Cuba Dances Reggaeton  12/25/2012 Havana Culture: scroll down for image links to popular Cuban reggaeton players.

Reggaetón vs. Nueva Trova (Esp)  12/21/2012 Havana Times: "…los sucedido el pasado día 16 de noviembre en la provincia de Ciego de Ávila, donde se debía celebrar el concierto por el 45 aniversario de la Nueva Trova. Los jóvenes trovadores protagonistas del concierto se llevaron la desagradable sorpresa al ver al supuesto público, integrado por jóvenes y adolescentes, que los obligaron a suspender el concierto ante la reiterada y descompuesta manera de pedir que los trovadores fueran sustituidos por el ya omnisciente ritmo del reggaetón."

Reggaeton vs. Nueva Trova (Eng)  12/21/2012 Havana Times: "They were talking about what happened on November 16th in Ciego de Avila Province, where people were supposed to celebrate a concert marking the 45th anniversary of Nueva Trova. The young trova singers who were featured there got a nasty surprise when they saw the supposed audience — composed of younger people and teens — force them to cancel the concert with their repeated and upsetting manner of asking that those trova tunes be replaced by the now omniscient rhythms of reggaeton."

Alkana. Reggaetonera, rapera, mc  12/20/2012 Havana Cultura: "Mileidys González, alias Alkana, is one of the main ambassadors of the feminine branch of the Cubaton Hip Hop. Describing herself as a true “feminist”, she regrets the lack of representation that afflicts women in her musical scene. “If you speak about hip-hop, you’ll always end up speaking about men first, and you’ll have to dig deeper to find something else. That scandalizes me, because there’s a lot of women doing a great job”, she explains."

Chucho to Star in Havana Plaza Jazz Festival  12/15/2012 Juventud Rebelde

Cuba cracks down on 'vulgar' reggaeton music  12/8/2012 Guardian, UK: "Musicians who play reggaeton are threatened with being struck off official lists, making it harder for them to work, and recordings are already being purged from official catalogues. Radio and television stations are also under pressure to drop reggaeton – though Cubans can still turn their dials to radio stations in nearby Miami or elsewhere."

¿Quién ha inventado que en Cuba se ha prohibido el reggaeton?  12/7/2012 Rebelion: "Por contra, ninguno de estos medios mencionó una sola vez la palabra “gobierno” al informar de que, hace meses, un videoclip de la famosa cantante Rihanna fue retirado de las televisiones de once países, incluyendo Reino Unido y Francia (15); otro de Robbie Williams era eliminado de la BBC por presión de varias asociaciones de pensionistas (16); y otro de No Doubt fue retirado por el propio grupo tras las protestas de colectivos indígenas, por mencionar solo tres casos recientes (17). En la citada entrevista al presidente del Instituto Cubano de la Música, Orlando Vistel menciona otro de los aspectos denunciados por intelectuales y músicos de la Isla: la ínfima calidad musical de gran parte de los temas reggaeton que, a pesar de ello, cuentan con una desproporcionada presencia en la radio y la televisión del país. El funcionario propone en la entrevista una regulación en los medios cubanos para retornar a un equilibrio de estilos musicales, que refleje la inmensa variedad y riqueza musical de Cuba, hoy parcialmente eclipsada por la hegemonía del reggaeton."

Cuba: Reggaeton Hit ‘Chupi Chupi' Denounced by Authorities  12/7/2012 Global Voices: "[It’s] known that censorship and banning only stimulates consumption of what is prohibited. Over the past few days people haven’t stopped talking about the “Chupi case,” and those who hadn’t yet seen the video have gone running to find it. What makes it subversive has had an inverse effect on—and made attractive—everything that disgusts the authorities."

Cuba cracks down on Reggaeton music  12/6/2012 NBC Latino

Cuba cracks down on 'vulgar' reggaeton music  12/6/2012 The Guardian

Cuban Government Censors Reggaeton and "Sexually Explicit" Songs  12/6/2012 ABC Univision: "Although reggaetton and hip hop musicians are not a direct threat to the Cuban government, they have amassed a large following and audience across the island," Raices wrote. "Over recent years, the music scene in Cuba has become increasingly reflective of the diversity and interests of its population and has become an outlet for their observations and for communication among its citizenry."

5 videos de reggaetón que Cuba reprueba  12/5/2012 Union Jalisco: "Estos son algunos videos del género, de artistas originarios de Cuba; conóce las letras que incomodaron al gobierno cubano:"

Contra el reggaetón, nada  12/5/2012 Nuevo Herald: "El reggaetón sobrevivirá, sin embargo, la presente andanada puritana por dos razones principales. En primera porque sus grabaciones circulan de modo alternativo en un país sin mercado oficial para esos menesteres y en segunda, por lo rentable que resulta para la industria del turismo contratar a uno, dos o tres cantantes y un DJ, que son los componentes del reggaetón, en vez de una orquesta, para amenizar sitios nocturnos donde la entrada puede sobrepasar los $100 o CUC, la moneda convertible cubana."

Ni la vulgaridad ni la mediocridad podrán mellar la riqueza de la música cubana  11/30/2012 Granma: "Las instituciones culturales y los Consejos de la Administración en las provincias y los municipios cuentan con la autoridad y el deber de velar por la correcta aplicación de la política cultural. Pero insisto: las medidas administrativas y jurídicas no son efectivas por sí mismas si no van acompañadas por una labor de orientación, esclarecimiento y convencimiento acerca de los valores que debemos promover".

Cantante del “Chupi Chupi” acusa de censor al ministro de Cultura  11/26/2012 Café Fuerte: “¿Cómo pudo un ministro de la cultura ir en contra de lo que quiere y prefiere su país?”, se cuestiona el músico. “Quién se cree que es para hacer callar a la expresión más pura de Dios que es la música porque a él no le guste, y despojarme a mí, el supuesto músico que él esta representando, de lo que tanto he llorado, he luchado, he trabajado, he sufrido, he anhelado, he soñado, he respetado y moriré amando…”

La vulgaridad en nuestra música: ¿una elección del “pueblo cubano”?  11/23/2012 Granma: por Doctora María Córdova

Looking back at son  11/22/2012 Granma: [Typical of current thinking in Cuban official media, this article discusses some of the Spanish roots of son and none of the African, which are of great importance. For a more realistic view, see Eugene Godfried works, especially Buena Vista Social Club: Critics, self-criticism, and the survival of Cuban Son, 11/00 and Cuban Popular Music: Renewal From Above, 9/04.]

HOMENAJE AL RUMBERO MAYOR DE CUBA  10/31/2012 UNEAC: "En Ciego de Ávila, al centro del archipiélago cubano, cada día cobra mayor auge este género musical, quizás por la herencia recibida desde las primeras décadas del siglo XX en que cientos de matanceros llegaron hasta estos parajes en busca de trabajo en las zonas portuarias al sur de la provincia. Con ellos trajeron su cultura, religiosidad y también sus bailes. Así hizo estancia José Rosario Oviedo, más conocido por Malanga, el rumbero mayor de Cuba."

