Good day dear blog readers, followers, listener ¡y todos los amantes de la musica Cubana!
During the next two Fridays I will be on vacation at beautiful Serbia (also dancing Cuban social couple dances, of course!), so there will be no blog entries for April 19th & 26th.
But! I will not leave you empty handed!
Today, or any other day during the time the blog takes a small hiatus, you can enjoy an amazing concert by one of the greatest orchestras in the history of contemporary Cuban music – Los Van Van!!!
For today I wish to share a beautiful 80+ minutes concert, live from La Habana of 1982…
So, here it is… and always remember… ¡sigue disfrutando la musica Cubana!
The album is called Que Tiene Que Te Mueve, and you can listen to the whole hour+ it contains right here and now…
There are two compositions which I liked most;
One is the Rumba collaboration with Yoruba Andabo called “La Cafetera”, and the other is a groovy and muy suave Timba composition called Dejame Volver, which I choose to present here today.
So, here it is!
Dance, sing along, listen… do whatever your heart calls for…
And always remember… ¡sigue disfrutando la musica Cubana!
Good day dear blog followers, listeners, readers ¡y todos los amantes de la musica Cubana!
Today we have a classic Son composition performed by a band from the Dominican Republic, Los Ahijados.
Los Ahijados is a band formed during the late 1950’s by brothers Cuco and Martin Valoy from Mano Guayabo, a town near the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, inspired by the Cuban Duo Los Compadres.
Although sons of a carpenter, Cuco studied music at El Conservatorio Nacional de Musica de la Republica, learning to sing and play several instruments.
With the embargo on Cuba blocking most music and musicians from going in or out of the island, a gap in the production of Son music remained, with many fans of the traditional Cuban music losing access.
This gap was filled by Los Ahijados, who enjoyed much success and fame throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s.
As the “Salsa” fashion came around the early 1970’s so did Cuco not miss this shift, leaving the band and forming his own group, “los virtuosos”, effectively ending Los Ahijados.
In the years to come, the band would continue performing locally, but would never reach the success it had during it’s peak years.
Cuco, on the other hand, would go to become one of the most influential, productive and well known figures in the Dominican music industry (as a DJ, producer, radio broadcaster and arranger, besides being a singer and musician playing guitars, bass, piano and various percussive instruments), as well as a “salsa” star with compositions such as “Juliana”.
In recent years the band reunited, performing locally and internationally yet again!
The song for us to enjoy today is an original Son tradicional composition called “Corazon de Acero”, coming from the 7th album of Los Ahijados, released during the 1960’s.
And always remember… ¡sigue disfrutando la musica Cubana!
