHO VALDES TO RECEIVE LATIN GRAMMY LIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT AWARD

ENGLISH: Chucho Valdés, founder of Irakere and more recently leader of The Afro-Cuban Messengers, and a winner of at least 3 Latin GRAMMY and six GRAMMY awards, will receive the Lifetime Acheivement award from The Latin Recording Academy in November. Congratulations Chucho!
ESPAÑOL: Chucho Valdés, fundador de Irakere, más recientemente líder de The Afro Cuban Messengers y ganador de al menos 3 premios Latin GRAMMY y 6 premios GRAMMY, recibirá el Premio a la excelencia musical de La Academia Latina de la Grabación© en Noviembre. ¡Felicidadas Chucho!

In support of the new album Un Día Cualquiera, Harold López-Nussa is touring the US with his trio, which includes drummer Ruy-Adrian López-Nussa and bassist Gastón Joya. This is a must see concert. Harold and Ruy-Adrian are both amazing, but I need to say something extra about their current bassist Gastón Joya - when he gets into a zone, he is so deep into what he is doing that I would even go watch him play with a Polka band if that is what he chose to do.

Chicagoans will be delighted to know that one of the group's stops is The Old Town School of Folk Music on September 16, one of the few venues in Chicago that truly does justice to Cuban music (there are others, but not many).

But hey, don't take my word for it.....

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Sunday, 05 August 2018, 08:38 AM

The 9th Edition of Festival Cubano in Riis Park, Chicago, Illinois, will have a very special closing Sunday - Adalberto Álvarez y su Son in their first Chicago appearance since 1999 followed by Gilberto Santa Rosa, who is Boricua but has become very popular in Cuba lately due to his collaborations with a few artists there.
In its beginnings, Festival Cubano was very cautious (excessively so in this writer's opinion) about booking artists from the island. In recent years, this has no longer been an issue, and we salute them for that. Chicago deserves to hear this music. One thing that the Festival has done well since its beginnings is showcase Chicago's community of fine Cuban-American musical talent, and it continues to do so this year. Many of these bands don't have regular club or restaurant gigs, so catch them while you can!
This is a three-day festival from Friday, August 10 to Sunday, August 12. There are a lot of things besides the concerts - food, rides for the kiddies, dominos etc. etc. For a complete listing of events and performers, tickets etc, visit the Festival Cubano website here

If you haven't seen it yet, we have a photo gallery of one of Maqueuque's June performances at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago here. Melvis Santa was with them this trip.

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Thursday, 21 June 2018, 06:22 PM

AM-PM (América por su Música), la Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), el Centro Nacional de Música Popular (CNMP) y la Casa de las Américas presentan un taller especial, Autogestión de la música en entornos digitales, en FAC del 26 al 29 de junio de 2018. Para más información, visite americaporsumusica.com Los eventos incluirán la presentación de una nueva revista dedicada a la industria de música en Cuba, Magazine AM-PM.

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Monday, 18 June 2018, 04:31 AM

3 groups of special interest are coming to Chicago very soon.

1. Jane Bunnett and Maqueque Thursday, June 28-Sunday, July 1 at the Jazz Showcase
Melvis Santa, who was just in Chicago with her own group, Ashedi, will be returning to perform with Maqueque, which always features some of Cuba's most prominent female jazzistas.

12th Annual Chicago Latin Jazz Festival, Friday, July 13-Sunday, July 15
This year the festival spends Friday and Saturday at the usual Humboldt Park location before moving to Navy Pier on Sunday. The entire lineup looks interesting, but of special interest is a big band project by Chuchito Valdés and the Chicago Latin Jazz Collective Chuchito usually performs here with a smaller combo, but this will be a special big band tribute to his grandfather Bebo Valdés. Friday, July 13 and Sunday July 15. The full schedule can be seen using the link above.

Finally, at this writing, Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son are scheduled to close this year's Festival Cubano in Riis Park on Sunday, August 12.

Melvis Santa and Ashedi were at Sabor a Café in Chicago June 16 and 17th for a concert, workshop and Rumba jam. You can see a photo gallery here.