La Comparsa’s One Hundred Years  10/24/2012 Cuba Now: "For the glory of Cuban music, this Lecuona piece has been played on famous national and international stages, not only in its original piano version, but also in arrangements for various instruments and orchestral groups. Today an icon of the Hispano-American musical stave, La Comparsa is one of the forerunners of Afrocubanismo (African-Cuban ways of expression), a movement born in the decade of 1920s, whose top representatives were researcher Fernando Ortiz, writer Nicolás Guillén, plastic artist Wifredo Lam and musicians like Amadeo Roldán and Alejandro García Caturla, among others. The exhibition presented by the National Dance Museum as well as showing the original score of La Comparsa. Danza Cubana No 2, and the photo of Ernesto Lecuona’s grave in Westchester, New York, reflects the composer’s links with dance, among whose faithful exponents is the National Ballet of Cuba directed by prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso."

Los Gangá Longobá, retadores del tiempo  10/10/2012 Televisión Camagüey: "La afrocubanía que hoy reverbera en el cabildo de la calle Pedro Arrieta, en el municipio de Perico, provincia de Matanzas, proviene de las tradiciones de Josefa Diago, nombre que según la historiadora Alessandra Basso, dieron los esclavistas, en el ingenio Santa Elena, a una mujer del llamado continente sin frío. Aunque desde 1816 los ritos de esa etnia se conocen en el territorio ubicado a cerca de 180 kilómetros al este de La Habana, desde junio de 1983, por iniciativa de Linda Diago -bisnieta de Josefa- el grupo folklórico Gangá Longobá muestra a toda la Isla la riqueza musical de las costumbres que defiende."

MARKETING, CUBANISIMO and RICARDO ALVAREZ The positive danceable energy of Latin Cuban Music  10/8/2012 Cuba Music

SOME NOTES ON REGGAETON  9/25/2012 Cuba Now: "Other equally important elements have made daily contributions to the proliferation of fads and modalities found in reggaeton; among them, we must stress the high marketing level music has today in the contemporary world. It's not by chance that Miami’s Music Czar Emilio Estefan has shown so much interest in the work of Puerto Rican reggaeton musician Don Omar, or the fact that Sony Music has dedicated space in its productions to members of the reggaeton family, like Buddha’s Family, Mickey Perfecto or Noztra, or that Universal -another great music producer and distributor- has also become interested in that Caribbean phenomenon. You have to sell recordings and that's done where marketing points to. In the contemporary world, trade is centralized in urban zones, which are their basic sources of income because most of the circulation of merchandise takes place there and the buyers are the great number of people who live there. If we take into consideration that a good amount of that public is formed by people with low incomes whose culture is formed in the group of values determined by their belonging to a basically dispossessed and politically dominated social class, we can have an idea of the kind of artistic product they can buy."

The Essence of Cuba and Africa in Dance  9/11/2012 CubaNow: "Strength, abundance of energy, the fusion of dance and percussion are the basic ingredients of Habana Compás Dance, a company founded in 2004 by dancer and choreographer Liliet Rivera Puentes. “Looking for a hallmark to define the company, we included contemporary dance, African-Cuban music and flamenco in our repertoire, highlighting the role of polyrhythm,” explains the director."

Yusa's new album is out!  9/8/2012 Havana Cultura: "Cuban singer and composer Yusa is currently promoting her new album, Libro de cabecera en tardes de café. The album— Yusa’s fifth—was recorded earlier this year in Havana and Buenos Aires. It features songs by songwriters that Yusa considers essential to her musical identity."

Paulito FG will celebrate his artistic life 25 anniversary at the Karl Marx  8/31/2012 CUBARTE: "The summer came to an end and the Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales (EGREM) tries to give a long lasting memory of this summer end. Is there anything better to give a farewell to the summer than Paulo FG?. I think only a few options can exceed this. That is why the Sofocador de La Habana, as he is know will offer a concert at the Havana Karl Marx theatre, on Saturday 1st of September, at 9pm"

Homage in Cuba to Trinidadian Artist Patricia Bishop  8/30/2012 Norman Girvan: "In a recent press conference, Trinidadian ambassador to Cuba Jennifer Jones invited the Cuban people to participate in the homage-paying gala for Bishop, who became an icon of her country’s cultural area, Pl news agency reported. Patricia Bishop was granted numerous distinctions for her work as musical director, musicologist, fashion designer, historian and civil rights activists. She was the first musician to have achieved a combination of a steel band with a symphonic orchestra."

Music & Revolution  8/20/2012 Scribd/UC Press: by Robin D. Moore, published in 2006 in Music of the African Diaspora

Club Cubano Inter-Americano - Fiesta del Mamoncillo 2012  8/18/2012 YouTube

Este viernes 17: Reggae en Alamar por Marcus Garvey  8/16/2012 Red Observatorio Crítico: "Un género común para grupos de músicos de La Habana, quienes “vienen trabajando en uno de los géneros más representativos del Caribe y menos promocionado en Cuba”. “Sus influencias y aportes a la nueva generación de la música popular son de nuestro interés, así como visualizar una muestra de sus exponentes en La Habana” –explican los organizadores en un promocional. “El homenaje al nacimiento de Marcus Garvey…” será realizado por “…un Grupo de Artistas y Promotores de la Música, con la colaboración de la Dirección Municipal de Cultura de Habana del Este…” –contiene la nota."

Mala in Cuba (NOT MALI in Cuba)  8/8/2012 Afropop Worldwide: "We can now add Mala, half of Digital Mysticz and one of Dubstep’s founding fathers, to this growing list. Invited to Cuba by Gilles Patterson, a highly influential BBC DJ/label owner who had previously released projects featuring Cuban musicians (2009’s Havana Cultura and 2011 Havana Cultura 2: The Search Continues), Mala embarked on the journey with no premeditated goal in mind. According to an interview with FACT magazine, “The plan was literally just go to Cuba, link up with some musicians, check out the vibes, and then see what happens.”

New documentary focuses on the new generation of Cuban musicians  7/27/2012 Havana Cultura: "Havana, Havana! is a documentary directed by American film director David Grubin that gives an account of the homecoming of four Cuban musicians—Raúl Paz, Descemer Bueno, Kelvis Ochoa, and David Torrens—previously established abroad. The film will be aired on PBS Arts on July 27th as part of its Summer Arts Festival."

Toumani Diabaté and AfroCubism Featured on CNN's "African Voices"  7/20/2012 Nonesuch: "AfroCubism, the supergroup of Cuban and Malian singers and instrumentalists, made a rare tour of North America last month. CNN caught up with band member Toumani Diabaté to discuss the project in a piece for CNN's African Voices. "His collaborations and his vision," says CNN, "pairing the unique sound of the kora with instruments from across the globe, open up a world of possibility, all the while maintaining his roots at home in West Africa." Watch the full story, featuring clips from AfroCubism's performance at Bonnaroo, and an extended interview with Diabaté, here."

