With this experience Jose Luis Cortes also known as “El Tosco” formed a group that has always been characterized by a rich and unique punchy rhythmic arrangements of extraordinary precision and first class soloists. José Luis Cortés on the flute, Rolando Perez on the saxophone, Feliciano Arango on the bass earned the name “los metales de terror” (the horns of terror)

His first album titled “No puede tapar el sol” (1988) included some of the early successes of the banda as the “La expresiva” and “Los sitios entero”. Indeed the latter marked a trend piece on the work of NG to incorporate thematic and musical elements associated with Afro-Cuban religion called Santeria, which is repeated in later selections such as “Que viva Chango” and “Santa Palabra”.

The next project was an album made with Malena Burke called “Salseando” (1990) where instead of working with own material as was his custom, reworked and revisited some of the classics of the genre as “Bruca Maniguá” and “Me voy pa’l pueblo,” in a range of rhythms and styles ranging from guajira to guaguancó through chachachá and, of course Son.

The next recording “En la calle” (1993) was a mixture of numbers of previous albums with new material that stands between a special version of the classic Celina González, “Que viva Chango” and one of his first Latin pop songs “Necesito una amiga” NG released three more records that year, “De NG para Curazao” “Cabaret panorámico” and “Llegó NG, camará”.

Their most recent productions include “La que manda” (1994), “La bruja” (1995), the live album “En Directo desde el patio de mi casa” (1995), and the jazziest ‘descarga’ “Nuestro hombre en La Habana” (1995).

Toward the end of the 90′s, Manolín was in the top positions in the rankings, his band would sell out wherever it went and he was writing songs for groups such as Charanga Habanera, NG La Banda and Bamboleo. But this was also when his first problems with the Cuban government began. His songs began to take on a more political flavor and he was supporting the rejoining of Cubans in Miami and Cubans on the island. He moved to Miami although he hadn’t asked for asylum.

He returned to Cuba, but this time his musical career was almost non-existent. He then deserted Cuba for good and settled in Miami, from where he tried to rekindle his musical career. In order to do so he added the master conguero Tomasito Cruz (ex Paulito FG) and young timbalero Angel “Pututi II” Arces, who together with drummer Reinier Guerra and keyboardists Eduardo “Chaka” Nápoles and Luis Bu made up an impressive rhythmic base, and could even be considered one of the best Timba groups.

In 2000 Calvo left Los Van Van to pursue his own musical career. At the time many people speculated that Calvo’s departure was due to personality clashes between him and other members of the band. Calvo has since formed his own band called Pedro Calvo y La Justicia. So far the band has released three albums which have mostly been made up of remakes of some of the famous songs which Calvo sang with Los Van Van. These albums have received a mixed response from critics and have not received the same acclaim and popularity that the new albums of Los Van Van and Cesar Pedroso (another former Los Van Van musician) have had during this period.

Bandleader, Cuban violinist Gabriel Fonseca, studied violin at the National School of Music in Havana before joining the Santiago De Cuba Philharmonic Orchestra. He later went on to play with two of Cuba’s famous salsa bands, Original de Manzanillo and Candido Fabré y Su Banda with whom he recorded and toured around the world playing at clubs and festivals. Gabriel has performed or shared the stage with many Latin stars such as Los Van Van, Oscar D’Leon, Grupo Niché, Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Paquito de Rivera and more recently Eliades Ochoa, one of the original Buena Vista Social Club. Now based in London, Gabriel has played with various Latin Bands and has performed at such venues as Ronnie Scott’s, the Jazz Café, the Barbican and Bridgewater Hall.

At the forefront of the band with his powerful electric violin, Gabriel is a fine melodic improviser with an impeccable technique.

La Cuba Ritmo 6-piece band perform a mix of modern & traditional Cuban music. Gabriel on violin & backing vocals, Rene on keyboard/backing vocals and musical arranger, Yuri’s suavely passionate lead vocals, Oscar on baby bass, Randy on congas and Michel on timbales. All together creating an atmosphere of high voltage and excitement, the talent of these Cuban band members has secured La Cuba Ritmo a reputation as one of the hottest salsa bands in the UK.

