Cuba’s greatest pianist returns to graces the stage once more at the Barbican, this time with his Octet the Afro Cuban Messengers performing tracks from their eagerly anticipated new release ‘Chucho’s Step’ (Harmoni Mundi). Opening the evening is French/Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf who uniquely combines jazz and classical Arabic music.

“Chucho is a titanic pianist drawing on the heritage of Cuba’s Afro-Cuban music as well as the likes of Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner and Bud Powell. He’s a one-man piano whirlwind whipping up an Afro-Cuban jazz storm.” – Time Out

“Valdés’s octave span might even have frightened Rachmaninov, and his headlong keyboard exploits traverse most of jazz piano history, and often veering into classical.” – John Fordham, The Guardian

Chucho Valdés Biography

“Chucho started his first jazz trio at the age of 16 and founded Irakere in 1972 while playing with the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna. An incredibly inventive and fluid pianist, Chucho combines the influences of musicians such as Art Tatum, Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner with Afro-Cuban roots and a blazing technique that leaves one breathless and amazed. He writes most of the band’s compositions and arrangements and has released dozens of albums, both with Irakere and as a solo performer.

Chucho is revered as a national treasure in Cuba, the Duke Ellington of his country. He receives the admiration and thanks of his people in a way that the Duke never did in his lifetime. When you hear current Cuban jazz or popular music, whether Gonzalo Rubalcaba, N.G. La Banda or Charanga Habanera, you hear the influence of Chucho Valdés and Irakere.” Afrocubaweb.com

Alex Cuba, winner of the Latin Grammy, returns to the UK! His return will coincide with the release of his critically acclaimed new album ‘Alex Cuba’. This Cuban born Canadian is one of the most exciting latin soul and R&B artists on the international circuit, and has been on a roll lately in the US. In fact his album has now been nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the Grammy’s this year and we thoroughly recommend getting a ticket for this gig.

Alex Cuba won Canada’s first ever Latin Grammy last night, for Best New Artist, – his music is a fusion of latin sounds with the obligatory salsa beats to be heard sashaying through some songs.

Alex Cuba (born Alexis Puentes in 1974 just outside of Havana) was a multi-styled multi-instrumentalist who got his start as a small child with his father’s group, Lost Puentes. After touring and performing with the band Temperamento with Roberto Fonseca, Alex moved to Canada in 1999, and it was there that the creative direction of his music began to move away from the more traditional aspects of the Cuban sound.

Alex and his brother Adonis formed the Alex Cuba band shortly thereafter, but soon came to call themselves the Puentes Brothers, and released the album Morumba Cubana in 2000. The album went on to earn the brothers a 2001 Juno Award nomination. Tours for the pair followed, as well as hitting all the festival stops that would have them, but in 2003 the brothers decided to put the project on hiatus to work on solo projects. For Alex, it was a return to the idea of the Alex Cuba band, and he released his debut, Humo De Tabaco in 2005. The album was a critical success, and scored Alex a Juno Award (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammy) for Best World Music Album in 2006. His follow up, Agua Del Pozo, was released in June of 2008. Again, the talent of Alex Cuba wasn’t overlooked, and in 2008 he was once again a nominee for the prestigious Juno Award.

Nathan Watson is his supporting artist for this gig. Nathan is also making some waves in the UK music industry and is known for his distinct fresh soul funk. He is building up an impressive fan base across the UK.

We hope that you join timbageek in becoming a fan of the Alex Cuba and supporting artists too! Come down to check out this new sound, – tickets a steal at only £12, we’ll see you there on 24 March.

VENUE
Bush Hall
310 Uxbridge Rd, London W12 7LJ
United Kingdom
Click Here for a Google Map (Opens in new window)

Transport Links
Tube: Shepherd’s Bush Market – Hammersmith & City Line (5 minute walk)
Shepherd’s Bush – Central Line (10 minute walk)
Overground: Shepherd’s Bush – West London Line (15 minute walk)
Buses: From central London to Shepherd’s Bush Green: 94, 148, 49, N207
From west London to Shepherd’s Bush Green: 283, 72, 260, 207, 266, 295, 288
Buses 207, 260 & 283 stop within 3 walk minutes of the venue.

Driving & Parking
We are ¼ of a mile from the A40 and the Shepherd’s Bush Roundabout.
We do not have a car park.
Street parking in the near vicinity costs £1.60 per hour Monday – Friday until 5:30pm and is free Saturday and Sundays.

TimbaGeek.com was created thanks to a group of timba geeks, PCs and takeaways boxes in a SW London flat.

We are a group of Cuban salsa fanatics, some already involved in the salsa scene in the UK for many years & some just starting to enter the salsa world.

You can find us at salsa clubs at any time and anywhere, as well as dancing at festivals, congresses or any other events with Cuban flavour.

We found that there wasn’t a lot of information on the net about timba; where to go dancing, which record to buy, who are the best teachers around…

After having a lovely meal and a few bottles of champagne (to be honest, they were more like beers) we decided to put our efforts together to create an easy access website for “timba geeks”. This is our contribution! A selection of events for London, of course, with other useful news. This is a small selection and we know that it will never be complete, but we’ll try our best to update ourselves with the most important events and news around.

If you have any questions or if you want more information or to be kept up to date with our latest news, just send us an e-mail to: info@timbageek.com.

We would like to hear from you, please, send us your feedback!

¡Sueltate Salsero y ven a bailar!. ¡Tenemos el sabor que te gusta!.