A new album by Eme Alfonso  7/19/2012 Havana Cultura: "Cuban singer Eme Alfonso releases Eme, her second solo album, this summer. The CD draws its inspiration from 1950s Cuban music and combines soul with boleros, son, and other Latin beats. Prominent figures of the Cuban musical scene, including Pedro Luis Ferrer, Harold López-Nussa, and X-Alfonso, contributed to the project. The album’s first video, “Buscando inspiración” [‘in the search for inspiration’], is already available on Youtube."

Program: Hip Deep Angola Part 3: A Spiritual Journey to Mbanza-Kongo  7/18/2012 Afropop Worldwide: "Dr. Martínez’s forthcoming book, KONGO GRAPHIC WRITING AND OTHER NARRATIVES OF THE SIGN (Temple University Press), promises a major step forward in our understanding of, among other things, the relationship of Africa to Afro-Cuba. Even among the field of brilliant scholars we have today, Bárbaro Martínez Ruiz is special. I don’t know of anyone else with the multiple skills that Dr. Martínez has brought to bear on this study all at once, and I don’t know anyone who’s done more arduous fieldwork. He’s revolutionizing our knowledge about basic issues of Kongo culture and its connection to the diaspora, using a multi-disciplinary tool kit that includes art, anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, history, religious studies, cultural studies, philosophy, African studies, Latin American studies – and, needless to say, music. – Ned Sublette"

New Beat rising: Krudas Cubensi's revolutionary sound reaches Austin and beyond  7/4/2012 Austin 360: "They took the microphones and rapped about being fat and proudly so, being feminist, black and vegan. The power of these never-before-heard rhymes hit the mostly male crowds in Cuba's capital hard. Unsuspecting audiences during early Krudas Cubensi shows left shocked, in a dizzying haze of powerful poetry and socially conscious rap. During Cuba's hip-hop infancy, male rappers had already begun raising consciousness about race and class. "But the topic of gender was never touched," said Krudas Cubensi MC Olivia Prendes in Spanish. Krudas Cubensi now call Austin home. Still on a mission for social justice, their hard-hitting music has spread to an international crowd. Their new album, "Levántate" ("Get Up"), debuts Friday with a CD release party at Esquina Tango in East Austin. "Levántate" features collaborations with both Mexican and Cuban artists."

The Carpintero´s Irreversible Conga  7/1/2012 Cuba Absolutely: "To the beat of drums and metals, and music by Yosvay Terry, Los Carpinteros’s urban intervention proposed a backwards conga, with dancers dressed in black, and music and lyrics played and sung in reverse—a true “anticonga,” although the artists’ imprint is visible in the design of the costumes and implements."

Changüí Renews Itself  6/18/2012 CubaNow: "The Elio Revé Matos Changüí Festival held in Guantánamo gave a new impulse to the rhythm born in this eastern Cuban city, with the participation of two orchestras of such renowned prestige as Revé’s Charangón and Los Van Van. Organized by Elito Revé, heir to the musician of the same name and founder of several groups, the yearly festival seeks to renew a genre that has been the basis of other forms of the rich staff of Cuban music. Elito agreed to an interview with Cubanow."

African music and the Cuban sensibility  6/14/2012 Granma: "All this has a bearing because of the question that we asked ourselves when, in the Sandton Convention Center theater, we were overwhelmed by the sonoric value of music from South Africa and Mali. How much would Cuban music lovers gain if they heard on the radio and saw on TV, with merited frequency, the magnificent contributions of Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Hugh Masekela, Sibongile Khumalo and Salif Keita?"

Al compas de Cuba (1960) Dir. Mario Gallo  6/14/2012 YouTube: "Documentary on Cuban music, rumba, regla de ocha (Santería) and Abakuá."

AfroCubism Kicks Off Four-City North American Tour at Bonnaroo, Followed by Celebrate Brooklyn! Set  6/7/2012 Nonesuch: "In 1996, a group of Mali’s best-known musicians were due to fly to Havana for a collaboration with Cuban singers and instrumentalists. However, the Malians never arrived due to travel complications, and a very different album was recorded instead: the Grammy Award–winning, multi-million-selling Buena Vista Social Club, which became the biggest selling “world music” album ever. Nearly a decade and a half later, the original invitees were finally brought together to record with a line-up of additional talent, and in 2010, World Circuit/Nonesuch Records released AfroCubism—featuring Toumani Diabaté, Eliades Ochoa, Bassekou Kouyate, and more—to critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination."

Paulo FG: a popular favorite for 25 years  5/4/2012 Granma: ""In music," he asserted at the Adagio, "there’s room for all, people have different musical preferences, like different genres, trova, boleros; we are identified with timba, which maintains the essence of son, but is more aggressive, more fusion, played more relaxed and stronger."

Yaokende, fusión única, en Romerías de Mayo  5/1/2012 Romerías de Mayo: "El grupo de Teatro Hip Hop AfroCubano “Yaokende” -único de su tipo en el país- animará con sus performances los parques y bulevares de la ciudad de Holguín, durante las XIX Romerías de Mayo. La agrupación, cuyo nombre significa rebeldía afroamericana, se ajusta a escenarios artísticos tanto urbanos como rurales, para cultivar espectáculos que mezclan teatro, folklore, narración oral, Spoken Word y conciertos de rap."

The latest 2012 Cuban Reggaeton in the brand new compilation of the "Cuba Top Reggaeton" Hit series  4/11/2012 Cuba Music

Carlos Aldama’s Life in Batá by Umi Vaughan and Carlos Aldama, Indiana University Press  3/22/2012 EthnoCuba: "Batá identifies both the two-headed, hourglass-shaped drum of the Yoruba people and the culture and style of drumming, singing, and dancing associated with it. This book recounts the life story of Carlos Aldama, one of the masters of the batá drum, and through that story traces the history of batá culture as it traveled from Africa to Cuba and then to the United States. For the enslaved Yoruba, batá rhythms helped sustain the religious and cultural practices of a people that had been torn from its roots. Aldama, as guardian of Afro-Cuban music and as a Santería priest, maintains the link with this tradition forged through his mentor Jesus Pérez (Oba Ilu), who was himself the connection to the preserved oral heritage of the older generation. By sharing his stories, Aldama and his student Umi Vaughan bring to light the techniques and principles of batá in all its aspects and document the tensions of maintaining a tradition between generations and worlds, old and new. The book includes rare photographs and access to downloadable audio tracks."

DJ Saul: “There will be an explosion of Cuban electronic music in the world”  2/23/2012 Cuban Art News: "A Cuban-American DJ visits Cuba and discovers the local electronic music scene."

Disrupted Femininity  2/7/2012 Cuba Now: "In Cuba, reggaeton usually reproduces a passive image of women which, from a prevailing stereotype of beauty, are presented as if their essence were that of sexual objects. Lyrics present a high male chauvinist contents and an extremely vulgar language. The present essay, from a feminist standpoint, analyzes this phenomenon."

