A kind of carnival of music, happiness, joy and very dancable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com

Havana Fairfax Connection 0059

Fasten Seat Belts! We are going to fly to Havana. This time, to The Karl Marx Theater in Miramar, and there you are going to enjoy a band named BAMBOLEO, sided by Family and Friends, and the special atmosphere of this hall. Bamboleo means swaying, swinging, partying, moving in place, and never LOSING THE SPOT! Bamboleo is one of the key iconic Timba Bands of the late 1990s, it's founder and bandleader is pianist Lazaro Moises Valdez. He has provided a powerhouse combination of good writing, arranging, sophisticated vocals, sex appeal and elegance in every show. Host Toni Basanta has very fond memories of this band, during his hey days as an MC at "The Vixen and The Crow Jazz Club". In those days, George Benson and Tommy Lipuma visited Havana, and Bamboleo was among their favorite bands. They have contributed to many artists recordings, and I'd love to mention one with The Temptations : "EAR RESISTIBLE" released in year 2000, and "The Tempts" won a Grammy with this production. Four years later, Lazaro Moises Valdez was among the 10 pianists for the album Love and Piano, Tribute to Frank Emilio Flynn, which won a Cuba Disco Award. Those who listen and dance to Bamboleo's hot spicy beats, will never forget them.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0058

A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring Toni's visit with Jesus Fuentes and his family in Cuba, including interviews and music. JESUS FUENTES was born in the Center of Havana City, and at age 10, began playing the clarinet. HE has won several awards in classical, jazz and dancing music. As a solo artist, with Canela Group, the Jerry Spartacus band, Opus Quartet, Los Papines, and Mezcla Group, JESUS has played in half a planet. In our show today, you'll find joyful performances at home, and at Radio Taino "A Buena Hora" show live at Café Miramar, featuring new interactions; JESUS with his horns, takes center stage, letting his younger peers a moment to shine. ALL INCLUSIVE, with The Fuentes Family, plus 5 Hot and Spicy clips of Canela Group, guaranteed to lift you up from your seat.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0056

RUY LOPEZ-NUSSA y La Academia - A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring a special performance by Cuban percussionists led by Ruy Lopez Nussa.
Over the years, drummer educator RUY LOPEZ-NUSSA has continued to hone his own projects into the tightest and most dynamic of the Island's groups. This episode sums up his project LA ACADEMIA (The Academy), Live with his band, his two sons, students & friends. It is also, the latest chapter in the history of a highly original drummer moving the music ahead.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0052

CANELA GROUP = THE CUBAN CINNAMON - A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring videos and Toni's interviews with Cuban all female dance band Canela Group, as it celebrates 30 years of performing.
This episode is significant to celebrate Cuba's Female Ensembles, popular since the beginning of the 20th Century. CANELA GROUP was founded in Havana in August 1989, by graduate of the city Music Schools, playing in The National Concert Band, and the National Symphony. This swinging performance helps to celebrate CANELA'S HAPPY ANNIVERSARY # 30.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0051

JULIO MONTALVO - A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring Cuban multi-instrumentalist Julio Montalvo and his band performing in Spain.
Trombonist JULIO MONTALVO has been an increasingly significant part of Cuba, Spain and more recently Florida jazz scene, for the past 20 years. HE seems destined to become as well-known as a composer, as he is a multi-instrumentalist and band leader. In this episode, he leads THE JULIO MONTALVO COLLECTIVE, Live at the Sporting Club in Valencia, Spain.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0050

A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring Vermont Bluesman Nobby Reed's fourth visit with his band The Nobby Reed Project and more jams with great blues guitarists and hamonica players from the area in the LCATV studio.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0049

LA JOVEN JAZZ BAND - A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring part 1 of Toni's late 2018 visit to Cuba and performances by La Joven Jazz at the Havana Jazz Festival.
As one of the most prodigious musicians of his generation, JOAQUIN BETANCOURT has long displayed an ability to explore a wide range of sounds, ideas and genres. His brain child extended project, LA JOVEN JAZZ BAND, was founded 11 years ago in Havana, and it represents the rich historical tradition of Cuban music, its continuing experimentation with rock, jazz, Brazilian rhythms, classical and much more. Every song is fresh, every scene is new !

Havana Fairfax Connection 0048

A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring a performance by legendary Cuban drummer Enrique Pla and his band along with spanish language interviews from other notable musicians. ENRIQUE PLA

Enrique Pla is a man of few words, but of very musical ears. Since he was just a kid, he picked up on the melodies produced from his sister’s piano, and very soon earned the nickname “little drummer boy,” because he would improvise on that instrument for hours.
After stints with different bands in his home province of Santa Clara, PLA made it into the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra, the National Symphonic and La Nueva Trova. When the band Irakere was founded, Pla was the ideal drummer. Along with other percussionists in the group, he contributed to give new expressions to Jazz. EL DRUMS EN CUBA is his first DVD as a leader, well deserved and surrounded by some of his former band mates.

Havana Fairfax Connection 0046

WHO IS EMILIO VEGA ? A carnival of music, joy and danceable tunes with host Toni Basanta. www.cubanbridge.wordpress.com Featuring a performance by Emilio Vega.
A genuine sensation on the Cuban music scene, EMILIO VEGA ranks highly among those musicians with the brilliant talent to push JAZZ beyond its known boundaries. EMILIO, honors us armed with his first DVD "TRANSMITTING ENERGIES" Live at the Fine Arts Museum in his native Havana, sided by a Sextet of experienced improvisers and young blood cats, all turning on, true fans of SMOOTH JAZZ.

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