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Type | Artist | Product | Date | Author |
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CD | Ivan Acosta y su Grupo De Cuba Somos |
![]() A not-yet-released recording by one of Santiago de Cuba's best Jazz bands. Ivan Acosta's Grupo de Cuba Somos is one of the mainstays of the small but vibrant Jazz scene in Santiago. Review includes photos and links to an interview. |
03/17/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Eliades Ochoa & Alma Latina |
![]() The renowned Eliades Ochoa teams with his sister, Maria Ochoa, and the group Alma Latina, in a pleasant blend of Cuban country music and hints of other Caribbean styles like Soca and Ska. |
04/10/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Alaín Daniel |
![]() This 2015 Cubadisco nominee (Música Popular Bailable, Novedades) has not been officially released yet, but it is musically quite good. |
04/10/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Hector Quintana |
![]() The debut album by Cuban Jazz guitarist Hector Quintana, who is equally at home with Cuban and North American Jazz styles. Nominated for a Cubadisco 2015 in the Jazz category. Special bonuses are his pianists Jorge Aragon and Alejandro Falcon, and his drummer, Yissy Garcia, whom you are guaranteed to get to know a lot better in the future. |
04/10/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Marialy Pacheco |
![]() A trio album with a subtle intensity by Marialy Pacheco, a Cuban pianist/composer now based in Germany. . The original compositions are the highlights of the recording. |
04/10/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Gabriel Hernández |
![]() This independent recording, nominated for a Cubadisco award in the Jazz category, may not be released yet. We review it here for the sake of completeness. Musically, it is quite good, with most of it being Hard Bop and similar styles. |
04/10/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Various Artists |
![]() This inventive Jazz treatment of some of Ernesto Lecuona's compositions was nominated for a Cubadisco award in the Jazz Cubano category in 2015. It features four past JóJazz winners on piano (JóJazz is a contest dedicated to young Jazz artists) and some excellent combos supporting them. |
04/14/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Yosvany Terry |
![]() Nominated for both a GRAMMY (Best Latin Jazz Album 2015) and a Cubadisco Jazz Cubano 2015), New Throned King is a sublime blend of Arará cantos and Jazz. This is a heady brew indeed. |
04/16/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Elito Revé y su Charangón |
![]() Winner of a Gran Premio (there were two this year) and Música Bailable - Maestros at Cubadisco 2016, this celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Charangón has La Aplanadora de Cuba at full steam. A lot of guest artists came out for this, but there are no misses here. |
07/03/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | El Noro y Primera Clase |
![]() Winner of the Música Bailable - Nuevos Talentos category in Cubadisco 2016, El Noro's debut solo album delivers. A tasty mix of retro and current touches. |
07/03/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Harold López-Nussa |
![]() The splendid new album by Harold López-Nussa is an intense blend of Afro Cuban, African and Jazz ingredients. |
10/25/2016 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Septeto Santiaguero |
![]() This latest release by Septeto Santiaguero on EGREM greatly expands its collaborative scope including some Jazz musicians, a chorus and strings on a few tracks. There is still plenty of Son autentico here as well, and it swings despite the fact that projects this massive seldom do. |
01/21/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Giraldo Piloto y Klimax |
![]() ENGLISH: Mis 21 Años, which celebrates 21 years of Klimax, is a collection of new arrangements of several great selections from different musical periods of the group. The album uses a stellar collection of guest artists, and in addition to some Klimax-caliber Timba, it includes a couple of beautiful boleros. Mis 21 Años was awarded the Premio Cubadisco in 2017 in the Música Popular Bailable - Maestros category. Mr. Piloto still believes in Timba, and it shows here.
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06/10/2017 | Bill TIlford |
CD | Daymé Arocena |
![]() ENGLISH: Cubafonía is Dayme Arocena's third full album in her own name. Accompanied by several members of Cuba's young Jazz elite, it also has a healthy mix of Rumba, Mambo, Changüi, Jazz and Funk There is a chemistry throughout this album that wasn't as consistently present at the same level in her earlier projects, and Çubafonía could prove to be her breakout album.
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06/11/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Bobby Carcassés y AfroJazz |
![]() ENGLISH: Blues Con Montuno is the latest release by master showman and Jazz artist Bobby Carcassés. It won a Premio Cubadisco in 2017 for Jazz Soloists. There is indeed some excellent Cuban Blues here, but the album features the styles of Jazz for which Bobby is renowned (some of it danceable, naturally). And, there is, of course, a lot of great scat singing.
