Of the many pianists that have come out of Cuba throughout its history, the young Emiliano Salvador may be one of the most iconic figures. In...
It is one of those travesties of justice that some of Cuba’s greatest musicians were discovered or re-discovered by adoring audiences worldwide when they were on...
Essential Albums Revisited Pedro “Peruchín” Jústiz is one of the most iconic and seminal figures in Afro-Cuban music, a pianist who was an important influence on...
The ultimate expression of Wayne Shorter’s desire to make a “Brasilian” record is Native Dancer. However it is further from being a “Brasilian” record than it...
The ubiquitous and colourful conga drum often resides in a cluttered space especially in Latin Jazz, a music that it seems to have shaped and given...
This seminal recording by one of the finest congueros Carlos “Patato” Valdés and Eugenio “Totico” Arango, another great Cuban musical figure, also features two other legends...
In 1999 the maestro Chucho Valdés made one of his most significant records for the Blue Note. In seven relatively short – by the pianist’s standards...
Israel “Cachao” López is one of those larger-than-life figures, a monumental Cuban musician. Although not as famous as Bebo Valdés, he was still one of Cuba’s...
Sixteen years ago Bobby Sanabria took his Big Band on the road and when they were in Birdland on May 20 in 1999, the indefatigable leader...
Nothing – and I mean nothing; no track list and probably no ensemble either – is more suitable to the emotional intimacy and urgency and better...
Of course this recording is shaped by the musicians whom Hilton Ruiz attracted for this project. Involved intensity is the watchwords of this album. This is...
Few drummers have had such a profound effect on Cuban music as Pancho Quinto. Superlatives are often risqué in music, but suffice it to say that...
There is no “one” single iconic recording by the great Bebo Valdés. The pianist was an epitomé of good taste, which is not the reason for...
Essential Albums Revisited I thought that this Justin Time recording Habana Nocturna (1999) by Hilario Durán was going to be all-but-forgotten. I also thought, for no...
When Michel Camilo recorded One More Once and released the record on Columbia in the Fall of 1994, it created quite a sensation. Not merely were...
