The return of El Indio

There is more news from Elito Revé's bajista/composer/arreglista Aisar: as well as his side project, which he discusses at length in my interview with him at timba.com; he is also lined up to work with El Indio on his first solo album since he left Trabuco late last year. I know many people were disappointed at his departure from the group: El Indio and Trabuco always seemed like such a good fit, and he gave knockout performances on countless Trabuco classics – Marcando la distancia, Ven siroco ven, Llegó la música cubana - to name just a few, so it will be great to have him back singing again.
Aisar, currently touring Europe with El Charangón – you lucky European blighters! – says he will write one song, and do a few arrangements, as well as serving as producer. He says Miguelito "Pan con salsa" will also step up for arranging duties for the Bís Music disc.
From the work Aisar has done with Revé, and also what I have heard so far of his solo project, I think this could really be something to look forward to: Aisar is very much steeped in a Cuban sound – which will suit El Indio's classic stylings – but has a fresh touch. I think he will also bear in mind El Indio's considerable legacy with Trabuco and the place he has in people's hearts.

A thousand miles away in another country, another former colleague of El Indio's also has some news. Mamborama's Bill Wolfer is working on a greatest hits collection that will include a new track with another former Trabuquero, Kalunga, on vocals. He has blogged about it - and has a few choice words to say about other matters, as well – here.

Leonel Limonta and Asi somos

This is the piece Piso 6 did this week about Leonel Limonta's Do They Know It's Christmas-style benefit song for cyclone relief, Así somos. There are interviews with Limonta and Pupy, footage of the all-star cast of singers, and priceless scenes of Dantes looking totally baffled.



Thanks once again to the tireless Richard of Muchoswing.

Al final - my interview with Aisar Hernandez

It has taken me almost five months to get this interview with Aisar Hernandez, bass player/composer/arranger with Elito Revé y su Charangón online.
Various factors conspired against me: the interview with Alexander Abreu took longer than I expected to complete; I had some upheavals in my personal life; then some serious upheavals in my place of work (the ramifications of which are still being felt).
But here it is, all these months later, just in time for Revé's tour of Europe.
Aisar is a charismatic figure: tall, dark, vivacious and very garrulous; happy to talk endlessly about Cuban music.
It was thanks to Aisar that I was able to see El Charangón play the medical school on the outskirts of Havana, and although the day had its drawbacks, it's always a pleasure to see the bands outside the regular city haunts.
Aisar's history includes work with Maravilla de Florida, as it does for just about any musician of note from Camaguey - Manolito Simonet; Pepito, formerly of Pupy; and Leonid ex of Charanga are just three - and Dan Den, among others. And although he is justifiably proud of the work he has done on the award-winning Fresquecito, he is an ambitious man, and eager to show what he can do outside the changüí genre, now that he has the ear of a wider audience. And so he is putting together a solo project under the name "El Expreso de la Salsa".
In the interview, Aisar discusses this work and also talks about Reve's Cubadisco win and their plans for the future, which he says may include re-recording of some old Revé hits. I've been playing a lot of these in the iPod lately - including Que cuento es ese, which I have put in the player on the right. It is that fantastic combo of rumba, changüí and strings - the Revé sello - disparate elements, which, when put together, create such irresistible friction. You can find this song, and a clutch of other gems including Señores silencio, Changüí clave, Espero que pase el tiempo, and Rumbero Latinoamericano, one of those brilliant rumba/salsa masterpieces in the vein of Los Van Van's De la Habana a Matanzas or Manolito's Ven Siroco Ven, on the compilation Elio Revé y su Charangón Vol. 2, at Descarga. It's really worth getting, and if you need more convincing, check out Kevin's evangelical ravings on the matter at timba.com.

Arrasando and other news from Cuba

For some reason, I often have nothing to write, then a bunch of stuff at once. So no sooner had I written the Ritmo Oriental post below, than I found some interesting stuff on the radio files at Mucho Swing.
I don't usually listen to Exitazo - they play really shit music - reggaeton and Latin pop and ballads and bachata and that horrible Mexican band, Camilla, and Haila and loads of PR salsa - you're lucky if you get one Cuban salsa track every half hour (and then it's likely to be a recent Charanga Habanera track), unlike MB Caribe and Todo musica, which play lots.
However, Exitazo is where the good interviews are, and today they had Juan Formell answering a couple of question, the most salient being: where the fuck is Arrasando?
Of course the interviewer was much more polite than I am, and instead said, wherever I go, people in the street ask me where the fuck is Arrasando - oops, that's me again - people ask, when is the latest disc from Van Van going to come out?
Formell gave a not too waffley answer that began with a reference to the live CD/DVD set that has been out for a few months, then went onto say that Arrasando itself is almost finished - they just have a few minor things to do in the mix and then it will be completed.
They talked about the quemado Arrasando that has been on the streets of Cuba for a while now, and how that had nothing to with the final album (except, I'm guessing, for Me mantengo, which is sure to be on it), then they played what I think is a song from it, though it wasn't back announced.
You can listen to the interview and the song in the clip below.


Boomp3.com

I also spoke to Duni from Pupy's band. He told me that since Pepito's departure, Un poquito al reves has become Lily's song, and they will be re-recording it with Lily on lead vocals on Wednesday. They're currently doing a regular matinee on Mondays at Miramar and may start a regular Thursday night at La Tropical, which means things have continued to pick up out on 41 since I left. They were supposed to tour the provinces to promote the new album, but the cyclones took care of that. Though in an interview earlier on Exitazo, Alain Daniel said he will be playing Santiago next weekend, so I guess that doesn't apply to everyone.

Strings v percussion (Round 1)

A while back, Michelle from timba.com, made one of the most important recent discoveries for the Cuban music fanatic: the arrival, at YouTube, of a user called Pisicore. For a little more than a month now, he (she?) has been uploading a treasure trove of archival music clips from the island, going back as far as the '60s, up to the '80s (so far - he is continuing to add stuff, so who knows what else he has?). His collection includes all types of Cuban music and the quality varies wildly - some of the clips are clearly the result of a video camera being pointed at the screen of a black and white television. Some are much better. All are valuable. I know that the Cuban government probably has all this stuff squirreled away in a vault somewhere - you see signs of it every now and then on shows like the excellent Excelencia series (keep an eye on Mucho Swing for more on that), about the history of Cuban music, but mostly it's not available to the general (or international) viewing public, so it's great to have this stuff on display to anyone with a decent internet connection.

A few days ago, Pisicore uploaded one of the masterpieces of Cuban music, and even better, it's actually live, not doblado (mimed). In 1981, the legendary Ritmo Oriental, still fronted by Tony Calá, who went on to NG la Banda, where he stills sings today, recorded a tour de force called Cuidao con la percusion.
La Ritmo are a charanga band, and initially this song is all about the strings, flute and the percussion; the rumble and clatter offset by the sweet and the sweeping.
Then, the cuerpo out of the way, it gets down to business. "Hay que tener cuidao con la percusion" warns the coro; which is answered by the a series of staccato, ascending strings. These then melt into a tiny bit of danzon before a duel between the strings and percussion: the strings play a riff, then the percussion echoes it in a tattoo. I love this bit. How wacky! How wonderful!
After that, it's all in: everything goes at it: there are a few bloques, so as not to lose the tension, but basically it's time to cut loose. This is one of my all-time favourite Cuban songs.
But why am I wasting words on it when you can watch the band play it live and see Tony Calá singing it, violin in hand, while sporting an awesome afro and ruffled shirt?
The audio is a little out of sync, but it's bearable.