At the last two years Pupy had a predominant role in many important records like: “Fruta Proibita” in 1995 togheter with musicians coming from the most important Cuban Group, like Omara Portuondo, Caridad Cuervo, Xiomara Laugard, Raul Planas, Rolo Martinez, Isaac Delgado, Angel Bonne, Mayto Rivera, Pedrito Calvo and Rojitas.
The second album it was a second version of the former with Eduardo “Tiburon” Morales, Angel Bonne, Pío Leiva, Raul Planas and Jorge Leliebre.

In 1997 he recorded “Lo mejor de Cesar Pedroso”, “De la Timba a Pogolotti” and “Los que Son Son”.
In 2001 Pupy realesed “Timba: The New Generation of Latin Music”, which has six songs in common with the new one. It was recorded before Pupy left Van Van – before he had his own working band – and as such it had the feeling of a “project” – as if they said “ok, let´s see what happens with this combination of famous musicians from other groups”. It was a great album, with the same creative energy and with great playing. The first album, remember, had an all-star lineup including Changuito, Candelita Avila, Boris Luna, “El Indio”, Gerardo Miró, Basilio Marquez, Donaldo Flores, Maraca, Jorge Raglan, Pedro Fajardo and many others.

César “Pupy” Pedroso left Los Van Van in the summer of 2001 to form his own band, “Los Que Son Son”. Joining him was violinist Gerardo Miró. Pupy is now fully-motivated to take his project to the moon. He now has one of the hottest acts in Havana and the full support and respect of both the public and the other musicians. Through small details, Pupy has created a new sound and a new concept which is quite different from Los Van Van. Of more critical importance to the history of Timba were Pedroso’s innovations in piano playing. One of the key differences between Timba and earlier salsa is the use of creative piano and bass parts designed for a specific song, rather than formulaic rhythm patterns. In many cases, such as “¿Qué Tiene Van Van?”, the piano part becomes the “hook” by which the song is remembered. Without getting into too much detail, Pupy was among the first to use contrary motion and independent rhythms between the left and right hands, displaced syncopations, and African rhythm influences from batá and guaguancó.

There were primarily two Cuban groups experimenting with mixing pop, funk, rock and soul with their native traditions. One of those two was Irakere, and the other, far more long lasting band, was Los Van Van. Following the revolution, Cuban youth were profiled for talents and predispositions. Children showing potential in athletics were streamlined into sports. Academics, visual arts and music followed suit. The young musicians who formed Los Van Van had enjoyed conservatory educations from their earliest years, and were experts in theory and performance by their early 20′s. The band’s key players Juan Formell (band leader, bass player and songwriter), César ?Pupy’ Pedroso (piano, songwriter) and José Luis “Changuito” Quintana (drumset/timbales) were fascinated with the Soul, Go Go and Disco music that dominated U.S. radio waves. They named their dance band Los Van Van after the Go Go fad, meaning literally “they go, go!” The style that the band pioneered took it’s name from the cross of son and Go Go music that the band had created. The style “songo” can now be found throughout the latin jazz, pop and fusion world.

Los Van Van’s debut disc bore the name, solidifying it’s place in musical history forever. Shortly after the band’s formation they became the island’s favorite dance band, a title which they held for years. With the support of the Cuban government, Los Van Van toured and recorded and toured tirelessly throughout the 80′s and 90′s. They became the best known Cuban group in the world, maintaining a loyal fan base throughout Europe. Though there was some U.S. interest in the band and their innovations, the politics of the days hedged their ability to break into the U.S. market. While Irakere defected to States, Los Van Van never left Cuba. U.S. interest grew throughout the 90′s, peaking with Los Van Van’s Grammy Award in 1999 for their 15th original album, Llogó Van Van. Many founding members have gone on to become successful band leaders in their own right. César “Pupy” Pedroso formed his own group Los que Son Son at the turn of the century. Lúis “Changuito” Quintana left the band in ’93 to pursue a latin jazz career. Many lesser known members went on to become some of the most influential players in the timba revolution that came in the early 90′s. Los Van Van are widely recognized as a genre-creating band. Alongside artists like The Beatles, Aretha Franklin and Creedence Clearwater Revival, Los Van Van are distinguished as a band that changed the course of popular music for an entire generation.

