Everything happened very quickly and without prior coordination, Juan de Marcos González arrived in Havana in 1996 and brought together a group of big stars of Cuban music for a series of recordings in Areíto studios that belong to EGREM. Of those study sessions came three discs of unquestionable quality: Buena Vista Social Club, A toda Cuba le gusta and Presentando a Rubén González. The first was a huge success in 1998 when it won the Grammy Award for Traditional Music and the documentary that accompanied it the Oscar nomination, which eventually formed the rebirth globally of traditional Cuban music. Now, almost 19 years later, a dozen discs recorded that have sold millions of copies and countless concerts on five continents, the Buena Vista Social Club, which announced early last year his farewell tour, will launch into the market a new phonogram entitled Lost and Found The new material owes its name to the fact that the most titles that comprise it were recorded in those study sessions in the mid-90s, in the origins of the legendary group, and bring around the time those gems among many never were included in the CDs released by the orchestra. Lost and Found...

The musician and composer Leo Brouwer, considered by many as the greatest living Cuban artista, and songwriter Pablo Milanes, one of the founders of the Nueva Trova movement, are nominated to enter the Latin Song Hall of Fame, along with other musical legends on the continent. The authors of Elogio de la danza and Yolanda, among other worldwide hits , aspire to this recognition in the category of composers, the first one, and songwriter , the second. The composers category also includes Brazilian Erasmo Carlos (É Proibido Fumar), Chilean Alberto Plaza (Voy a cambiar el mundo), and Colombian Héctor Ochoa (El camino de la vida), among  others; while Milanes is accompanied by Panamanian Rubén Blades, Mexican Juan Gabriel, Brazilian Roberto Carlos and Spanish Camilo Sesto. This list also incluyes Mexican Joan Sebastian, Argentine Diego Torres, Brazilian Caetano Veloso, Puerto Rican Ednita Nazario, El Salvadoran Álvaro Torres, Chilean Myriam Hernández and Venezuelan Franco de Vita. Founded in 2012 by composers and producer Desmond Child and Rudy Perez, Latin Song Hall of Fame honors the most outstanding composers in the international arena and their music in all genres. According to organizers, until midnight on March 15 the public can vote for their...

The popular Cuban band will perform on Saturday night in the busy Miami downtown spot when it with one of their rhythmic concerts scheduled for 10 pm. Qva Libre, listed as a group that works on the fusion of genres such as rock, funk, hip hop rhythms and roots of Cuban music, is at present one of the recognized music scene of the island, especially between the youngsters who go massively to each of their presentations. Founded in early 2000, and composed entirely of young musicians, it entered fast in the preference of the Cuban public, an acknowledgement that grows over time thanks to its fresh and meticulous musical productions, video clips and dramatic live presentations; which they work conscientiously from the visual point of view. For the last couple of years, the band captained by Carlos Dias has a fixed spot in the Café Cantante Mi Habana of the Cuban National Theatre, one of the busiest of all those held in the city. As for Miami, is the first time the Psychedelic Star, as the group is also known, presents there, where its work is well known, especially by Cubans who have emigrated in recent years. Thanks to the...

The National Music Prize 2014 corresponds, on a shared basis, to saxophonist and musicologist Leonardo Acosta, and guitarist Sergio Vitier García Marruz, for their remarkable careers in the service of this art and Cuban culture in general, announced a jury made up of extraordinarily distinguished figures of Cuban music. The nonagenarian composer Alfredo Diez Nieto, president of the jury, emphasized the unanimous decision since both artists have more than enough merit to deserve the highest award that Cuba delivers in music. Jesús Gómez Cairo, Director of the National Museum of Music, said the jury, which also included Alicia Perea, César "Pupy Pedroso" and Sebastián Piñera, awarded with this decision, in the case of Acosta, a meritorious career as an instrumentalist in several of the best known groups and along artists in the last half of the last century. Also his creative work along Leo Brouwer during creation of the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (GESI) and its essential investigative work, among which newspaper articles, essays and books are mostly about Cuban music, work for which he earned the 2006 National Prize for Literature. Regarding Vitier, Gómez Cairo noted his invaluable musical production for the cinema to compose over 50...

