This is a record several years in the making. You will find performances by the late Mario Rivera and Nestor Sánchez, as well as by Dave...
Pianists who embark on Cuban music projects usually present them as traditional or modern, but rarely both. Mike Eckroth does both on his extraordinary album Piano...
Part biographical, perhaps even part autobiographical and all adventure, Baronesa by the ineffable chanteuse Cristina Morrison is an amorous masterpiece. Ms. Morrison’s dark and smoky voice...
Heritage and Passion… Never was an album so aptly titled and rarely has an album been so magnificently and ingeniously crafted. And while...
This album, by Manuel Valera Sr. Recuerdos ranks—with Charlie Haden’s Nocturne as one of the most beautiful albums of boleros made in recent times. Mr. Valera...
What’s new in the idiom of jazz? The next generation of Cuban musicians have arrived. Look no further than what they have brought with them. It...
Park Palace Tribute Featuring the Aruán Ortíz Quartet and Manuel Valera & The Cuban Express – May 4th to May 10th, 2014 – Constructed in 1890...
Manuel Valera and New Cuban Express seem to have picked up from where they left off. Their album Expectativas has the same vigor and the same...
According to writer Ned Sublette, “Son de Altura has three trumpets, but Yunior’s a violinist who grew up a charanguero, and the band collapses the two...
This album, New Cuban Express is Cuban-American pianist, Manuel Valera’s attempt to redefine his relationship with Cuban music including the classic Cuban son and bolero as...
It is hard to go back and dig deep once something is put in the past and locked down. Miles Davis showed this when he was...
In his follow-up to Dançando Com Ale a classic 2009 debut Greg Diamond has produced another remarkable record, Conduit. The guitarist displays increasing maturity and thoughtful...
This record by a very special artist will go down as one of the most significant works of music. Its power, significance and beauty will forever...
It might seem foolhardy to many to take a chance and make an entire record based on “charanga”; perceived as rather old-fashioned too considering the rising...
The reason I am focusing on Pedrito is that "Timbasa" is as much his project as it is mine. He co-produced the recording and set things...