He reaches his greater splendor as a musician in 1988 when he joins NG La Banda, the group of José Luis Cortes, one of the Cuba’s most important ones. As a member of that group Piloto makes himself known as composer and arranger and his themes, after being released, monopolize the hit parades on the cuban radios. It is also in this orchestra where he starts to create themes for Issac Delgado and where they make the disc Dando la hora, which received the Egrem category prize, and where three of his compositions became great successes on radio and television.

In 1992 Giraldo Piloto decides to join the group of magnificent singer Issac Delgado, assuming the musical leadership. Years of intense artistic work as musician, director and composer causes him in ’94 to become musical producer of the disc Con Ganas, in the hard working company of cuban jazz musician Gonzalo Rubalcaba. This work reaches the great Egrem prize in 1994 and due to their commendable way of composing they cause Issac Delgado and his group to reach consecutive primacy among the main orchestras of the country for three years.

1995 is the year in which all Piloto’s experience and profits as well as his artistic maturity are concentrated and in this year he forms his own group Klimax, with musicians of proven talent belonging to a generation of graduates from Schools of Art and coming from several Cuban orchestras.

Klímax brings out its first cd Mira si te gusta in 1996. A sweeping disc in which Piloto demonstrates his great class as a modern sonero. Diego Manrique has called Klímax “the most powerful locomotive of the Caribbean, the most beautiful machine arisen from the tropical belt of the planet. Klímax tightens and slows down and again accelerates, but it’s never, never derailed”.

After that first disc, in 1997 Klímax brings out its second cd Juego de Manos which confirms its power in the Cuban panorama: a powerful cd which combines timba, jazzy arangements and romantic salsa. The disc includes a salsa version of the theme Cuba which the Gibson Brothers made popular as a disco hit in the seventies.

Klimax is an artistic-aesthetic project directed by Piloto, an option that includes all sorts of Cuban music and also jazz and other Caribbean rhythms. Klimax has in addition, an own seal, typically Cuban, that offers the most genuine and contemporary of Cuban popular music.

Sur Caribe is a Santiago de Cuba-born group, approaching popular danceable music, which received this name because of the geographic situation of this beautiful city, located at the south of the island and soaked by warm waters of the Caribbean Sea. The orchestra and Ricardo Leyva, its current director, joined their destinies in 1987.

This union blew up on the strength of its popularity, earning it, in a sudden, the acknowledgement as the most popular orchestra of this city keeping this condition until our days.

The orchestra is composed by graduated youngsters from the Arts Schools of the country, who, boasting a high technical and rigorously-professional condition, tackle every genre from our Cuban popular music, as well as Latin and Caribbean rhythms; a remarkable feature of this orchestra is the powerful and different sonority, together with the undoubted literary value in the lyrics of its compositions.

More information on this group at www.surcaribe.com

She was born in January 289, 1974 in Las Tunas, oriental province of our country, daughter of an amateur singer and an stylist, she felt devotion for music since her early years, although started at dancing, she soon quick to approach Cuban traditional music.

A year after, she made her bow as soloist at “Las Avenidas” cabaret entering later “Habana Son” group conducted by saxophonist “El Chino Lam”. In this same year, she featured the show “Guajira Guantanamera”, achieving her first Mexico tour.

Around September 1994, Haila joins the aesthetic project “Bamboleo” highlighting her excellent vocal qualities and high improvisation level. As leading voice of this band, Haila recorded two CDs and made various international tours around scenes from Italy, Holland, United States, Belgium, France, Peru and Mexico, among others. It’s all to add to the huge work she made with this band to place it at the highest position in the popularity charts of our country.