Timbalaye is a young band (of about seven years and only two of its members are professionals) facing rumba with a style of their own that has provided them in short notice considerable results within a genre with lots of high quality exponents in Cuba. The band took its first steps with the album Se partió el bate (We hit the jackpot), opera prima that assured them the 2014 Cubadisco Award in the category of folkloric music, according to specialists this is one of the toughest categories. Se partió el bate… pays homage to great rumba figures of all times, but specially to the rumba from Matanzas province, which is latent in Benigno Echemendía’s guaguanco: Los Muñequitos de Matanzas; though, as pointed out by Nelson Lopez, the director of the group, the album has a lot to offer because “we have combined rumba from Matanzas and Havana, which makes it more complete from the viewpoint of its genre”. The album not only includes guaguanco, yambu and columbia, the main rumba styles, it also comprises express influences from Abakua (in Cantando en el valle) and Yoruba (Columbia te traigo) cultures, which convey the traditional relation between rumba and African rituals. However,...

The most important group of Cuban popular dance music of the time, Havana D 'Primera, will be presented on August 12 at the legendary BB King Blues Club in New York, named in honor of the prestigious American musician. The Cubans, led by trumpeter Alexander Abreu, will be touring throughout his work, especially with songs of his multi-awarded Pasaporte album, and the one they are preparing at the Abdala studios, titled Around the World, out which the singles Me dicen Cuba and La peligrosa have already been released. The presentation of the orchestra is scheduled for nine in the evening and tickets are now on sale for 35 dollars in advance and 40 if purchased on the day of the concert. The invitation to Havana D'Primera by managers of BB King Blues Club becomes a sort of backing that supports the work done by Alexander Abreu and his musicians since the founding of the group in late 2007. Internationally recognized for giving new impetus to the popular Cuban dance music, the group has performed successfully in scenarios almost everywhere. The B.B. King Blues Club is considered a place of worship for good music in general, having had on its stages...

Cuban singer Diana Fuentes offered a concert last Friday July 25 in Miami, where she shared with her audience her latest album by the title of Planeta Planetario. The artist, who started the promotional tour of the album through US cities since last July 11 with her participation at the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) held at the Gramercy Theater, in Nueva York, in response to an invitation by Vedado Social Club (VSC). “I’m very excited to perform in Miami”, stated the artist prior to the concert, “for the first time I will sing with my project for the audience in Miami and I have to thank VSC for that opportunity”. For some time Diana had been performing with musicians Descemer Bueno, Carlos Varela, and Raúl Paz, but this is the first time she gives a concert in Miami, something that keeps her expectations really high, she said. “I’m really happy”, she stated, “I had been wanting to perform in this city, I’m glad there are initiatives like VSC with the purpose of attracting Cuban artists with interesting musical proposals”. For the concert, Diana Fuentes arranged a varied repertoire and interpreted versions of tracks included in her first album Amargo...

The new album by Sur Caribe is ready to be released after two years of hard work which, according to Ricardo Leyva, the director of the band, will please dancers as it is dedicated to them and was produced thinking on them. Sur Caribe Nené is the title of this record which marks an important moment of the work carried out by the orchestra on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. It is a daring proposal given that it includes different musical genres that range from autochthonous to foreign pieces. Leyva talked to OnCuba on the significance of being in line with present day, people’s likes and the necessary evolution by the band in order to remain in the preference list of the audience. For that reason in this album the band undertook a series of challenges from the musical point of view but never leaving aside their identity. He noted that it is necessary to be updated on music in and out of the island in order to take the most and grow as a band without making concessions. Our music is rich and there is a lot we can do to defend it. Sur Caribe brings good music...