Quinquenio Gris: la música “prohibida”  2/6/2012 La Joven Cuba: "Hubo que esperar cuarenta años para que John Lennon pudiera sentarse en un parque habanero, si bien en décadas pasadas poseer un disco de los Beatles podía representar un dura reprimenda y ser tildado de blandengue, actualmente la canción Imagine de Lennon se transmite entre la Mesa Redonda y el Noticiero Nacional, si esto no es ejemplo de lo relativo de nuestras vidas, no sé qué lo será. Hace pocos días presencié un debate entre dos amigos, uno se quejaba de que hay quienes emplean el Quinquenio Gris como recurso y padecen de un victimismo exacerbado, este fenómeno es cierto y lo he observado más de una vez, pero el otro le replicaba con un argumento infalible: el Quinquenio merece ser recordado cada vez que amerite, es algo así como el Holocausto, ¿a quién se le ocurriría reclamar que los judíos hagan tabula rasa de lo ocurrido en la II Guerra Mundial?"

Music in the Hispanic Caribbean, by Robin Moore (2010)  1/17/2012 EthnoCuba: "In case you have missed it, Robin Moore has a new book exploring the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Rather than focusing narrowly on a single island nation, the wider Caribbean focus is welcome, and as always, he writes elegantly and succinctly. And the book includes a sleeve with full-length CD as well! Music in the Hispanic Caribbean: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, 2010, Oxford University Press."

JAZZ CELEBRATION IN HAVANA Gonzalito Rubalcaba: world musical event  12/29/2011 Granma: "THE 27th Jazz Plaza International Festival 2011 was a real celebration. Prominently featured in the festival was Gonzalito Rubalcaba, an international piano phenomenon. Other eminent figures in the world of jazz included Arturo O’Farrill, Will Calhoun, and Kash Killion from the U.S., plus Neil Leonard (Berklee College of Music); the Laberinto del Caos group from Mexico; Indian Naad Braahan, Polish Mateuz Kolakowsky, the Japanese Nori Brothers, and the Austrian Triple Ace Trio. Cuba was comprehensively represented by jazz singers and bands, among others, Roberto Fonseca, Rolando Luna, Aldo López Gavilán, Yasek Manzano, Julito Padrón, César López, the López-Nussa family, Bobby Carcassés, Frank Fernández, and Joaquín Betancourt and his Jazz Band."

Gonzalito Rubalcaba: A World Class Musician  12/25/2011 PL: "The 27th International Jazz Plaza Festival gained extra prominence with the visit of Gonzalo Julio Gonzalez Fonseca, a.k.a Gonzalito Rubalcaba, an authentic Cuban "piano man." After 10 years without any presentation for Cuban audiences, Gonzalito Rubalcaba´s presence was highly anticipated by jazz lovers."

Liberation of the Drum (1937-1945)  12/5/2011 Afropop Worldwide: "Spotlights a crucial period in the formation of modern Cuban music. During this time the conga drum – which had previously been prohibited in public places where whites went – took its place in the popular Cuban dance band. It was the era that saw the emergence of Miguelito Valdés, possibly the most important Cuban vocalist of the century; Arsenio Rodríguez, the great Congo-descended innovator; and Arcaño y Sus Maravillas, with Cachao on bass, who began to play ritmo nuevo – new rhythm – and invented something they called “mambo”. With guest co-hosting and produced by Ned Sublette, author of the critically acclaimed Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo, with the participation of experts in the field, as part of Afropop Worldwide’s “Hip Deep” series."

The Fertile Crescent: Haiti, Cuba and Louisiana  12/5/2011 Afropop Worldwide: "In 1809, the population of New Orleans doubled almost overnight because of French-speaking refugees from Cuba. You read that right– French-speaking refugees from Cuba– part of a wave of music and culture that emigrated from east to west in the wake of the Haitian Revolution. We’ll look at the distinct African roots of these three regions, and compare what their musics sound like today. In this Hip Deep edition of Afropop Worldwide, our colleague Ned Sublette, author of “Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drum to the Mambo,” will talk with Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, author of “Africans in Colonial Louisiana”. Produced by Ned Sublette."

Soy Tata Nganga: lo inmenso de las cosas sencillas (+ Fotos)  10/21/2011 CubaDebate: "El motivo lo justificaba plenamente: la premiere del documental Soy Tata Nganga, cinta en la cual afloran audacia, alegría, pasión, fervor, añoranzas, musicalidad, pertenencia. es como el viaje imaginario al Paraíso Espiritual que el artista del lente Roberto Chile, de vasta obra, nos regala en esta obra nacida más de su corazón, que de su ojo avizor."

Arsenio Rodríguez, a classic of son  10/6/2011 Granma: "THIS year commemorates the centenary of the birth of Arsenio Rodríguez, one of the giants of Cuban son, a founding musician, the example and guide of Latino salsa in the Americas. The people of Güira de Macurijes in Matanzas province organized a birthday tribute to the great musician with a popular dance, headed by Pancho Amat y su Cabildo, in the same musical society in which Arsenio’s band played. Arsenio Travieso Scull was born August 30, 1911, as his birth certificate issued in Güines states. He adopted the artistic name of Arsenio later in his musical life; in those rural towns, the descendants of slaves took the last name of important slave owners."

YAOKENDE del Proyecto Espejos  9/23/2011 Radio Cadena: "La agrupación de Teatro Hip Hop Afrocubano celebrará sus 11 años de fundada, con un gran espectáculo -YAOKENDE (Rebeldía Afroamericana)- que tendrá lugar en el capitalino Palacio de la Rumba."

The Golden Age of Cuban Music  9/14/2011 Afropop Worldwide: "On January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro and his ragtag army marched into Havana and proclaimed victory in the Cuban revolution. Much of the world knew Cuba primarily from its 1930 megahit “El Manicero” (“The Peanut Vendor”) and from the mambo craze of the 1950's. After Castro came to power, the economic, political and cultural doors between Cuba and the U.S. would soon be shut. The doors opened briefly for tours by Cuban artists in the U.S. under the Carter and Clinton administrations. In this broadcast, we savor sounds from the pre-Revolutionary golden age of Cuban music that sets the scene for the international success of Cuban music. We illustrate how popular music in Africa and the Americas is not imaginable without the influence of Cuban music–copied and adapted on three continents. We’ll hear the stories and rare recordings of such core styles as son as well as luminaries such as Beny Moré, Arsenio Rodriguez, Celia Cruz and the Sexteto Habanero; along with less well known artists. [Originally aired in 2001. Produced by Ned Sublette]"

Próximo el festival OLORUM en Camagüey  9/8/2011 YouTube: "La quinta edición del festival de danza folklórica OLORUM tendrá lugar desde el próximo 15 al 18 de septiembre en la ciudad de Camagüey. Varias agrupaciones del país confirmaron su participación en la cita. Entrevistado: Reinaldo Echemendía/ Director del ballet folclórico."

Obini Bata: All–Women Afro–Cuban music group  9/1/2011 Cuba Absolutely: "When Obini Bata was founded in June of 1993, it was the first all-female group featuring Bata drumming. Eva Despainge Trujillo, Artistic Director, left the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba (the National Folkloric Company of Cuba—until today a reference point in Cuban dance and culture) to found Obini Bata. She explained that chauvinistic attitudes have followed the group throughout its history. Unfortunately, some Cubans—both men and women—have not been able to separate the group’s use of the Bata drums for an artistic purpose as opposed to a religious one. As Eva stated, “we put the religious world on stage as art.”

