Author Archives: Michael Che Morozov

11.05.18 : Azucar Negra – Identidad

Good day dear blog readers, followers and listeners!

Did you ever come across somebody that seemed like they are trying to be someone else? losing their own unique way, instead of being who they are…? Today we have a nice Timba composition by Azucar Negra dealing with the issue of identity.

This hard hitting Timba came out as a part of the 2009 album “Exceso de Equipaje”, and has a clear message – “tienes que ser como tu, no tienes que ser como yo”.
Stay just the way you are, unique and different, being the best version of yourself;
Holds true for us as dancers and in general.

So, here is the song;
¡Disfruta la musica Cubana!

04.05.18 : Maykel Blanco – El Negocio

Good day dear readers, listeners and blog followers!

Hungry for some sweets?
Maykel Blanco provides some great Timba full of the good stuff, directly from his wonderful 2016 album, “Que No Me Quiten la Fe“, sprinkling some (metaphoric) sugar on the dance floor 🙂

So, not a lot to say today, as this dance floor speaks quite well for itself…

¡Disfruta la musica Cubana!

27.04.18 : Son del Nene – El Jamaikino

Good day dear blog followers, listeners and readers.

Today we shall enjoy a fine Son Montuno composition by Son del Nene;
Although many would expect a band from Santiago de Cuba, el Nene and his group are actually Habaneros.

Pedtiro Lugo started singing in family gathering and just throughout daily life in an early age.
By 14 he was already singing in various Rumba gathering and street parties, and also studied percussion.
Several years later, luck shined for Pedro – he was spotted singing by the great Miguelito Cuni, and invited to sing with Conjunto Chapotin, with whom he performed all over Cuba for 5 years.

After that el Nene sang with Conjunto Rumba Clave y Guaguanco, Conjunto Cubavana and in 1995 founded Los Jovenes Clasicos del Son.
Since 2006 and to this day, he leads his own septeto, “Son del Nene”, playing traditional Cuban music such as Son, Rumba, Bolero, Guaracha and conga, among others.
The group produced a CD\DVD called “mi deseo” in 2008, toured many countries with concerts, including The UK, Peru, Venezuela, Brasil, Austria, Mexico, among others.
The group has released 3 albums so far – “Lo mejor del Nene”, “Baila y Goza” and “Me Faltabas Tu”; Today’s song is from Baila y Goza, and is a very nice Son Montuno.

¡Disfruta la musica Cubana!

20.04.18 : Pachito Alonso y su Kini Kini – Manantial

Good day dear blog readers, listeners and followers.

Today we shall go back 30 years, and familiarize ourselves with an orchestra of a legendary Cuban musician, which still performs today with great success – Pachito Alonso y su Kini Kini !

Longino Rey Alonso Castillo, mostly known as Pachito Alonso, was born January 6th 1955, and is the son of great Cuban musician Pacho Alonso, creator of the Pilon rhythm, among other achievements.

Pachito studied piano since an early age, and founded his first band at only 11 years of age.
By 18 he was already a member of his fathers band, and by 23 became the musical director.
Pachos band was the first Cuban ensemble to be signed up by a European recording label, during their 1979 tour in Spain.

3 years later, in 1982, Pacho passed away, and Pachito became the director, manager and band leader, with the band being renamed Pachito Alonso y su Kini Kini.
Their first album, Por eso estoy parao, came out in 1983, and since then 14 more have come out (the latest this year – 2018s “Llego mi Musica”), during over 35 years of making great Cuban music.

During this time the band has answered the call of Timba, and since the early 1990s great many talented and well known Timba musicians have passed through its doors, including Roberton, Lele, Lazarito Valdez, Tirso Duarte and Vania Borges.

Today’s wonderful composition is a one of my favorites, from the 2000 album Traigo te Traigo, and is called Manantial.

P.S:
A good friend of mine informed me that this is a cover;
The original version of this song came out 20 years before, in Venezuela… so I suppose that Pachito was familiar with it from the days of his early career.
So interesting! thank you Jozef!

So, here it is… ¡sigue disfrutando la musica Cubana!

13.04.18 : Septeto Acarey y Maia – Fragil

Good day dear blog readers, followers, listeners ¡y todos los amantes de la musica Cubana!

Have you ever been in a situation when something good comes at a bad timing?
Or, have you ever wondered “why didn’t this happen before, but had to materialize right now?”

Well, this is the silver lining passing throughout today’s song, a beautiful and romantic Son Montuno composition by Septeto Acarey, featuring the vocalist Maia.

“…one more step, and I trip…”, goes the last line of the cuerpo section before we get into the coros and the montuno \ estribillo part of the song…

So, let’s listen ourselves, shouldn’t we?
Oh, and if you feel like doing so, turn on the volume, stand up, grab your partner (or a wooden chair, as the rock’n’roll classic states 😉 ) and dance!