In 2006, he left Cuba, but never with the idea of ​​no return. Isaac Delgado, one of the most popular singers of the island, has continued to be the favorite among his countrymen who have very fresh memory of some of his songs like Necesito una amiga  (I need a friend), a real success in Cuban popular dance music . At the turn of time, perhaps longing or craving to be among his people, the Chevere de la Salsa, as he is popularly known decided to return to his land permanently and discreetly he is ¨sneaking¨ in the national music dynamics. Actually, he told OnCuba, what I've done is insert myself slowly working again in Cuba, from where I was away 8 years. "Through EGREM and its Musicuba agency I'm running in different spaces while keeping several international commitments." Although previously he came to their land several times on private visits, Isaac Delgado made ​​headlines again when he came to the tables in the Avellaneda National Theater in early 2013 invited by musician Carlos Varela singing at the concert for his 30 years of artistic life. Then a few months later, he was seen along the troubadour Silvio Rodríguez in...

Many people think justice was finally served: Alejandro Garcia “Virulo” was presented the 2014 National Humor Award. Just a few have contributed so much with this artistic manifestation in Cuba, mainly if taken into account his determination to take humor seriously, cleverly and critically during the 80’s, when criticism had pre-established boundaries. He didn’t stick to schemes, correcting mistakes or Marxist dogmas that limit artistic creation in favor of the ideology of that time. At the head of National Show Company, he changed the way of perceiving and making comedy in the following years, which sufficed the Humor Promotion Center for giving him such award. Right away OnCuba arranged a brief interview with this renowned artist and architect who confessed to feel extremely happy with this recognition he shares with every Cuban humorist, especially with beginners. Connoisseurs state that the National Show Company revolutionized Cuban humor. What’s Virulo’s opinion about it? “This organization has worked with love for the Cuban people and tried to represent on stage the opinions of those who didn’t have the opportunity to express themselves on the stage. That’s really important because criticism is essential for the development of any society. This institution found great pleasure...

Cuban genius Leo Brouwer has confirmed the participation of US musician Bobby McFerrin to the sixth edition of the Leo Brouwer Festival, event that will bring together more than 300 artists from about ten countries. Brouwer told OnCuba that McFerrin’s participation is a fact and added: “he just needs the approval by the State Department, but it seems there will be no obstacles”. The Cuban renowned musician stated the US artist will come alone and “he will have one guest artist only, a very special one: maestro Chucho Valdes”, noted with a provocative smile as an advance of the highlights of the concert, which has been arranged for September 27, at the Karl Marx Theater. McFerrin, also a renowned musician, singer, showman, songwriter, conductor and record producer, will visit Cuba for the first time in response to an invitation by maestro Leo Brouwer and will be in charge of the opening of the event, which is scheduled from September 26 through October 12 in different scenarios in the Cuban capital. The performance of the “Scat King”, as he is known by many, will be entitled Bobby Meets Havana and he will interpret his mythical song “Don’t worry, be happy”, which...

Excellent material competed in the category of Archive music in the Cubadisco 2014 Awards. The moment most longed for in every year’s edition of Cubadisco is undoubtedly the nominations and the awards. Every yearfollowerspropose a long list of titles that should take part in the competition in each of its categories, some of them eve take for granted the winning albums. If taken into account the long history of the Cuban discography (almost from the early 20th century Cuban artists used to record their albums abroad or in portable recording studios that arrived in Havana from the United States), one of the most popular categories among specialists and nostalgic music lovers is that of Archive Music. The jury of the Cubadisco 2014 Award nominated in this category four pieces, all of them from EGREM label. The common trait among them was their origin: records from the former Areito Record Studios. The pieces in contest were: La reina de la música afrocubana. Merceditas Valdés “La pequeña Aché”; Poemas, cuentos y estampas. Luis Carbonell. Vol I and II; 5 Leyendas.Vol II. Colección Original de Cuba; and Concierto de Frank Emilio. Colección Cuba en vivo. - A small queen with the voice of...

