Timba Articles

New CD by La Bolá

Kevin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:22:25 +0000

New CD by La Bolá

Debut release from NYC's timba frontrunners "La Bolá" offers the talents of conguero Aryam Vazquez along with pianist, musical director, lead vocalist and composer Ariacne Trujillo. Guest stars include José “Pepito” Gómez on lead vocals (tracks 2, 5, 10) and Pedro Domech on coros. Buy Here

Track Listing:

01/ Llego La Bola
02/ Entre ella y yo
03/ Olvidarte
04/ Sola Solita
05/ Aprendiz
06/ Despues de ti
07/ Timba con conocimiento
08/ Tipo asi
09/ Silencio
10/ Pa que me criticas

About La Bolá

The band has established itself as a force in the NYC-area music scene, headlining in famed establishments such as SOBs, the famed Copacabana, Crash Mansion, Drom, ROSE Lounge, EL Salon Rosado de Las Palmas, El Pontal, while headlining the AfroCuban Currents Music and Arts Festival and the Annual Elizabeth Hispanic Heritage Festival in the summer of 2006. The band last year earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Village Voice and Hispanic Magazine. In 2007 they performed in Miami, Boston and Washington DC and ealier this year the band toured Spain and France in a series of concerts and showcases.

The band's musical direction is headed by the brilliant Cuban pianist/arranger/composer, Ariacne Trujillo, while vocalists Lid Ferrera and Lalo Cosio provide a magnificent marriage of different styles, pitches and approaches, and keep the crowds entertained at all times. Moreover, the band has recently joined forces with former Puppy y los Que Son Son vocalist, Jose "Pepito" Gomez, providing La Bola with an added-sense of dynamism and forcefulness. A powerhouse rhythm section that is remindful of the Cuban-based timba bands (drums-timbales, congas, guiro) is led by Cuban percussionists Aryam Vázquez and Colombian drummer-timbalero Victor Herreros. The band is complemented by a full-force horn section (2 trumpet, 2 trombones) and the harmonious, yet soulful elegance of the flute and violin.

Schooled in the top Havana conservatories and music schools in the US, La Bolá encompasses some of the most in demand and successful musicians in NYC, all whom enjoying thriving careers in Latin music performing, touring and recording with such artists as Celia Cruz, Marc Anthony, Miles Peña, Michael Stuart, Alfredo de la Fe, José Fajardo, Cachao, Dave Valentin, Johnny Pacheco, Albita, Juan Pablo Torres, La Orquesta de Roberto Faz, Manolito y Su Trabuco, El Medico de la Salsa, the famed Tropicana show of La Habana, and many more.

This band is poised to develop into a real musical force, as with much vigor and train-like energy (14 musicians,) their music shines, particularly with the quality of their arrangements and the slick style of their execution, without ever losing sight of the fact that timba is all about dancing.

This spring the band will be releasing its first CD, Sin Comentarios, under the indie label, AraDanAle-CalMaxNya Mu

MySPACE Link: http://www.myspace.com/timbonlabola

Cuba Gives 'Socialism lite' a Try as Recession Deepens

Kevin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:13:29 +0000

Facing a severe and protracted economic downturn, Cuba's government is scaling back socialism in an attempt to save it.

EXCERPT | Miami Herald

Cuba's workplace cafeterias are closing, President Raúl Castro keeps saying the well-off shouldn't get the same subsidies as the poor, and now there are rumblings that one of the stalwart vestiges of the revolution -- the ration booklet -- has outlived its usefulness.

As the Cuban government struggles through a deep recession, its leaders have begun picking away at socialism in order to save it. But experts say the latest buzz by the Cuban government is simply another desperate fix to stem the slide of a failed economy that buckled long ago.

Even one of Havana's leading economists recently said Cuba's economy needed to be turned upside down -- ``feet up.'' So taxi drivers got private licenses, farmers now have their own plots of land and government workers have to pack their own lunches.

``I think what they are trying to do is prepare the people for a hard landing,'' said Cuba expert Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado of the University of Nebraska. ``The government is really saying in so many words: We've got limited resources and can only do so much. I think they are stuck.''

Since he took office early last year, Raúl Castro has been saying that the country's severely battered economy needs fixing. In a widely quoted August speech, Castro said Cuba was spending more than it made.

``Nobody, no individual nor country, can indefinitely spend more than she or he earns. Two plus two always adds up to four, never five,'' he said. ``Within the conditions of our imperfect socialism, due to our own shortcomings, two plus two often adds up to three.''

CASTRO'S CHANGES

In the 18 months since he took office, Castro restructured the nation's agricultural system to give idle land to farmers, hoping they would revive a deeply troubled state-run agricultural industry plagued by inefficiency. He also allowed taxi drivers to have private licenses; many were working illegally anyway.

Castro suggested it was time to rethink fundamentals such as deep subsidies for everyone. He started by saving $350 million by closing workplace cafeterias at four government ministries. Workers got a slight boost in pay as a result.

