FELICIANO ARANGO, ALBERTICO LESCAY ON THE RADIO

ENGLISH: Bill Tilford's shortwave radio program, From the Isle of Music, will have Feliciano Arango, Albertico Lescay and Gizelxanath Rodríguez as special guests along with their music on the next episode. This program can be heard as follows:

1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in all directions with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)
3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 UTC on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.
From the Isle of Music is not available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website WBCQ.COM (ONLY during the broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.

Soon after, there will be a review of the new album by Los Hermanos Arango, The Arangos World, on this website, along with some additional material that Bill recorded with the Arango family in Cuba that did not air on the program.

ESPAÑOL: El programa radial en onda corta de Bill Tilford, From the Isle of Music, ofrece como invitados especiales a Feliciano Arango, Albertico Lescay y Gizelxanath Rodríguez con su música en el episodio siguiente. Se puede escuchar el programa:

1. Para Europa del Este pero audible más allá de la zona objetiva en todas las direcciones con 100Kw, domingo 1500-1600 UTC en SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, desde Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
2. Para las Américas y partes de Europa, martes 0000-0100 UTC en WBCQ, 7490 KHz desde Monticello, ME, EE.UU. (lunes 8-9PM EDT en los EE.UU.)
3 y 4. Para Europa y a veces más allá, martes 1900-2000 UTC y sábado 1200-1300 UTC en Channel 292, 6070 KHz desde Rohrbach, Alemania.
From the Isle of Music no está disponible para escuchar en demanda, pero algunas emisiones pueden ser escuchadas en línea durante la hora de la emisión usando Web SDRs o el sitio web de WBCQ, WBCQ.COM (SOLAMENTE durante la emisión) si Uds no están recibiendo la señal via radio.

Publicaremos despues una reseña del nuevo álbum de Los Hermanos Arango, The Arangos World, en este sitio juntos con material adicional que Bill grabo con la familia Arango en Cuba y no incluyó en la emision.

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Tuesday, 15 August 2017, 01:48 PM

Chuchito Valdes, who has graced these pages many times in recent years, is currently on tour in the US, and his next performance is at the Jazz At Five festival on the corner of State and Mifflin Streets in Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday, August 16 at 4:00-8:00pm. You can find more information about this free concert at the Jazz at Five Event Page
Chuchito will also be releasing a new album very soon, Sueño que te beso. This is a collaborative project with Spanish composer Juan Poch, and it will be something of a departure from Chuchito's earlier recorded work. Chuchito tells us that with the state of heightened tensions in the word right now, he wanted to release something a little mellower to help send a message of peace. We'll have more about the album when it is ready for release (it is still in its final stages).
Finally, there is now a Chuchito Valdes website, chuchitovaldes.com

Brenda Navarrete will soon release her debut solo album Mi Mundo, with the digital release coming in September and the physical CD after the first of the year. At the moment she is on tour in Canada with performances on Friday August 18 at Hugh's Room in Toronto (details and tickets here) and at the Markham Jazz Festival at the MacKay Art Centre on Sunday, August 20 (details here)

(Photo courtesy David Pye)

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Thursday, 10 August 2017, 03:03 PM

The Afro Yaqui Music Collective was founded in 2014 by Gizelxanath Rodríguez (of Yaqui descent) and Ben Barson, a protege of the late saxophonist Fred Ho, who did pioneering work fusing Asian music and Jazz (Their Friday, August 11 concert is a tribute to him). The AYMC, which is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, fuses various forms of indigenous music (not exclusively Yaqui) with Jazz and Hip Hop, and there is a Cuban connection now with Ben Barson recently performing with NuJazz artist Zule Guerra in Cuba and now collaborating with Albertico Lescay, leader of Formas in Cuba, during his visit to the US. You can see a lot more about this project, which also has a Facebook page, at Ben Barson's website here. It will be interesting to see how this project and Formas exchange ideas.

Albertico Lescay, of Santiago but now in Havana, is the leader of Formas, an important group in the NuJazz movement in Cuba. (Albertico sometimes prefers to use Afro NuJazz because Formas retains more Afrocuban elements than many other groups in this part of the spectrum.) NuJazz in Cuba is a fusion of Cuban music, Jazz and Hip Hop. The strong Cuban foundations and more intricate Jazz patterns in the music distinguish it from what we once called Acid Jazz in the US, but there are parallels in the mixture of genres. Formas has not yet released an album but has gained significant notice in Cuba. Albertico is currently visiting the US, sometimes playing with the AYMC, sometimes presenting the music of Formas using US musicians (including members of the AYMC). Again, the long-term results of this interchange should be interesting.

This weekend, you can see these musicians as follows:
Friday, August 11: Afro Yaqui Music Collective with special guest Albertico Lescay
Ginny's Supper Club, New York, NY
Saturday, August 12: Albertico Lescay presents the music of FORMAS with invited guests opening for Villalobos Brothers, part of a benefit performance for migrant justice
Barnard Vermont

TIMBA ALERT:
Since Charanga Habenera has been performing as both Charanga Habanera and Charanga Light (a slightly different formation and repertoire), we asked the folks at Festival Cubano which version would be performing in Chicago on Sunday, August 13. We were informed that it will be the regular Charanga Habanera.
Festival Cubano runs from Friday, August 11 through Sunday, August 13 with two stages, food, games etc. You can find everything you need to know on the Festival Cubano website here.
When you go, be sure to also check out some of Chicago's fine local Cuban-American talent such as Stacie Sandoval and Matanza y su Latin Express.

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Sunday, 06 August 2017, 04:11 PM

SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO TOUR CONTINUES
Saturday night, Septeto Santiaguero tore the roof off of Martyrs at their Chicago concert. I know that I may start some arguments and hurt some feelings, but this IS Cuba's best working traditional Septeto right now. Your can see a photo gallery here. Meanwhile, they are in Madison, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota and Los Angeles next, as follows:
Tuesday, August 8: North Street Cabaret, Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, August 9: Dakota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Thursday, August 10: The Central Park Sessions, Central Park, Madison, Wisconsin
Friday, August 11: Grand Performances, Los Angeles, CA (with Vocal Vidas)
IF YOU CAN, GO SEE THIS GROUP!!!!!!!

VOCAL VIDAS US TOUR
The a capella tradition is Cuba is not just a man thing - there's Vocal Vidas, a female quartet from Santiago de Cuba. Well, OK, they cheat just a wee bit - they use a little hand percussion, but other than that, they are a capella, and that does not diminish them at all - their voices are wonderful. They are out in California right now and very much worth seeing as follows in metro LA:
Tuesday, August 8: Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill
Friday, August 11: Grand Performances (with Septeto Santiaguero)

ALBERTICO LESCAY IN THE EASTERN US

We mentioned recently that Albertico Lescay is visiting the US and performing both as an invited guest with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective and presenting some of the music of his own project, FORMAS, with US musicians. Here are this week's dates with more to follow in the future:
Friday, August 11: Afro Yaqui Music Collective with special guest Albertico Lescay
Ginny's Supper Club, New York, NY
Saturday, August 12: Albertico Lescay presents the music of FORMAS with invited guests opening for Villalobos Brothers, part of a benefit performance for migrant justice
Barnard Vermont
Albertico also did a workshop in Pittsburgh at the Pryse Academy in Pittsburgh, an institution that works with refugee youth, presenting his music and discussing the importance of music in cultural identity.
Albertico Lescay is an artist to watch. You'll be hearing a lot more about him within a year.