Independent musical productions and non- institutional seals gaining ground in Cuban discography, proven fact from the presentation of the albums that are fighting for the 2014 Cubadisco Award in different categories. The major prize of Cuban music this year has more than 30 CDs recorded outside the Cuban state circuits with proven quality, which gives a nod to the need of musicians to seek "alternative" solutions to the recording and distribution of their material. Sections as Electronic Music, Metal and reggaeton gathered, almost entirely, the hopes in independent production for reasons known by many and unexplained to others, the pore after all with positive results in the market. What is striking is the entrance into these categories of renowned artists in the Cuban music scene as the consecrated Gonzalo Rubalcaba, with the 5 Passion seal; Magic Sax Quartet with Connector Records; and the albums Qué lindo el amor by Interactivo, and Recuerdo de una jornada by ZSaxos Quartet. Outside this area the most important fight for the awards looms very strong in categories such as Cuban Jazz, where CDS like No borders, Chucho Valdés; Live, Cesar Lopez, and Pachecos's Blues, by the young and talented pianist Jorge Luis Pacheco (Pachequito),...

As some Cubans say, Jorge Díaz is one of those humorists that make us die laughing. He is really good histrionically; he is witty and agreat connoisseur of the national idiosyncrasy. This “mulatto”, as many people know him, is also an excellent musician who has successfully combined his guitar with the trova tradition and his perspicacity to narrate gracefully the most threshed circumstances of life in Cuba. This is not a secret for anyone, but just a few people know that Jorge Díaz is serious about writing music: several hits by the most important popular music bands were written by this humorist. He wrote the songs Ven, ven, ven and Me mantengo, which were made popular by Van Van; as well as La Habana me llama, by Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco. Now the “mulato” surprises us with the album El Familión, recorded with BisMusic label and for which he wrote all the songs. Maestro Adalberto Álvarez, author of the musical part of the album, highlights the maturity with which Diaz assumed writing each of the ten tracks of the album (plus a bonus track) which are interpreted by top Cuban singers. One of the traits that characterize the album...

Jazz lovers will have from next Sunday an excuse to walk around the Havana’s Sevilla Hotel, which made available to music lovers one of its main halls: La Giralda. Under the name Jazz in the Sevilla, the new space is a joint initiative of the hotel management and various cultural institutions that seek to get out of a proposed scheme that, with few exceptions, only offers traditional music. The Sevilla, according to the management of the facility located in the Paseo del Prado in Havana Vieja, has for a long time offered cultural proposals that "get " to all audiences ; "Therefore, in the specific case of music , we consider the different tastes of our customers and all those who in one way or another are visiting our facility ." Designed for every Sunday from 8:30 pm until 12:00 am, Jazz in these villa will be hosted throughout the month of May by Gala Mayor, the group headed by percussionist Alejandro Mayor, who have scheduled a special concert for every encounter. We want every Sunday, the artist said, to be special and different , so we have designed an evening dedicated to the piano, will be the inaugural, and...

The young Cuban singer Elain Morales hosts since last year a reality show for television MEGA TV chain entitled Follow Me, a program dedicated to disclose everything about the process of music creation and for his second season presented a series on Cuban music. With about an hour-long program, which had its first broadcast on May 19, 2013 and airs Sundays at 8 pm, quickly ranked among the highest-rated spaces for MEGA TV audience, and for the next installment they can also be seen on DIRECTV, the largest satellite TV provider in the world. The series devoted to Cuban music, Morales told OnCuba, will be very special because we want to focus on the work of artists living on the island in the previous season there were several Cuban musicians we work with, but everyone living in the United States, and the intention is to provide an overview , the broadest possible of this manifestation that has taken the name of Cuba way up in all corners of the planet. “What we do in Follow Me is very interesting because interviews are not traditional, but show the musician in their natural environment, which is more comfortable. We teach the public...

Next October, Havana will celebrate with the presence of famous Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca, who already confirmed her attendance at the 3rd edition of Meeting of Popular Voices. Baca will be one of the guests of the event, a sui generis space for songs in Cuba, thus reaffirming the idea that gave birth to the project chaired by Cuban singer ArgeliaFragoso, that of creating a space for the gathering of the most diverse expressions of popular songs from all over the world. Internationally renowned for her singularity as singer, the Peruvian artist will arrive in Havana along with Spanish Maria del Mar Bonet and her fellowmen from the Amaral Duet, Colombian Totó la Momposina, Dominican Maridalia Hernandez andMexican Lila Downs, among other figures, who have prestige to the event with their attendance since its first edition. Susana Esther Baca de la Colinais very famous among Cubans considering her participation in the recording and shooting of the video clip Latin America by Calle 13, which granted her a Latin Grammy Award in 2011. With more than 60 years of age, Susana maintains an active and creative life as singer and composer, which has gained her recognition from specialized critics for the...