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06/17/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Yissy & Bandancha |
![]() ENGLISH: Winner of the Opera Prima (best new artist) and Diseño (Design) categories in Cubadisco 2017, Última Noticia has an origin story almost as interesting as the album itself - a galvanizing mix of Jazz, Fusion, Cuban Music, Funk, NuJazz - kind of like Acid Jazz 3.0 but even better.
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07/02/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Leyendas.com |
![]() ENGLISH: Nominated in the Traditional Popular Music (later Conjuntos & Other Formats) category in Cubadisco 2017, Sabroseando by Leyendas.com is an impressive and enjoyable collection of sones and boleros. Highly recommended for fans of the part of the music spectrum popularized by groups like Rumbavana.
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07/09/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Oriente López |
![]() ENGLISH: Abracadabra an audio kaleidoscope that defies easy description due to the multiple different styles performed within the recording. Expect the unexpected, but that's a good thing here. Several big names - Alaín Pérez, Kelvis Ochoa, Angel Bonne, Mayito Rivera, Malena Burke, Calixto Oviedo, Jimmy Branly and many others participate. . Nominated in the Fusion category of Cubadisco 2017. ESPAÑOL: Abracadabra un caleidoscopio de audio que desafía la descripción fácil debido a los múltiples estilos diferentes realizados dentro de la grabación. Espere lo inesperado, pero eso es algo bueno aquí. Varios grandes nombres - Alaín Pérez, Kelvis Ochoa, Angel Bonne, Mayito Rivera, Malena Burke, Calixto Oviedo, Jimmy Branly y muchos otros participan. . Nominado en la categoría Fusion de Cubadisco 2017. |
07/23/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Vocal Sampling |
![]() ENGLISH: Así de Sampling by Vocal Sampling is the winner of the Choral and Vocal Music category in Cubadisco 2017. Unique as always and with a wonderful sense of humor as well. ESPAÑOL: Así de Sampling de Vocal Sampling es ganador de la categoría Música coral y vocal en Cubadisco 2017. Úinco como siempre y con un sentido de humor maravilloso también. |
09/03/2017 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Alberto Lescay & FORMAS |
![]() ENGLISH: Escape is the debut album of Alberto Lescay & FORMAS, a group that represents the best of the best of the NuJazz movement in Cuba. If you have been worried about the future of music in Cuba, this album is an instant cure.
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06/03/2018 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Marcos Morales |
![]() ENGLISH: Perspectiva is the auspicious (and audacious) debut album by one of the winners of JoJazz 2017, Marcos Morales. Mature beyond the years of its protagonists, Perspectiva provides the listener with an excellent panorama of many current trends in Jazz in Cuba.
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06/25/2018 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Dafnis Prieto Big Band |
![]() ENGLISH: Dafnis Prieto's new project, the Dafnis Prieto Big Band, proves that all those who keep trying to write the obituary for new, creative big band music need to throw their crayons in the trash, shut up, and listen. Big bands live, and they are still doing new and exciting things.
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06/30/2018 | Bill Tilford |
CD | El Septeto Santiaguero & José Alberto "El Canario" |
![]() ENGLISH: El Septeto Santiaguero is back with another collaboration with José Alberto "El Canario" and an impressive roster of both Cuban and foreign guest artists. Traditional and innovative simultaneously.
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07/01/2018 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Gastón Joya |
![]() ENGLISH: Bassist Gastón Joya's first commercially-released solo album, a trio project with some special guests, is the winner of the Jazz Soloist category in Cubadisco 2018
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10/14/2018 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Formell y Los Van Van |
![]() ENGLISH: Legado, the latest by Formell y Los Van Van, is an exciting combination of material from the early days of the band with current compositions. It won a Special Prize in Cubadisco 2018 and as of this writing is also a nominee for Best Tropical Latin Album in this year's GRAMMY awards.
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10/14/2018 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Hermanos Arango |
![]() ENGLISH: The Arango Family has been a giant force in Rumba, Cuban Jazz, Afrocuban Folklore and Timba for decades. Bendita Guanabacoa by Hermanos Arango, nominated for a Cubadisco in 2019, brings it all together In a wonderful new recording that contains genuine surprises even for well-educated ears.
