Hola a los todos!

Today I present you a song from the wonderful new album of Vitaly y Su Timba Habanera.
It sure has been a while since they’ve released an album, but it was definitely worth waiting.

This band has a very interesting and unique story, one of the things which are likely to happen only at Cuba…

Vitaly was born in Popasnaya, a small town in Ukraine, to a family of musicians, singers and dancers, so you can definitely say that music is in his blood.
He started listening to vinyl records (and those were abundant in his house) at the age of 3, and memorized several dozen songs by the age of 5; he could sing better than he could speak as a small child!
At the age of 6, he learned to play the guitar, and at 9 picked up the bass guitar; in school he learned to play the piano, and by the age of 14 was a leader of a local children’s band.
By the time of his student years in Kiev, in 1989, he became a member of a then popular band named Kvartira 50.
In 1990 he accidentally got to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he worked for several years during the 90’s.

The exposure to Latin music in general, and to Timba specifically, came in Venezuela, at 1998, when he met singer Diego Barros Ross.
Diego introduced Vitaly to some classic salsa form NY, and it was love from first sight (or sound, I should say 😉 ) .
Later that year, Vitaly discovered Timba in the form of a Paulito FG CD Sofocandote and an Isaac Delgado CD El Ano Que Viene.
For Vitaly it was a life changing experience, that turned his music upside down; it was never to be the same ever again!

For Vitaly, Timba is like a deep swamp or quicksand, which sucks you deeper and still deeper in the more you listen to it. But it is a very joyful drowning.
When asked “what is Timba?” during an interview, Vitaly answered “A discipline within complete freedom – let it be my definition of Timba”.

The band “Vitaly y Su Timba (Habanera)” was born during Vitaly’s 1st trip to Cuba, in 1998.
During this trip, after meeting bongocero Eduardo Lavoy, Vitaly visited several recording studios in Habana, and got to know a bit of how Cubans make music, how you combime rhythm with freedom.
So, several months after the trip,, starting May 1998, Vitaly wrote and arranged what would later become the band’s 1st album, Denunciar Tu Cuerpo.
When returning to Cuba in 2000, Vitaly gave the midi files to Lavoy to listen to… Lavoy was shocked by the quality and how “Cuban” the songs were, and the day after listening, invited some of his musician, singer and songwriter friends (including Mayito Rivera of Los Van Van, Alexander Abreu of Habana De Primera, Ricardo Amaray of Manolitu y Su Trabuco, among others) to take part in what would be a wonderful, international Timba project.
The album saw light on February 2001.
Although not being publicized at all for several years, when it finally did hit the international market in late 2004, the album became a great success, received many good reviews from critics and fans worldwide, and “revealed” Vitaly’s band to the world.
Shortly after coming out, the album became a success in Latin and Central America.

It have been 12 busy years for Vitaly, who never rests, and keeps working around the clock on various musical projects in his “Bermuda Triangle of Music”, “Habana-Miami-Ljubljana”, but after lots of writing, playing, arranging, recording and mixing, the new album of Vitaly y Su Timba (Habanera), “Para Ti”, is finally out!
This album was made in a collaboration with the band leader, arranger, producer and drummer of the great Klimax, Giraldo Piloto, vocalist Ricardo Amaray, who’s singing is considered by many as the “visit card” of Manolito y Su Trabuco, Alexander Abreu of Habana De Primera (do I really need to list his achievements? 😉 ) and several talented young Cuban musicians and singers with lots of potential.

So, I present you with the title track of the album, IMO the best song on in, Para Ti.

Disfruten!