Cuban rock musicians and foreign bands attending the 7th edition of Brutal Fest International Festival will honor Nick Babeu, leading singer of Canadian punk band Trigger Effect, who died in late November last year. In a journey through the main Cuban metal strongholds, the groups attending the appointment will remember the missing singer at the concerts taking place from February 13 to 23, which is, unequivocally, the most consistent initiative of this genre in the country, David Chapet, representative of French record label Brutal Beatdown Records in Cuba, one of the event organizers, told OnCuba. Foreign presence is marked by European bands, mainly from Switzerland such as: Meltdown, No Sun In San Francisco and Algebra, to which we must add the French band The Prestige, and Canada ’s Chariots of the Gods . While Combat Noise, Switch, Darkness Fall, Zeus, Arrabio and Tragedy will represent the host country. This winter version of the Brutal Fest will start by one of the main squares of metal music in Cuba: Santa Clara on Thursday 13 to then continue at Holguín (Saturday 15), Santiago de Cuba (Sunday 16), Camaguey (Tuesday 18), Trinidad ( Wednesday 19), Havana (Friday 21 and Saturday 22 at Maxim...

With a musical work focused on the fusion of the latest musical trends on the basis of flamenco and a strong aesthetic projection on stage and in their recording materials, the Spanish duo Fuel Fandango comes to Cuba to participate in the first edition of the Havana World Music Meeting (HWM). This is the first appearance of the ensemble formed by Nita and Ale Acosta to the public of the island, which, according to what they told OnCuba, always wanted to know and now appreciate this opportunity as a dream come true. Along bands and soloists from Cuba and other parts of the world, particularly from northern Europe, Fuel Fandango landed in Havana to show what they can do on stage and make honor to their worl acceptance, proven by the hundreds of thousands of copies sold of their three albums: Fuel Fandango (2011), Remixed (2012) and Thirteen Moons (2013) all with Warner Music Spain. We sing in English and Spanish with a strong rhythm that mixes electronic music, rock, pop, soul, black music and flamenco, Nita says, although since our inception to date we show a work in progress. Precisely from Flamingo goes much of the group's image, she...

The legendary group of traditional Cuban music Buena Vista Social Club (BVSC) bids farewell to the stage with a world tour titled Farewell Tour that will take them to places in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the United States. In meeting with the press held at the Taganana Hall of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba Jesus " Aguaje " Ramos, trombonist and leader of the group explained that their separation is due to personal projects of artists and the necessary generational change in the field of traditional music . What the Buena Vista has done in these 17 years is difficult to summarize, he said, no doubt it has been a great experience that has marked us all, but this goodbye is not the end of the project , there will be times when we will rejoin again. Daniel Florestano, president of Montuno Productions, agency that manages BVSC’s work internationally, announced that the Farewell Tour will begin in France by the end of June and will culminate with two concerts in Havana's Karl Marx Theater in November 2015. The work during this time, he added, will not be reduced to only the concerts; we have already planned series of recordings...

Within days of receiving the 2013 National Music Award, the nonagenarian singer Adriano Rodriguez confesses to OnCuba he is a privileged man for all the experiences he has lived through many years. More than seven decades of career have placed him shoulder to shoulder with the greats of Cuban music and culture in general, he fondly remembers when he illustrated with songs the conferences by Don Fernando Ortiz, the drinks with the King of Rhythm Benny Moré, and duets with Mercedita Valdés, Carlos Embale, Dominica Verges, Guarionex Garay and Celia Cruz. Adriano gives thanks to life, and with the simplicity that characterizes him he received the news of this important distinction: "This award fills me with happiness, I am already 90 but it's not too late to receive an award like this, so I welcome it”. The possibility to converse with him, translates into know firsthand the important moments of Cuban music, and as time passes, in his view, has greatly enriched. "I love music since I was born, when I was 5 or 6 years old I started singing, it was something that came from my soul and perhaps that was what helped me interpret many genres whether I...