Celebrarán en Cuba encuentro Internacional de rumba cubana “Timbalaye”  8/25/2011 Cuba Debate: "La información fue dada a conocer en conferencia de prensa por Cary Diez, musicóloga, Vicepresidenta de la Unión de Escritores de Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) y miembro del Comité Organizador del encuentro."

Lyrical Subversion in Cuban Reggae  8/20/2011 Image & Narrative: Published in May, 2005 - "When several specialists express conservative opinions in using the term “Cuban reggae” as a solid genre, this essay is conceived as an approach to the social processes that catalyze the consolidation of a musical style --reggae-- in a given space – Cuba. My main argument is to emphasize that reggae was born in Cuba under the same conditions of marginalization and subordination that still today make it a lyrically subversive cultural tendency. It is necessary to note, however, that there is more than one type of reggae. I mainly focus on what is more universally identified as “roots” reggae without disregarding the interesting fusions of the Spanish Caribbean influences with Cuba's musical mainstream, which gave way to the so called reggaetón style. In characterizing “subversion” in a thematic analysis, the paper is based on a more cultural meaning in the mere political connotation of this word."

PAQUITO D’RIVERA: Pablito clavó un clavito  8/18/2011 Curra de Cuba: "“El trabajo los hará hombres”, rezaban amenazantes los enormes cartelones colocados a la entrada de los campamentos rodeados de alambres de púa; como si tanta crueldad los fuera a hacer dudar de la sagrada existencia de Mahoma o Jehová, ni renunciaran otros a sus heterodoxas fantasías eróticas más íntimas y privadas. Miles de jóvenes valiosos fueron forzados a servir en aquel satánico proyecto, y entre ellos uno de los personajes más brillantes y contradictorios de toda la historia musical de mi país: el trovador bayamés Pablo Milanés."

Cuba’s Pablo Milanes to perform at AmericanAirlines Arena in August  6/20/2011 Miami Herald: "One of Cuba’s most renowned musical artists will play Miami’s biggest venue in August. Singer-songwriter Pablo Milanes, a pillar of Cuban music for almost 50 years, will perform at AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 27 as part of his first U.S. tour since 1979. Tickets go on sale on Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. Friday."

Shooting of New Cuban Musical Completed  5/30/2011 Cuba Now: "Irremediablemente juntos, by Jorge Luis Sánchez, aims at touching important topics such as double standards, adultery, corruption and racial discrimination, through a love story."

The Legacy of Cuban Son: An Interview with Frank Oropesa of Septeto Nacional Ignacio Pineiro de Cuba  5/17/2011 Afropop Worldwide: "Ignacio Piñeiro was born in a rumbero neighborhood and was initiated into the rumba and Abakuá traditions from a very young age. He belonged to what is called the Efori Nkomon sect. Piñeiro was raised on these African rhythms, and he was the one who started to introduce elements of rumba into son. He began mixing these musical forms and also started the Coros de Clave Ñañiga (Abakuá singing groups) in Havana (ñañigo refers to a member of the Abakuá society)."

Festival de la Cultura Rastafari en Cuba  5/6/2011 Fotos desde Cuba

My Secret Timba: Jorge Gomez & Tiempo Libre  4/26/2011 Afropop Worldwide: "When he was teenager growing up in Havana, Jorge Gómez, director and keyboard player for the Miami-based timba band Tiempo Libre, would often climb to his rooftop in the wee hours of the morning. With his boombox rigged to a homemade antenna fashioned from metal clothes hangers and aluminum foil, carefully hidden from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors and government inspectors, he listened to the latest tunes beaming out of radio stations from across the Florida Straits. Like many Cubans, Jorge and his bandmates were proud heirs to the island’s fertile music culture but, at the same time, intensely curious about what was going on elsewhere in the music world, especially in the United States."

Alberto Nacif on Septeto Nacional de Cuba  4/4/2011 UMS Lobby: "The Septeto Nacional de Cuba, which was founded in 1927 by Ignacio Pineiro (1888–1969), contrabass player, singer, and composer will perform the real Cuban son, the music of the Cuban countryside that took over dance halls and clubs alike in the early 1930s. This music, which is the true progenitor of Salsa and is still popular in both urban and rural settings, originated in Oriente, a province 600 miles from Havana and was a combination of African-derived instruments with Spanish verse forms and stringed instruments. The son has syncopated rhythms and catchy melodies and harmonies which make this a music to sing and dance to."

UN DISCO EN CUBA PARA LA NEGRITUD  3/28/2011 UNEAC: "El Disco Negro de OBSESION, la más reciente producción de la agrupación rapera, está finalmente en manos de quienes siguen la música rap, ya sea en formato MP3 o en la singular y creativa edición de su presentación en físico. Y es que OBSESION, tal como declaró su director, Aleixei Rodríguez en el concierto de presentación del volumen, comenzó el camino de la lucha contra la discriminación racial y el racismo hace muchos años atrás, cuando el historiógrafo Tomás Fernández Robaina ?a quien considera su maestro? les invitó a conocer en profundidad de algunos acontecimientos históricos que marcan la identidad de las personas negras en la sociedad cubana."

Bebo Valdes - Amrkna  3/28/2011 YouTube

Chronicles of New York City Rumba (I)  3/13/2011 Ethnocuba: "Rumba is an Afro-Cuban performance culture characterized by its percussive music, dance and song; its main stylistic forms are the Columbia, the Yambú and the Guaguancó. Outside its native Cuba, New York City’s international metropolitan area is rumba’s second home with at least three rumbas open to the public every weekend."

Boletin Musica  1/24/2011 Casa de las Americas: "ANGELA LÜGNING - Etnomusicología en contextos comunitarios, ALESSANDRA BASSO ORTIZ - Los gangá longobá. El devenir de una comunidad religiosa afrocubana. PASCALE JAUNAY - Expresiones musicales de la población afrodescendiente asentada en Haití"

The Creole Choir of Cuba – UK tour – January/ February 2011  1/4/2011 Timba Geek: "Prepare to be blown away by The Creole Choir of Cuba – the passionate melodies, wild harmonies and richly textured arrangements of ten inspiring vocalists. This is something new from Cuba, the most original vocal sound to come out of the country in a long while. Desandann, the Choir’s Cuban name, literally means ‘descendents’ and with the songs on their album ‘Tande-La’ (which translates to ‘listen’) they tell the stories of their Haitian ancestors who were brought to Cuba to work in near slave conditions in the sugar and coffee plantations."

Paulo FG New Album ‘Sin Etiqueta’ is OUT!!!!  1/3/2011 Timba Geek: "News coming from one of the most famous Cuban artist inside and outside Cuba, finally the new album of Paulo FG ‘Sin Etiqueta’ is out on sale. Salsa, reggaeton and obviously timba are among the rhythms present in an album produced by Bis Music record label."

