MisterBryans

Weird Cuban Translations

from the Musicalia website bio of Haila

Huge torrent of Cubaness, voice carrying beautiful feelings and undoubted scene domain are the main adjectives to qualify Haila María Mompié

Los Van Van......Back in the U.S. of A?

(sung to the tune of the Beatles "Back in the U.S.S.R')

here's the Van Van tour schedule that is being tossed around the internets

12/07/2009 Montreal, Quebec - CANADA ( Metropolis )
14/07/2009 Brownfield – MAINE (Stone Mt Arts Center )
17/07/2009 Lebanon – NEW HAMPSHIRE (Orpheum Theatre )
1807/2009 Ridgefield – CONNECTICUT (Ridgefield Playhouse )
20/07/2009 New York – NEW YORK(Summerstage )
21/07/2009 South Orange – NEW JERSEY(Sopac)
22/07/2009 Philadelphia – PENNSYLVANIA (Filmore@TLA)
24/07/2009 Wilmington – DELAWARE (Grand Opera House)
25/07/2009 Washington – DC (Lisner Auditorium)
26/7/20069 Vienna - VIRGINIA(Filene Center)
28/07/2009 Durham – NORTH CAROLINA (Carolina Theatre)
29/07/2009 Greenville – SOUTH CAROLINA (Peace Centar )
31/07/2009 Atlanta – GEORGIA (Fox Theatre )
01/08/2009 Jacksonville – FLORIDA (Florida Theatre)
02/08/2009 Clearwater – FLORIDA (Ruth Eckerd Hall)
04/08/2009 Melbourne – FLORIDA( King Center)
05/08/2009 Pompano Beach – FLORIDA (Pompano Beach Theatre)
06/08/2009 Fort Lauderdale – FLORIDA (Broward Center )

Couple of points

1) No I dont know anything about a Toronto play, I've heard rumours, but I always hear Van Van rumours.

2) Whoever put this tour together knows exactly what they are doing. A professional agent who knows venues, travel distances, routing, - and who knows that Los Van Van will have no problem entering the United States on or about the 13th of July, 2009. Which begs the question, when did the U.S. government change the rules for entry of Cuban artists?

Update: So I put the above question to Phil Peters of The Cuban Triangle, who is the total expert on the unfathomable world of U.S./Cuban political relations. Lets see if he answers.

Update April 7 Phil Peters was skeptical, so is Kevin Moore of Timba.com

Felix from Bajomundo

Another great pic from Roger Humbert.

Felix is one of the key members of Black Sugarcane. Performing this Saturday the 28th at Cervejaria

Here's the FB invite

The Myspace

Si No Te Quieres Tu - Los Van Van

One of my fave songs off the new Arrasando album.

I've probably said it 19 times before, but go ahead, compare Los Van Van to the Rolling Stones all you want. But dont forget, the Stones stopped wiring hit songs around 1987, Los Van Van have about three per album on a regular basis.

More New Charanga Habanera Music

The bits and pieces of new Charanga Habanera music that I'm hearing is renewing my faith. Bring us a new CD Daveeeed!!

CUANDO TE HABLO DE VAN VAN

CUANDO TE HABLO DE VAN VAN, HABLO DEL SOL Y LAS ESTRELLAS,
HABLO DE LAS COSAS BELLAS, QUE ABUNDAN EN MI PAIS,
HABLO DE SON Y DE CHANGUI, DE ESO QUE SIENTE UN PUEBLO ENTERO,
DE ESO QUE PONE MAJADERO A MEDIO MUNDO POR AHI.

MIRA QUE TE HABLO BONITO
PA' QUE NO TE SUBAS
QUE CUANDO DIGO VAN VAN
YA DIJE CUBA.

CUANDO TE HABLO DE VAN VAN, PALPITAN LOS CORAZONES,
Y A MI ME SOBRAN RAZONES PARA PODERLE CANTAR,
Y QUE IMPORTA SI AL CANTAR, YO LO HAGO EN JEANS O TRAJE,
NADA IMPORTA EL MENSAJERO, LO QUE IMPORTA ES EL MENSAJE.

MIRA QUE TE HABLO BONITO
PA' QUE NO TE SUBAS,
QUE CUANDO DIGO VAN VAN
YA DIJE CUBA.

CUANDO TE HABLO DE VAN VAN, DE ESE MISTERIO HECHO CANTO,
ESO QUE UNE A NEGROS Y A BLANCOS, AL RELIGIOSO Y AL ATEO,
AL QUE ESTA AQUI, ALLA, Y AL QUE NO VEO, PORQUE DECIDIO MARCHARSE,
EN ALGUN LUGAR A DE ENCONTRARSE, REPITIENDO SIN PARAR:

PORQUE YO, SOLO SOY UN VAN VAN.

MIRA QUE TE HABLO BONITO
PA' QUE NO TE SUBAS
QUE CUANDO DIGO VAN VAN
YA DIJE CUBA.

by Manolin Gonzalez

Dedicado a Juan Formell y los VAN VAN.

from Manolin's Facebook Note

Alex Cuba at SXSW

Billboard en Español Showcase
SXSW
Wednesday, March 18th, 1am
Flamingo Cantina
515 E. 6th St., Austin Texas

More info at Alexcuba.com

Cuban Baseball and Cuban Music

There are a lot of similarities. For instance...

1) Baseball is practically a religion to Cuban people wherever they live.
2) Cuban baseball is played at an extraordinarily high technical level which always breeds the speculation that if player x lived anywhere else, he would be more famous than Babe Ruth or Celia Cruz.
3) When Cuban baseball teams travel, everyone off the island gossips about who will defect.
4) and when someone does leave for fame and fortune in the U.S., there seems to be an endless supply of even more amazing talent to replace them.

But it doesn't end there. Take this American journalist Peter C Bjarkman, who is writing the WBC Diary over at the Havana Times. He's a very informed and enthusiastic guy. I'm sure his friends think he's quite obsessed.

His bio reads (italics mine)

My initial visit to Cuba occurred in February 1997, when I began research for the first of several books treating the island’s remarkable baseball history. I rapidly fell in love with Cuba’s national sport, as well as with its remarkable people, culture, and music, all of which have subsequently become a central part of my life. I have made over 40 visits to Havana where “home away from home” is the Hotel Telegrafo on the Parque Central. My actual home base is Lafayette, Indiana, where my wife is a professor at Purdue University. My reporting on Cuban baseball has allowed me to follow the Cuban national team to most major international tournaments in the past decade.

See what I mean?

Alain Daniel

The Cuban singer, ex of Bamboleo, has just released a long awaited solo album. Gabriel at Yemayahs Verse, who had been talking up the singers live shows from last sojourn in Havana, is not disappointed.....

Vestigious is a spunky album of timba brava with a side order of funk, a suffix of "ton" and the obligatory ballad and cha-cha-cha. Plus: Vania! All with Alaín's trademark, hyperactive, pega'o sound.

I just received the album yesterday (thnx Melao!!),  so I don't know it well enough to comment, except to echo Gabriel's view of Vestigious  as a very funky/mid-tempo workout with loads of dance-floor potential......

Monica Mesa

Mirco at Timbaporsiempre sent me a very impressive track from a new album that's coming out from the Cuban singer Monica Mesa. The album is produced, arranged and mostly written by Joel Dominguez and if it's anything like the one single that I have, it should get the singer lots of attention.

Mirco has the song posted on his site, scroll down to the post on Monica Mesa and you will find it.

Thanks again Mirco, oh and by the way, only six weeks later and I finally got your logo up on my site -;)