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09/22/2019 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Ernesto Vega |
![]() ENGLISH: Tradition and Beyond, the new release by clarinet virtuoso and composer Ernesto Vega with some of Cuba's best young Jazz stars, is a heartfelt Jazz tribute with original compositions to some of the musicians to which Ernesto listened in his youth
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09/22/2019 | BIll Tilford |
CD | Zule Guerra |
![]() ENGLISH: El Viaje is Zule Guerra's first in-studio album, her previous releases being recordings of live performances. All of the compositions are hers, and with a stellar lineup of JoJazz winners plus Ernán López-Nussa's deft touch as producer, this is a thing of beauty.
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05/15/2020 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Varios Artists |
![]() ENGLISH: Mirando al futuro from Havana Jazz is an eloquent musical defense both of the quality of Cuban jazz generally and its rightful place of honor Cuba's musical culture specifically. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the right album is worth ten thousand where music is concerned. This is one of those albums.
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06/15/2020 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Various Artists |
![]() ENGLISH: The Jazz Young Spirit collection, released on Colibrí beginning in 2005, is among the crown jewels of Cuban jazz releases featuring young artists early in their careers. These are often their debut recordings.
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06/21/2020 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Various Artists |
![]() ENGLISH: La Equina del Jazz is an audio memorial by the winners of the first improvisational jazz contest organized by the iconic radio program of the same name. An interesting collaboration of contest winners and established professionals, noteworthy also for its significant amount of North American style jazz standards.
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07/26/2020 | William Tilford |
CD | Harold López-Nussa |
![]() ENGLISH: In Te Lo Dije, Harold López-Nussa presents a bold jazz tribute to several genres of popular music, mostly but not exclusively Cuban, including a surprising jazz treatment of reggaeton in one track. ESPAÑOL: En Te Lo Dije, Harold López-Nussa presenta un audaz homenaje jazzistico a varios géneros de la música popular, en su mayoría pero no exclusivamente cubana, que incluye un sorprendente tratamiento jazzístico del reguetón en un track. |
09/20/2020 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Joey Altruda & Francisco Fellove Valdés |
![]() English: The last full studio album by El Gran Fellove (Francisco Fellove Valdés), recorded with Joey Altruda in Mexico City in 1999, has finally emerged from the vaulton the 100th anniversary of his birth. Unlike some projects in other genres released more for the sake of completeness than true musical merit, this one stands on its own merits.
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11/20/2023 | Bill Tilford |
CD | Kiki Valera |
![]() English: Vacilón Santiaguero is Kiki Valera's second release in the United States. Still 100% authentic son cubano with an impressive guest list of some of Kiki's favorite trumpeters. Currently a nominee (Best Tropical Latin Album) in the 2025 GRAMMY® awards
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06/05/2024 | Bill Tilford |
CD/DVD | Sergio Vitier |
![]() Identidad was awarded a Cubadisco in the Documentary category in 2014. The CD portion of this CD/DVD combination includes reissues of two fascinating recordings (homenajes and Travesía) by Sergio Vitier, who was one of the key members of GES (Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora del ICAIC) before it disbanded. Indeed, these recordings, while all his own compositions, are reminiscent of some of the best work of that group. |
08/05/2014 | Bill Tillford |
CD | Buena Fe |
![]() "Dial", Buena Fe’s eighth studio CD, is a tribute to the 90th anniversary of Cuban Radio, which took place in 2012. It is also is an experimental project that goes in search of fresh sounds, marking a new phase in the band’s artistic development. |
04/02/2013 | Michelle White |
CD | Mayito Rivera |
![]() Mayito’s familiar voice is the perfect vehicle to introduce a new generation |
08/11/2013 | Michelle White |
Concert | Calle Real |
![]() Back after a six month hiatus, Calle Real performed two hot sets for dedicated fans who braved the autumn rain in Stockholm and were rewarded with two new songs. |
09/15/2013 | Michelle White |
CD | Soneros All Stars |
![]() Yanesito has hit this one out of the ballpark! |
03/25/2014 | Michelle White |
CD | Emilio Frías "El Niño" y La Verdad |
![]() "Llegó la Verdad", the debut album by Elio Frias "El Niño" y La Verdad has proved their ability to deliver hit after hit and solidified their position as one of the top young bands in Havana. |
01/25/2015 | Michelle White |