Arturo O’Farril’s Passions in Havana  1/3/2011 Cuba Now: "Recollections of the visit to Cuba by Arturo O’Farril, son of the late Cuban musician Chico O’Farril, one of the founders of Latin Jazz."

Havana Club presents ‘Danay Suarez – Havana Cultura Sessions’ – Available Now  1/2/2011 Timba Geek: "Havana Cultura – the global arts initiative by Havana Club that champions the work of some of Havana’s most exciting yet unseen creative talent – is presenting the latest chapter in Havana Cultura music releases. Under the creative directorship of Gilles Peterson, the first in a series of Havana Cultura Sessions highlights the vocal talents of Danay Suarez, backed by the masterful Roberto Fonseca and the elite Havana Cultura band."

Jazz in Havana, a Feast of Emotions  12/27/2010 CubaNow: "It is unquestionable: jazz will live as long as there are musicians like those who shook the stages and the public’s emotions during the recently concluded Festival Jazz Plaza 2010, a musical parade that exhibited a wealth of styles."

La percusión - Raíz africana del jazz  12/25/2010 Jiribilla: "Una anécdota singular sobre este hecho narra “…estando Mario Bauzá en una presentación con la Orquesta de Machito, terminaron de tocar un tema, y mientras los músicos de la banda buscaban la partitura de la próxima pieza, el pianista Luis Orestes Varona y el bajista Julio Andino comenzaron a tocar unas notas musicales improvisadas, con la finalidad de que el público continuara bailando en la pista. El resto de la base percusiva le siguió el compás. Posteriormente los metales hicieron lo suyo. "Al día siguiente, durante el ensayo, Bauzá solicitó a Orestes y a Julio que repitieran las notas que habían interpretado el día anterior, y a medida que la percusión se integraba, el resto de los músicos recibía instrucciones verbales sobre lo que debían interpretar. Al culminar con la pieza, la orquesta había desarrollado un arreglo con ingredientes latinos y jazzísticos. Esta pieza es considerada uno de los himnos del latin jazz, la cual lleva por nombre Tanga, cuya traducción del lenguaje yoruba significa marihuana.”

PANCHO TERRY - El chekeré jazzeado  12/25/2010 Jiribilla: "El niño que vio la luz en Florida en el año 1940 es hoy el “Don”, que ha colaborado con destacadas figuras del panorama musical cubano e internacional, como el trompetista norteamericano Wynton Marsalis, quien lo invitó especialmente a su último show habanero en octubre, a partir de que en los 2000 en New York, ya hubiera compartido con su orquesta."

Bobby Carcassés: “el toque del afrojazz”  12/25/2010 Jiribilla: "En el caso de Cuba, en ese tránsito del jazz afrocubano hacia jazz latino, ¿qué centralidad tuvo la percusión? La cosa no empieza con Chano Pozo, pues había ya en Nueva York otros percusionistas antes que él: Cándido Camero, Armando Peraza y otros. Pero no se puede obviar a Miguelito Valdés, que ya se encontraba allí, cantando y tocando su tumbadora. Fue él quien instó a Chano a viajar a EE.UU. Chico O’Farril y Mario Bauzá propiciaron en gran medida la presencia de los ritmos afrocubanos en el jazz. Nosotros preferimos el término afrocubano o afrojazz antes que jazz latino, ya que este tiene un 90 por ciento de los ritmos afrocubanos que de otros países —entiéndase cumbia, samba, plena, etcétera."

Jazz cubano, tam tam en la sangre  12/25/2010 Jiribilla: por Pedro de la Hoz - "La idea de colocar a la percusión cubana como eje temático central del Festival Internacional Jazz Plaza 2010 no solo trajo entusiasmo a los músicos participantes y a los amantes del género, sino puso en perspectiva la necesidad de tomar en cuenta, desde una visión mucho más honda, que rebase lo anecdótico, lo que han aportado los ejecutantes de esa familia de instrumentos a la conformación de los estilos predominantes en la escena jazzística contemporánea."

Machito, Bauzá, Dizzy y Chano Pozo  12/25/2010 Jiribilla

CHANO POZO - Algo más que una leyenda del tambor  12/25/2010 Jiribilla: "Chano Pozo, como músico popular, arrancaba al parche de sus tambores una sonoridad que pudiéramos considerar como críptica o muy personal, con el añadido de una práctica gestual danzaria de excepción —al bailar la rumba, Chano prefería el estilo jiribilla y la Columbia, marcado por acentuados patrones de origen bantú— y un raro estilo en una especie de canto, cargado por una gama de interjecciones aparentemente ancestrales. Alguna de estas cualidades resultaron aportes al tejido rítmico del Afro Cuban Jazz —como algunos, aun con cierta razón, prefieren llamar al latin jazz—, entonces encasillado en los EE.UU. por sus cultores como Bop."

The World Music Central site reviews the Enyenison Enkama Project.  12/20/2010 Repeating Islands: "The Enyenison Enkama Projekt celebrates the African roots in Cuban music, specifically a style called Abakuá. This new project is a continuation of an earlier project by Cuban rumba group Yoruba Andabo, which released an album titled Enyenison Enkama in 1997. Enyenison Enkama Project is based in New York City, led by the core Cuban musicians Roman Díaz, Pedro Martínez and Angel Guerrero."

Crossing Musical and Cultural Boundaries  12/10/2010 Berklee School of Music: "Interdisciplinary exchanges between Cuban artists and members of the Berklee community have yielded transformative experiences."

A Bembé at the Arangos’ Home in Cuba  12/1/2010 Berklee Blogs: "Still running on the adrenaline from their concert at the Museo de Bellas Artes, Berklee’s Interarts Ensemble went directly to a bembé celebrating the Yoruba diety Chango at the home of the musical Arango family. The two percussionist brothers and vocalist sister perform with their band (Hermanos Arango) internationally, and Eugenio, who is known for his work with Irakere and Pablo Milanes, had just performed with the Berklee students at the museum. His brother Feliciano is a pioneer of the timba style of bass in Cuban dance music."

El video clip LOS PELOS, ganador en los PREMIOS LUCAS 2010  11/29/2010 Negra Cubana Tenía Que Ser Una mujer negra que no es más otra, es ella misma bell hooks Negra Cubana Tenía Que Ser: "El video del tema musical Los Pelos, que reivindica la belleza negra y de su cabello rizo distintivo, obtuvo el premio a la mejor cinta en la categoría de hip hop en los populares Premios LUCAS 2010, que promocionan y reconocen a los creadores cubanos de este género publicitario. Dirigido por Melissa Riviere, este video clip recrea el texto de la canción homónima, del grupo de rap Obsesión, que critica al paradigma dominante de belleza en la actualidad, que remite al estereotipo de persona caucásica. “Creo que más que un premio al video clip como tal, el presente galardón otorgado por Lucas es una celebración del hip hop cubano, sobre todo aquel que hace propuestas para romper mitos y que lucha contra la discriminación racial y el racismo”, declaró Alexei Rodríguez, director de Obsesión."

