February Playlist Highlights

 

With the San Francisco Rueda Festival, the biggest Cuban dance festival in the USA, just a week away I thought I would check out the music of the bands scheduled to perform.  This is the fifth year the Festival has run and with each year it just gets bigger and better. 2013 looks to be the most ambitious yet with five different sessions running simultaneously including a “Timbaversity”, a dedicated DJ room and five live performances.  Reading up on the performing bands/artists the first thing I noticed was that they are all based in California.  This in itself is kind of cool as it goes to show how much excellent Cuban music is being made outside of Cuba.  The groups/artists are Rumbaché (San Francisco), Dos Four (Oakland), Team Bahia (San Francisco), Rumbankete (Los Angeles), Son de la Bahia (San Francisco).  I got a hold of music from each band with the exception of Team Bahia, a super group made up of musicians from other bands.  As far as I could determine they cover songs by other artists though they should be releasing their own original music soon.  I also did not find any music by Son de la Bahia.  I am sure it’s out there and if someone knows where to get it let me know.  That said, Son de la Bahia is performing with Fito Reinoso and I was able to find some of his music.  I have included my favourite dance tracks from these artists in this month’s play list along with very brief descriptions of each artist below.

 

Dos Four

Originally from Cuba, Dos Four (Leyder Chapman) now calls the USA home.  His music draws on a range of influences from timba to cumbia to reggaeton.  Though many of his songs may not be ideal for partner dancing they will put you in a dancing mood.

His music is great for

• Club dancing
•  Playing loud in your car

 

Rumbaché

I saw these guys and (girl) at last years Rueda Festival and they put on an excellent live show.  To my ears their sound has a bit of a “jazzy” feel to it, which may be a reflection of the fact that the band draws on a number of musical influences including salsa, bomba and funk.  Their current album, Llego La Fiesta, has some excellent tracks on it and their performance last year definitely got me dancing.

Their music is great for

• Dancing Cuban or linear style salsa

 

Fito Reinoso

Fito Reinoso has been part of the Cuban music scene in California for quite some time have moving there from Cuba in the early 80’s.  He has been making his own music commercially at least since 1999 when he released “Lo que me gusta…DINERO”.  His most recent album, Comunicacion, which he made with his band Ritmo y Armonia, was released in 2007.  It’s from that album that the song Tu Voz in this month’s play list comes from.  His two albums previous to Comunicacion, Ya Llegamos and Lo que me gusta…DINERO!, are a bit hard to find.  I have only seen them available at latinmusicpulse.com but all albums are worth a listen especially if you are a lover of timba music.

His music is great for

• Dancing Cuban style salsa
• Listening to some great timba

 

Rumbankete

Of the four bands the music of Rumbankete is my favourite  and for dancing Cuban salsa they would be my first choice.  They have been around since 2004 so I was surprised that I could only find one album by them, Que no pare la fiesta .  The title song from the album is in this month’s play list and is an excellent timba dance track.

Their music is great for

• Dancing Cuban style salsa

 

Questions, comments, requests? Send me an email

Hasta la próxima