La Mejor Mujer: New Video From Ivan Llanes & The Cuban Way

The latest from Ivan Llanes' group in New York...

Also, another New Cuban Express album, Expectativas, is due for release on September 3rd. This writer has heard the tracks, and this is even deeper than the first New Cuban Express recording, the self-titled, GRAMMY-nominated album by Manuel Valera's group. If you are into Latin Jazz (or any kind of Jazz, really), this will be an essential acquisition for you when it comes out. In the meantime, those of you on the East Coast can see most of the group (Joel Frahm is subbing for Yosvany Terry, but do NOT let that stop you for a second) performing at the following locations over the course of the weekend:

July 26-27: Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC
July 28: An Die Musik in Baltimore, MD
July 29: Hartford Jazz Society in Hartford, CT

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Tuesday, 16 July 2013, 12:28 AM

In 2007, Cinquillo (Colibri's main label for modern music) released a truly remarkable debut recording by young Cuban composer and pianist Dayramir González titled Dayramir & Habana enTRANCe. It justifiably won three Cubadisco awards that year for Best Debut Album, Best Jazz Album and Best Engineered Recording. In an alternate timeline, he would have cranked out a series of recordings that would have put him front and center of those of us who follow Jazz and Fusion, but he chose instead to continue his studies including most recently at Berklee, where he was the first Cuban national to receive a full scholarship.

Dayramir will be in California until August, and those of you in or near Los Angeles can check him out on Sunday, July 21 at the Catalina Bar and Grill:

Click here for his full bio, which is already impressive. Here's a promotional video to give you a taste of what they are about:

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Sunday, 14 July 2013, 03:10 AM

The next three weeks are a great time for both Jazz and dance music in Chicago.

First up, tonight (Sunday, July 14) Hector Silveira brings some seriously good Salsa Cubana (the modern kind) to the 39th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival at the Dusable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place, Chicago. There is also other entertainment throughout the day, and this group hits at 7pm. Hector fronts one of Chicago's best dance bands, but he also carefully rations his performances, so catch him while you can.

Next, on Friday and Saturday, July 19-20, the 7th Chicago Latin Jazz Festival at the Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1359 N. Sacramento Av in Chicago brings Jane Bunnett, Hilario Duran and Candido Camero to perform together in trio on Friday and Bobby Sanabria's Quarteto Ache on Saturday. Hilario is a phenomenal Cuban pianist who is now based in Toronto; Candido, who is now 92 years old, is one of the giants of the music, and Jane, also based in Canada, began doing cooperative recordings with musicians in Cuba over two decades ago. New Yorker Bobby Sanabria just came off his 7th GRAMMY nomination. For the complete schedule, click here.

TImbalive to join Festival Cubano lineup: Festival Cubano (August 2-4, Riis Park, Chicago) now has Timbalive on the bill for the final day in place of Manolin. Buy your tickets now for a discount at Festival Cubano's website.

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Sunday, 07 July 2013, 04:55 AM

Mezcla gave a very successful performance at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago on June 29, 2013. Kudos to the OTS for its continued leadership role in presenting this music in Chicago. For a photo gallery and review of the concert, click here.

If you weren't at their California, Colorado or Chicago concerts, there is still a way for you to connect with the experience. The group has set up a Kickstarter page to help defray some of the expenses of the tour (yes, this is an unusual step for a band from Cuba, but this was largely a "do-it-yourself" tour on their part), and as is the case with Kickstarter generally, some interesting premiums are being offered for different levels of support. The page will be active until July 22, so visit now if you are a fan of Mezcla.
Click here for Mezcla's Kickstarter page, which includes a video.