AfroCubism  11/1/2010 Afropop Worldwide: "Even without its novel-like back story, Afrocubism is a project of insane ambition. Cuba’s Eliades Ochoa (tres, cuatro, vocals), as well as Malian maestros Djelimady Tounkara (guitar), Toumani Diabaté (kora), Bassekou Kouyaté (ngoni), and Kasse Mady Diabaté (vocals) all lead bands of their own. So that’s five chiefs steering an ensemble that includes Cuban and Malian percussionists and backing singers, balafon virtuoso Lassana Diabaté, and a brass section to boot. The first track, “Mali-Cuba” opens with a pendulous Cuban bass line establishing a deep Guantanamera-esque groove. Then with a strum of cuatro, the instrumentalists pounce all at once. Each one pokes above the sea of jangling notes for a brief introductory solo, and the wild ride that is Afrocubism begins. Cuban rhythms and Malian filigree riffing are the staples as these 14 tracks shift the focus among the individual musicians here, each one a staggering talent in his own right."

Jazz summit in Havana  10/14/2010 Granma: "TWO jazz legends came together in Havana: U.S. trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés for an indescribable jam session, because, to quote the well-known musician, "We all come together and we are one", from October 5 through 9."

Descarga final del concierto. Sekou de Anónimo Consejo  9/30/2010 Estado de Sats

Chucho's Steps  9/26/2010 All About Jazz: "The odyssey of pianist Chucho Valdés has been well documented from his early days in Cuba playing in his father Bebo's Sabor de Cuba Orchestra to the founding of Irakere and on to new pastures as he infused fresh blood into Latin music and jazz. Valdez has never been fettered; his ideas are constantly evolving, finding avenues that give his music broad scope. He filters the narrowest of nooks and fills them with his majestic vision. He is truly a giant who has extended the boundaries of jazz with a presence that locks into the larger context as a pianist, a band leader and composer. Valdés versatility shines resplendently on this CD. His compositions use a wide canvas on which he splashes a whirl of colors that spin headily or mark open spaces with deep daubs. The whole comes into sharp focus in his approach to the piano. Brimming with ideas that seem to swoop out with every touch of the keys, he can open a flood gate or lay back and play a temperate and soulful refrain."

Optimism Is No Sheer Folly  9/21/2010 Cuba Now: "After some time with the bands Sonido Contemporáneo and Síntesis, Menéndez, still unsatisfied, decided to create his own project. He wanted to fuse everything, to create a sound delta of stylistic convergence, one never before attempted: jazz, rock, son, traditional trova, the new song, funk, blues and even Cuban dancing music like bolero and danzón. And thus Mezcla came to light in 1985. The rest... a career with almost a dozen records, packed theatres, European and North American tours. Carlos Santana, who keeps the complete collection of the group, said that Mezcla, was “the cleanest and freshest water he ever tasted.”

Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra - Puerto Rico, More Than Salsa. November 6th, 2010 @ Symphony Space.  9/19/2010 All About Jazz: “This is the finest band I have ever performed with in my life. They make me feel as if I have returned to Cuba." —Bebo Valdés

Wynton Marsalis-led NY jazz band to travel to Cuba  9/9/2010 AP: "New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is traveling to Cuba next month for a series of concerts in Havana with bandleader Wynton Marsalis. The trip will be the first for the jazz band. The ensemble will perform several concerts from Oct. 5 to 9. Later in the month Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce the Afro-Cuban Jazz Celebration, featuring concerts in New York City."

ISSAC DELGADO  9/3/2010 Boston Herald: "On paper, this (mostly) Spanish-language tribute to Nat “King” Cole sounds treacherous. Matching Cole’s easy-listening songs with a Latin heartthrob singer might have resulted in a putrid romantic schmaltzfest. But Delgado, a superstar in his native Cuba who still flies under the radar in the United States even after relocating to Florida, puts his own Afro-Cuban jazz spin on Cole’s music."

Not Fidel's Cuba Anymore When Los Aldeanos Perform in Miami  9/1/2010 Huff Post

Buena Vista at the starting point?  8/16/2010 Granma: "The flyer circulated in Cartagena is self-explanatory: "Afrocubism is World Circuit’s dream project. It was Nick Gold’s original idea for the Buena Vista Social Club, a star collaboration between Malian and Cuban musicians. Thirteen years ago, a story of lost passports meant that the African musicians never arrived in Havana but, nevertheless other recordings were made."

From Jewish Roots in Brooklyn, a Sizzling Salsa Star  8/13/2010 NYT: "He [Larry Harlow] enrolled at Brooklyn College but eventually took off for Havana, where he attended music classes by day and hung out in clubs and dance halls at night. During that sojourn in the late 1950s, “I became salsified, totally absorbed into the Latin culture,” he said. “The music wasn’t called salsa yet, but I became an Afro-Cuban nut, just studying the history and the old photographs and going to see Beny Moré, Orquesta Riverside and all those people in person.” Returning to New York just as Fidel Castro came to power, he resumed playing as a sideman until forming his own orchestra, which had a distinctively brassy sound that paired trumpets and trombones with his percussive piano."

Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro, Legendary Cuban Son Septet to U.S. Tour  7/26/2010 Cuba Headlines: "Septeto Nacional, the famed Cuban son group founded by music pioneer Ignacio Piñeiro, will return for their second U.S. tour from September 1--September 20, 2010. The Septeto Nacional U.S. Tour 2010 promotes the group's new album Sin Rumba No Hay Son, coming soon in late September from Harmonia Mundi/World Village Records."

Ñaña Sere  7/14/2010 Cuba Calabar Radio: "Arsenio Rodriguez is one of Cubas most important composers. He was famous for many innovations in Cuban music such as the montuno section of the son and the Conjunto format, but most importantly for his way of incorporating afro-cuban folkoric music traditions especially Congo and Carabali into his music."

Yoruba por Flamenco estreno de la Compañía Flamenca ECOS  7/1/2010 Cuba Escena: "La Compañía Flamenca ECOS, que dirige el primer bailarín y coreógrafo Danny Villalonga, estrenará Yoruba por Flamenco hoy jueves 1ero. de julio a las 7:00 PM en la Sala Teatro del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. La dirección artística es de la primera bailarina Ana Rosa Meneses y la dirección musical del cantaor Miguel Chávez, ambos han invitado a artistas del Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba para mostrar los puntos de comunión existentes entre estas dos culturas… Yoruba por Flamenco pretende mostrar la afinidad existente entre la música flamenca y la yoruba. Aunque es la música la gran protagonista del espectáculo, la danza se pasea todo el tiempo durante la puesta, jugando con una imagen influenciada por lo tradicional y lo contemporáneo. Yoruba por Flamenco no intenta enfrentar dos culturas, aspira a mostrar cómo se acoplan con total dulzura, sentimiento y ritmo."

