Good day dear blog readers!
Today I’m glad to present you a wonderful concert (in 2 parts!) by Pupy y LQSS, back from 2001, just after the band was formed.
This concert had a mighty line up full of great musicians from the best Timba bands of that era, including Tirso Duarte, Changuito and Mandy Cantero.
Disfruten!
Part I
Part II
Good day dear readers!
Today I’m glad to present you a true classic of the genre, the foundation of all salsa as it is!
As you most probably know, salsa comes from a genre of traditional Cuban music called Son (Timba, although it can also be based on other authentic Cuban musical genres such as Guaguanco, is also often based on Son).
The song I present today, Suavecito, is a true classic of the genre.
The artist interpreting this fine composition is the Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Pineiro, one of Cuba’s oldest and most important musical ensembles.
The group was founded in on Decembre 13th, 1927, in La Habana, by bassist and musical director Ignacio Pineiro, with vocalists, clave, tres, bongos and maracas.
Later a trumpet was also added.
The band played at the world exhibition in Sevilla, Spain, in 1929, and at the “century of progress” exposition in Chicago, USA, in 1933.
During 1930-1933 the group also participated in several popular radio shows.
In 1934 Pineiro left to pursue other interest, but returned in 1954, when the group was invited to participate in the TV program “musica de ayer y hoy”, which helped bringing it back to the public’s mind.
After the Revolution the band returned to its former glory; Since 1962 the group has continued participating in the Festival Nacional de Musica Popular, Festival de Musica Popular in Sancti Spiritus and later in Santiago de Cuba.
A festival in honour of the group, Festival del Son Ignacio Pineiro takes place in Manzanillo.
The group is active today, and has won a Grammy in 2004 for the album Poetas del Son.
So, I wish you all to have a muy Suavecito weekend with lots of wonderful Cuban music & dancing!
Disfruten!
Good evening dear readers!
Today I’m glad to present yet another rare gemstone – a live concert of Manolin (“el medico de la salsa”) and his original group, from the “golden age of Timba”.
This concert is from 1996, and is almost 2 hours of pure extasis, rhythm and energy.
Disfruten!
Good day dear readers.
Recently I heard the wonderful song I’m presenting today; It’s by Tirso Duarte and grupo Cumana.
The song got great rhythm, groove and energy, with some Rumba flavour and doble sentido sown into it, just as Timba often does.
Listened to this song several times now, and definitely gonna do that a few times more 🙂
Disfruten!
Good day dear readers, and happy 1st of May to you all!
Today I wish to share a wonderful live performance of La Bruja, an NG La Banda and Timba “standard”, classic, as much as there can be in the world of Timba…
Full of Cortes’s witty “doble sentido” lyrics, great bass riffs and of course, “los metales del terror”, this song will definitely make you want to jump out of your chair and straight to the dance floor!
Disfruten!
Good morning dear readers!
Today I’m glad to present you an interesting band from the USA named Timbason.
The name stands for what the band does, quite literally, as the band leader, Jose Lorenzo Reyna, defines it… a mix of Cuban traditional and modern music, 50/50.
The band has 11 members, and has recorded both Cuban classics and original material.
This clip is from a live performance, interpreting the classic “Bilongo”.
Disfruten!
Good day dear readers.
Today I’m glad to share a wonderful newly released Son composition by Septeto Santiaguero with the singer Jose Alberto “el canario”.
This track, Hay Un Run Run, is a modern Son composition, even including an a Capella part in the middle.
The track is a part of the “tributo a los compadres”, an album made in tribute to the band “los compadres” active from 1949 to 1983, creating all kinds of traditional Cuban music and working with some of the most prominent artists of the day (such as conjuno Matamotos and Benny More).
The project also includes embellishments in the form of guest musicians from Cuba and other countries appearing on some of the tracks.
These include Tiburon Morales, Compay Segundo and Aymee Nuviola from Cuba, Jose Alberto “el canario” from the Dominican Republic, Oscar De Leon from Venezuela, Andy Montanez and Ismael Miranda from Puerto Rico.
Disfruten!
Good day dear readers!
Today I’m very glad to share with you a very rare and beautiful gem, a live recording of the wonderful group La Bola, a Timba ensemble of Cuban and non Cuban musicians from New York, USA.
It’s a gem not only due to their great quality of playing, but also due to the fact that such recordings are very difficult to find (for this clip I wish to thank SALAYTIMBAMISELLO), and the group also released only 1 album before the members each went their separate ways.
This recording is from the el Turquino club at centro Habana, and is an interpretation of the wonderful romantic classic, esa mujer.
Disfruten!
Good day dear readers!
Being not only good advice in general (the title of the song 🙂 ), the song I’m glad to present you today by Elito Reve y Su Charangon, from the 2008 fresquesito album, is quite an interesting one.
Orquesta Reve is well known for making Timba heavily influenced by Changui, an old form of Cuban country music coming from the Oriente region in eastern Cuba, an ancestor of Son, which is the most direct forefather of all Salsa music.
But, at times Cuban orchestras “stray away” from the pure Timba format, and make such interesting compositions as this one…
As funny as it might sound to say, this song is “Meren-Timba”, or even one might say “Timba con Merengue y Bembe”, and offers humor, rhythm and some Orisha lore all in one nice package!
So, I hope you’ll enjoy listening and dancing to this fine track,
Disfruten !
Good day dear reader!
Today I would like to present you the “dream team” of Cuban musicians assembles during the “golden age” of Timba, the late 1990’s, and was called “Team Cuba” (just like in sports…) .
The goal of the project was to assemble “lo mejor de la Timba”, the best of the Cuban Timba musicians available at 1998, and there sure were many!
The team was assembled by Juan Formell and consisted of personnel from 7 of the greatest bands: Adalberto Alvarez y Su Son, Charanga Habanera, Manolin, NG la Banda, Issac Delgado y Su Grupo, Paulito FG y Su Elite and of course, Los Van Van.
It also rehearsed and first performed at the Salon Rosado Benny More de la Tropical, the place where Los Van Van most often plays.
The band was, naturally, a huge success, and concerts in La Habana were attended by over 70,000 people each, and that’s without official support or advertisement.
The band also performed a European tour in May 1998, playing in various cities in Spain, France and Germany, with thousands attending (in Madrid, for example, more than 5000 tickets were sold).
Being an unofficial group not recognized or supported by the government, the success was short lived, and by 1999 the bands got back doing each their own, and even no CD was released.
Luckily, some recordings from the concerts are available online, such as the one at the bottom of this page.
Disfruten !