The diva of Buena Vista Social Club Omara Portuondo and Mexican singer Regina Orozco will join their voices once more in a single concert on February 8 at the Metropolitan Theater in Mexico City.Pedazos del corazón is the name they gave to this presentation, in which both performers merge their talents to remember the work of two great Mexican composers: Alvaro Carrillo and Agustin Lara. Omara announced to the press that the show will be divided into several segments which , accompanied by Orozco , she will perform classics by Lara as Arráncame la vida, Sabrá Dios, Lágrimas de sangre and No pidas imposible , to which they will add hits by Carrillo such as Orgullo, Luz de Luna, and Eso merece un trago. It is not the first time Orozco and the Omara share the stage since in March last year both performers offered the same recital in connection with the International Women's Day on stage at the Factory of Arts and Crafts (Faro ) of Oriente, in a free concert , and later sang in the Mexican state of Morelos, and in the Tren Escénico of Cuautla. It's a great honor to share the stage again with a...

The horizons of jazz are increasingly large, constant creativity that gives it body widens daily, but also the countless untold and little known stories to give the halo, in a magical way, which have become a genre followed by millions around the world. It is a long list of lofty musicians who have made of jazz what it is, and try endlessly to each and every one of them with the seriousness they deserve is a daunting task that will take specialists, researchers and enthusiasts to ink an infinite number of pages. The International Jazz Festival Plaza, which these days revolutionized everything that happens in music in Havana, devoted its program to the great figures of Cuban jazz, thought quite ambitious because it was a rather large box for just four days. But apart from the crazy busyness of tributes devised by the organizing committee, it is only fair to highlight the work of scholars, musicians and fans of the genre who have gathered at the symposium that the festival usually organizes, apart from time concerts, whose only merit is the great talent of artists, is the most serious space dedicated to treating the paths of this music in Cuba...

Cuban popular dance music group Havana D'Primera, led by trumpeter and singer Alexander Abreu, will perform on December 19 in the Rumba Alley, Guadalajara, and on Saturday 21 at Mama Rumba, in Mexico DF. With these concerts the orchestra culminates a series of presentations that began on December 12th at Azukar Latin Night Club, in Cancun, and continued in Mambo Café, in Merida and also in Cozumel, which are part of the international tour made by the band this year to promote its CD ¨Pasaporte,¨ produced by Colibrí record label. This phonogram, which won the CUBADISCO 2013 Award in the category of popular dance music, contains 13 tracks and among the most popular songs are: ¨Al final de la vida¨, ¨Se te olvidó quien soy¨ and ¨Pasaporte¨, which provides the title to the album. Founded in late 2007 and composed of renowned musicians in the current panorama of Cuban music, the band is influenced by great arrangers and composers such as Chucho Valdés, José Luis Cortés, Adalberto Álvarez, Juan Formell, among others, and remain essentially under the roots of Afro-Cuban music and son.

The Salvadoran singer Álvaro Torres said on Friday that in 2014 he will tour Cuba. Torres broke the news during the first of three concerts featuring these days in Havana Lázaro Peña theater, opportunity for which , he confessed , he waited more than 20 years . Accompanied mostly by young Cuban musicians, including the first 28 stands of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, led by the master Enrique Pérez Mesa, the artist sang a selection of several of his most popular songs included in his extensive discography. Several generations of Cubans chanted choruses of songs like Sencilla y bella, Chiquita mía, Hazme olvidarla, Si estuvieras conmigo, and Patria querida, which he sang along with his son Astor Torres and dedicated to the Cuban people . I am happy and nervous at the same time, the singer based in the United States confessed, you are a wonderful audience and I hope that moments like this happen again. About his visit to Cuba, the singer had said during a press conference days ago at the Hotel Melia Cohiba, "I have come not to pay a debt, but to wholeheartedly thank this favor, that good so big that you have given...