The Rise of Reggaeton  6/27/2010 Norient: "With a building presence in clubs and on radio in New York and Miami, a couple breakthrough hits were all that reggaeton needed to introduce its sensuous sounds to the mainstream. With its Spanglish verses and overt pan-Latino pride, New York-based rapper N.O.R.E.’s “Oye Mi Canto,” featuring Nina Sky and reggaeton stalwarts Tego Calderon and Daddy Yankee, explicitly pushed and promoted reggaeton to what had become — thanks to 2003’s banner year for dancehall — a reggae-friendly audience. Climbing the charts soon thereafter, Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” became the kind of pop anthem that no one could ignore (or avoid), convincing hip-hop moguls from Lil Jon to Diddy to get in on the action."

¿Capoeira en el Centro Histórico?  6/9/2010 Opus Habana: "La capoeira es una manifestación cultural surgida en Brasil que se nutre de elementos africanos. En ella se integran varios aspectos, entre ellos el musical, la expresión corporal, la lucha —o arte marcial—, al tiempo que cuenta también con un perfil lingüístico ya que, según se dice, constituye un modo de expresión a todos los niveles."

Declaración del Comité Organizador de la Feria Internacional Cubadisco 2010  5/18/2010 Cubarte: "Mientras algunos españoles prestan sus voces a la campaña mediática contra la isla, Cuba inaugura su más trascendente fiesta musical con la interpretación de la versión sinfónica de los Cantos Canarios, obra emblemática de la cultura de esa región ibérica. Mientras algunos pretenden aislar a Cuba con el cínico argumento de no dejarnos solos, versificadores de 15 países, entre ellos varios repentistas españoles, se sumaron a los poetas cubanos en la Canturía por la Patria, que recorrió este mayo la isla de punta a punta durante 340 horas. Mientras los nuevos voceros de las viejas ideas colonialistas mienten y tratan de confundir a la opinión pública, científicos españoles y cubanos están enfrascados en este mismo minuto en la restauración de la partitura original de nuestro Himno Nacional, compuesto en 1868 al inicio de la gesta independentista contra la metrópoli."

Harlem's Afro-Cuban Renaissance  4/27/2010 Village Voice: "Bobby Sanabria's big band hits hard, fast, and with clear purpose. "We play Cuban music with a New York attitude, all dedicated to the community that has been keeping this music alive for more than half a century," the drummer explains between songs, seated front and center before his expansive kit. He means this neighborhood, where the supper club run by brothers Roberto and Jorge Ayala is a welcome offshoot of their La Fonda Boricua restaurant across the street. But he also means the farther-flung community throughout New York, which includes many who, like Sanabria and the Ayalas, are of Puerto Rican descent, and who've keyed moments of cross-cultural preservation and innovation through Afro-Cuban sounds. Bobby Sanabria's big-ambition band Christopher Farber Bobby Sanabria's big-ambition band Share 0diggsdigg "This music has gone underground," Sanabria laments later, between sets. "But I remember when there were 30 different clubs in this city where you could go and hear some mixture of Afro-Cuban tradition and New York jazz." Sanabria, who grew up in the Fort Apache section of the South Bronx, found inspiration back then from such standard-bearing first-generation players as Tito Puente and trumpeter Mario Bauzá."

From Five to Seven, Redux  4/27/2010 Ethno Cuba: "From Five to Seven was the greatest radio show in 1990s Havana, broadcasting every day, between five and seven and between 1994 and 1999, on Radio Taino. That is the reason why I did a lot of my ethnographic fieldwork there! It was devoted to Latin music broadly conceived, but as timba grew, the show became its main showcase. Major bands like Manolin El Medico de la Salsa, Manolito (el del Trabuco), Bamboleo and others became BIG because of this show. "

The Black Roots of Salsa. A documentary film.  4/17/2010 Ethno Cuba: "The movie is about the Black Roots of Salsa and the Evolucion of Rumba. It covers not only the musical aspects of this heritage but also dancing and the lived experience. It shows a complex culture through the lens of certain families who live their tradition and inherit them through the generations. The film starts with the state of contemporary Rumba, as shown by young practitioners in Havana. It also covers some of the genre’s history in its three variants: Yambu, Guaguancó and Columbia. As a non-religious manifestation, Rumba was accessible to a broad audience. Nonetheless its roots are set inside Afro-Cuban religions imported from Africa, namely the Abakua, Congo and Yoruba, all of which are covered in the documentary."

The Revolution's Troubadour No Longer Believes  3/16/2010 Huffington Post: by Yoanni Sanchez -- "Emigration has marked too strongly the artistic level on our stages. Not only have my colleagues from the university and my contemporaries from the neighborhood left en masse, but Cuban culture has a percentage of its representatives - some would say a majority - outside our borders. To lose, now, this strong voice would be to admit that those who composed the background music that accompanied the construction of utopia have stopped believing in it. So no website of any official institution is going publish an aggressive and threatening diatribe against the frankness of the interviewee. Nor will they inform the Madrid consulate that he is no longer welcome in his own country, nor accuse him of speaking with the words of an "American lover." None of these stigmatizing strategies will be deployed against Pablo, but in the off-hour ministerial chats and the closed circles of power they will not forgive him for having behaved like a free man."

Los Muñequitos en la rumba de la Sala Atril, del Karl Marx  2/20/2010 Atenas, Matanzas: "Las afamados Muñequitos de Matanzas, fueron invitados especiales del nuevo espacio que dedica a la rumba La Sala Atril, del teatro Karl Marx, en la capital cubana. El grupo que dirige el maestro Diosdado Ramos, ofreció un concierto con temas antológicos y los más recientes incluidos en el disco De palo p'rumba, placa de la casa discográfica cubana Bis Music, el cual estuvo nominado a los codiciados Premios Grammy Latino. La agrupación folklórica emprenderá en el venidero marzo una gira por varios países de Europa y participará en Munich, Alemania, en el Festival Cubamemucho, junto a otras agrupaciones de la Isla y después se presentarán en Francia, Italia y Suecia, según comentó Ramos. Durante el concierto de la noche de este jueves, en la Sala Atril, Giraldo Piloto, reconocido músico y compositor anunció que el Festival del Tambor, tendrá lugar entre el nueve y el 14 de marzo, en el cual destacados grupos cultivadores de las raíces afrocubanas ofrecerán su arte."

Jerarquizar la identidad cultural  2/2/2010 Bohemia: "Según informó la musicóloga Cary Diez, vicepresidenta de la Uneac, las comisiones permanentes de trabajo de la organización han logrado construir un espacio de atención al cumplimiento de los acuerdos del VII Congreso, celebrado en abril de 2008, “tejiendo puentes entre instituciones y creadores, con altibajos en dependencia de cada temática y período”. Reconoció como “un importante suceso en el reciente período, la creación de la comisión contra el racismo y la discriminación racial”, entidad que conmemoró el aniversario 116 de la desaparición física de Mariana Grajales, la heroica caída en combate del lugarteniente Antonio Maceo, y presentó el libro Raza y Racismo, de la editorial Caminos. Un paso esencial para el próximo semestre, será la constitución de grupos de trabajo de dicha comisión en todas las provincias."

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Cuban Music in the News Archive: 2010-2012

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Cuban Music in the News
Archive: 2010-2012