Decembre 2018 update:
The official video clip for the song has been released!

… y no se olviden… ¡ siguen disfrutando la musica Cubana ! …

06.04.18 : Tumbao Habana – Mambo Duro

Good day dear friends, readers, listeners and blog followers.

Today we shall enjoy one of the best songs of the band Tumbao Habana, which although short, is quite interesting.

Besides being a nice song overall, it has a feature of sorts which one does not often find – a tempo change between the 2 main structural parts of the song.
There are only a handful of those out there, and I find this element to be quite enjoyable, both as a listener and a dancer;
As a DJ, it is always interesting to see the looks on the faces of the dancers when they realize what’s going on 🙂

So, here it is (song starts at ~00:33, but the clip is quite nice on its own, in my opinion, at least).
¡Disfrutala!

30.03.18 : Yousy Barbara Ruiz – En Brazos De Mi Tierra

Good day dear readers, listeners and blog followers.

Last week, before writing the weekly blog post, I was checking the comments, as I usually do, and there encountered what I can describe as quite a surprise – a message from a Cuban artist!

This is our guest for today, talented Cuban singer, ex Las Chicas del Sol vocalist, Yousy Barbara Ruiz, currently residing at Montreal, Canada.

Barbara was born in 1976 in Camaguey, Cuba, and as a daughter of a professor of music, displayed an interest to music and performance since an early age.
In 1994 Barbara won the singing competition at the Cuba Libre music festival, and in 1995 the Buscando el Sonero contest on Cuban TV channel 6.
That same year Barbara also participated in the Montreal Jazz Festival, being well received by the public for her great vocals and charisma.

After a great reception, Barbarz decided to stay in Canada, to continue her musical career there.
In 1998 she founded her own group with 9 more Cuban musicians living in Canada and the USA, called Barbata y Son Cuba.

Since the Barbara won Latin music prizes in Canada, toured Europe and north america, and has been a member or collaborated with famous Cuban artists such as Maravillas De Florida, Ritmo Oriental, Manolito Simonet, Adalberto Alvarez, Mayito Rivera, Haila Mompie, Bamboleo and non Cuban artists such as El Gran Combo, Ricardo Lemvo, Grupo Niche, José Mangual, Jimmy Sabater, Alfredo De La Fe and other.

Also, over the years, she has released several albums, including “contra viento y marea”, “ya llego a la fiesta”, “heavy duty”, and “La Cubanisima“.

Today’s song is a nice Son composition called “En Brazoz de mi Tierra”, longing for Cuba…

Here it is;
¡Disfruta la musica Cubana!

23.03.18 : Manolito Simonet y Su Trabuco, Maikel Dinza – Son Homenaje

Good day dear blog followers, readers and listeners.

Today’s song is a beautiful collaboration between the Timba giants Manolito y Su Trabuco and the talented young vocalist Maikel Dinza .

This fine Son Montuno composition is a part of Manolito’s new album, called “A Puro Corazon”, which came out roughly a month ago (22.02.18), and includes lots of interesting collaborations with such talents as Pedrito Calvo, Emilito Frias “el nino”, and as mentioned above, Maikel Dinza.

So, go check it out, it is simply wonderful!

¡Disfruta la musica Cubana!

16.03.18 : Dan Den – Tan Solo Con Mirarte

Good day dear blog readers, followers, listeners, a todos los amantes de la musica Cubana, y hoy tambien a todos los romanticos!

Today we shall have an opportunity to get in touch with our sensual and loving side, together with a wonderful romantic composition by Dan Dan

Today’s composition comes from an the album Arara, el Salon del Bailador, originally recorded in 2013 at a concert of the band, and later on digitally remastered and released as a studio CD in early 2017.

The song is in the eternal romantic style of Dan Den, which in my opinion kind of never gets old 🙂
The version is a recent performance, recorded a few months ago.

So, here it is!

¡Disfrutala!

09.03.18 : Los Guanches – Caña Quema

Good day dear blog readers, followers and listeners.

Today we shall enjoy a nice composition of Son by Los Guanches from Santiago de Cuba…

The band was formed at Santiago de Cuba in 1993 by Tresero Armando Machado, who played with Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa and Cuarteto Patria before forming his own band.
The ensemble is named after the native people of the canary island, and has 6 members playing the bass, tress, guiro, bongos \ campana, guitars and vocals, and over the years has performed all over Cuba and toured Europe and Asia.

The composition for today is a Son classic, with this bands’ interpretation presented as a part of their 2013 album “Venga Guano”.

¡Disfruten!