Full Article: http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/1281788.html

The Perfect Mojito

Kevin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:49:26 +0000

The Perfect Mojito

Text by Jack Litrell | Cuba Absolutely

The Mojito, Cuba's signature cocktail, storied and legendary. Havana nights, Hemingway, El Ron de Cuba. But what's a mojito anyway? Examples abound. Is it the rum drink with the dollop of mint served in trendy bars wordwide - even in the USA? The quality varies; it's even possible to have a terrible mojito in Havana. How do we find the real mojito, el mojito perfecto?

Ernesto Perez Santos, now retired, had a long and illustrious career in the Havana hotel scene. Working and managing in many of the top hotels - the Ingleterra, the Victoria, the Presidente, and others, Ernesto is especially fond of his stint as barman at the Habana Libre. It was here that he honed his techniques in creating cocktails with Cuban rum. When Havana Club was invited to present their rum at the prestigious Unita festival in Italy, they sent Ernesto. His attention to detail and presentation put Cuban rum in the spotlight.

At a casa particular in Havana's Vedado district that he manages, Ernesto enthused about the rum cocktails, daiquiri, presidente, bandera, and of course the mojito. Knowing all too well the demise of quality, he was eager to share his knowledge of the correct formulation.

With lime from a tree in the yard, and his potted yerba buena, here's Ernesto's recipe:

1. Put 1 ½ tsp sugar in a tall 8oz. glass. Place a generous sprig of mint on top of sugar.
2. Add 1 shot of lime juice and a splash of soda water.
3. Macerate the mint vigorously. This releases the oil in the mint leaves, and begins to dissolve the sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
4. Add 1 shot white Cuban rum. Put 2 or 3 ice cubes in the glass. Top up with soda water. Stir again, briefly.
5. Garnish with another sprig of fresh mint. Make it gorgeous.

Article link: http://www.cubaabsolutely.com/classic/perfect_mojito.html

2009 Latin Grammys - Tropical Nominees

Kevin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:41:08 +0000

2009 Latin Grammys - Tropical Nominees

Like the Grammy Awards, the Latin Grammys recognize artistic and technical excellence in the recording arts and sciences by peer vote (the Latin Grammy Awards Process). It has already come to represent the height of achievement in Latin music recording.

The 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will air live on the Univision Television Network on Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. Additionally, the telecast will be seen globally in more than 110 countries.

Best Salsa Album

Tranquilamente... Tranquilo by Oscar D'Leon

Asi Soy by Issac Delgado

Ciclos by Luis Enrique

Guasábara by José Lugo Orchestra

Contraste En Salsa by Gilberto Santa Rosa

Best Contemporary Tropical Album >>> Click Here

Taxi Centro Havana, direccion el Capitolio....

Kevin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:32:29 +0000

Taxi Habana Centro

Staying in El Vedado, I relied very heavily on these great 1950s cars to go to Centro Habana or Habana Vieja. As a tourist, you are supposedly not allowed to ride in them but I never had a problem... If the driver complains, just say that you are studying at the University of Havana ;).... Video by KevinHaddock.com

Havana Street Food Feeling Hungry?

Kevin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:58:16 +0000

Greasy, fried, ubiquitous and sometimes surprisingly tasty, Havana street food, while not for the weak-hearted, offers an intriguing mixture

EXERPT | Cuba Absolutely

It’s practically Cuba’s national dish—the ubiquitous hand-sized, folded pizza dripping with grease enclosed in a piece of manila paper. Then there’s the curious thin, long paper cone or cucurucho that mystifies the foreign visitor until they discover it full of surprisingly delicious roasted peanuts—the popularity of which is confirmed by the litter found at any bus stop, theatre, school or hospital exit everywhere and anywhere in the capital.

Or there’s the ice-cream cone topped with a questionable mix of flavours whipped up in the privacy of someone’s home and sold from their window: strawberry-and-pineapple, chocolate-and-something-else-not-quite-identifiable, or just plain vanilla.

Havana has a huge variety of fast foods which are sold from stands, windows, wheelbarrows and baskets. Street traders wander about hawking their merchandise in the same manner as peddlers of yesteryear who soldvegetables and fruit. There’s even a famous song about the peanut (maní) vendor: “¡Maní! Manisero se va. Caserita no te acuestes a dormir sin probar un cucurucho de maní.” (Peanuts! The peanut vendor’s going. Don’t go to bed, little housewife, without tasting a cucurucho of peanuts).

Street stalls offer a mixed selection of foods that are sweet or salty, solid or liquid—and almost always deep-fried. The most common street food include the Cuban pizza—a thick piece of dough with a thin layer of well-seasoned tomato sauce and cheese sprinkled on top; a ham sandwich or bocadito de jamón, which is made of cured ham stuffed with bacon with a dab of mayonnaise; natural and un-natural juices; peanut cucuruchos; small guava pastries usually sold from cardboard boxes by retired people; and ice-cream.

Aside from these there’s a wide assortment of heart-attack-in-the-hand fritters of which Cubans are very fond: churros or dough that is deep-fried and cut into finger-size strips; chicharitas de plátano, paper-thin slices of plantain fried in oil; frituras de malanga, grated taro mixed with egg and crushed garlic and then, of course, deep-fried; and tostones, fried flattened pieces of plantain that are crusty on the outside and tender on the inside.

Full Article: http://www.cubaabsolutely.com/articles2008/Havanastreet_food_complete.html

New Charanga Forever CD Coming Soon

Kevin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:08:25 +0000

New Charanga Forever CD Coming Soon

Our sources say that a new album is in the works.... CF has a new lineup and an amazing new single called Casanova:

New York Rhythm: Viva la Variedad!

Kevin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:39:20 +0000

New York Rhythm: Viva la Variedad!

EXERPT | NYTimes July 23, 2009

THREE in the morning had come and gone on Sunday when the band went onstage, but the dance floor at the El Morocco club in Hamilton Heights had been packed for hours. As soon as La Banda Gorda, which had flown up from Santo Domingo for the show, broke into the telltale galloping rhythm of merengue, the crowd erupted with applause and joyous shouts and surged into motion.

There is an old and familiar lament one hears a lot in New York City, harking back to a supposed golden age of Latin music in the 1950s and ’60s, and it goes something like this: Things ain’t what they used to be. You can hardly find places to see good live performances of salsa, a genre that was practically invented in New York, much less other Latin styles, or so goes the complaint.

Well, yes and no, as the frenetic scene at this year-old club suggested. It’s true that clubs like the Palladium and El Corso, where Latin music used to be featured all week long, no longer exist. But with the hip-hop influenced reggaetón craze having clearly peaked, New York Latinos are again hungry to see live bands, especially those playing music that they can dance to, whether salsa, merengue, timba, rock en Español or cumbia. And in a throwback to the good old days, non-Latinos are also joining in, drawn by the free salsa dancing lessons that precede many shows.

“The scene hasn’t died out, it’s just changed,” said Eddie Batiz, a D.J. and promoter who runs the Cafe Remy in Brooklyn, which focuses on live salsa with a dash of merengue and bachata on weekends. “Reggaetón came and destroyed the salsa generation, but there was definitely an oversaturation, and now people want to get back to their roots and try to mix things up, which means there’s interest in everything from romantic salsa to hard-core mambo and cha-cha-cha.”

NY Times Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/arts/music/24latin.html

Cuban Exile’s Plan for a Ferry From Miami to Havana Is Awaiting U.S. Approval - NYTimes

Kevin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:19:43 +0000

Cuban Exile’s Plan for a Ferry From Miami to Havana Is Awaiting U.S. Approval - NYTimes

EXERPT | Article by Damien Cave

MIAMI — Imagine a ferry from Miami to Havana that costs far less than a flight. Cuban-Americans, who can now visit the island without restriction, could eat lechón on deck, then deliver a shipping container of food to needy relatives by morning.

Armando Ruiz says his proposed ferry service to Cuba would benefit people with less money.
Armando Ruiz, 72, a Cuban exile and former concert promoter, has dreamed of this for a decade. Now he thinks it might actually happen — if the Obama administration approves his application for a license.

“He says he wants to help the Cuban people,” Mr. Ruiz said, referring to President Obama. “How can he do it without a ship?”

Until recently, Miami’s community of Cuban exiles was considered far too volatile to handle a ferry cruising from Florida to Cuba for the first time since 1962 . But Mr. Ruiz’s proposal shows how much the political climate here has changed.

It is faith in pent-up demand for a new approach that has led Mr. Ruiz to consider chartering a $23 million, 600-cabin cruise-ferry from a dealer in Lithuania. It may also be the dream of riches, which he denies, or family legacy, which he does not. But for the White House, his proposal mainly shows how a shift from policymakers can produce demands that outpace diplomatic deliberation.

Ever since the president announced plans in April to encourage contact with Cuba by letting Cuban-Americans travel back whenever they wanted and send more money and gifts, the administration has found itself fending off pressure to move more quickly toward normalized relations.

Cuban officials, some members of Congress and travel companies like Orbitz have all demanded that the travel ban be lifted, not just for Cuban exiles but for all Americans. Charter flight operators in Miami, after praising the new approach, spent the summer complaining that the administration took too long to publish regulations that put the policy for Cuban-Americans into effect.

And now that the new rules are out — published in the Federal Register this month — entrepreneurs are stepping up with ideas for expanding links with Cuba.

Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13cuba.html

Latest Videos from the Latino Americando Festival

Kevin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:12:44 +0000

Videos of La Charanga Habanera, Adalberto Alvarez, Habana D'Primera, Gente d'Zona & La India with Issac Delgado

Timba Articles

New CD by La Bolá

Cuba Gives 'Socialism lite' a Try as Recession Deepens

The Perfect Mojito

2009 Latin Grammys - Tropical Nominees

Best Salsa Album

Best Contemporary Tropical Album >>> Click Here

Taxi Centro Havana, direccion el Capitolio....

Havana Street Food Feeling Hungry?

New Charanga Forever CD Coming Soon

New York Rhythm: Viva la Variedad!

Cuban Exile’s Plan for a Ferry From Miami to Havana Is Awaiting U.S. Approval - NYTimes

Latest Videos from the Latino Americando Festival

Still a goddess at 69!