In 1998, she joined a Leonel Limonta musical project and founded “Azúcar Negra” band capturing everyone’s attention and successing at numerous international tours around European and Latin American countries to feature the group’s first set managing to place it high at Cuban radio and TV charts.

In 2001, Haila starst her career as soloist achieving great acceptance. Her first CDE via Bis Music label saw the light, musically headed and produced by the well-known czuban interpreter Isaac Delgado. In this set, Haila shows, once more, her temper nad interpretative quality, her passion for musicmand after all, her cubanness.

Around 2000, 2001 and 2002, Haila performed at various Japanesse scenes sharing her talented voice with such luminaries as Cheo Feliciano, Oscar de León, Rey Ruiz, Celia Cruz, José Alberto El Canario, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Chucho Valdés, Muñequitos de Matanzas, Mario Rivera, Juan Manuel Ceruto, David Calzado e Isaac Delgado.

Haila also appears as interpreter in some CDs of remarkable Cuban musicians and in “”La Rumba Soy Yo” CD, winner of 2001 Latin Grammy, exhibiting great versatility.

In 2002, she performed at scenes from United States together with Issac Delgado and his orchestra, she was also selected as guest in the famous Tropicana Cabaret, making various concerts in some European countries as part of “Festival Cuba” spectacle and joined the project Cuban Grammys with the luminaries Eliades Ochoa, Juan Formell, Sampling, Chucho Valdés, Los Papines and Ernán López-Nussa.

On April 25, 2003, the Diva del Son, presented her orchestra conformed by talented musicians, who are still with her in all national and international performances, making a new CD under Bis Music label with the musical direction of Juan Manuel Ceruto, approaching a live concert with a group of outstanding Cuban musicians at National Theater of Cuba.

This year, haila made in June, a remarkable tour around Europe and in July and August she performed together with David Calzado at various Japanesse scenes.

Excellent vocal qualities, professionality and huge love for music feature Haila María Mompié, being catalogued as one of the greatest soneras from the current generation of Cuban musicians.

Paulo Alfonso Fernandez Gallo, was born in Havana City, at the age of 19, he started taking clarinet classes in the conservatorium Ignacio Cervantes. The unique sound of his voice impressed those around him and won him a recommendation to Benny More music records producers, beginning, thus, his career as a professional singer.

In 1986 he participated with Adalberto Alvarez y su Son in the Varadero International Festival.

Two years later, he was already the lead singer of the group Dan Den, (created by Juan Carlos Alfonso) where two of his themes “El Humo o la Vida” and “Siempre hay un Ojo que te Ve” shot him to stardom.

In 1991, he released with Opus 13 (under the direction of the maestro Joaquin Betancourt) a first album containing mostly themes written by him.

A year after, he went on a widely acclaimed Mexico Tour and at his return created his own group called Paulito FG y su Élite which debuted on april 19 at Neptuno Hotel, Havana City.

In 1993, the new band’s first album “Tu no Me Calculas” is released in Havana and Tokio simultaneously, resulting in a smashing success.

In 1994, he signed a deal with Magic Music record company based in Barcelona and records his second album “Sofocándote” which remained lodged at the top of the national charts for a record 22 consecutive weeks.

Paulito’s third album ” El bueno soy yo ” accomplished unprecedented success, which won him an EGREM Awards as Best Dance Music and Popularity categories of the year.

In 1997, he released his fourth album with Fania Records, ” Con la Conciencia Tranquila “. Once again, many of his themes remain atop the national and international charts.

The following year, he released an homage album dedicated to Puerto Rican salsero Tito Puente where he includes boleros and guarachas from the 60′s.

Another national and international greatly acclaimed album is released 2000, the disc ” Una Vez Mas por Amor “.

His seventh album ” Te deseo Suerte “, a staggering success both nationally and internationally, was released in 2002.

Since 1992 Paulo FG has been taking his music to worldwide stages of 20 countries with chart-topping songs in New York, Miami and Bogota, reported by Latin Beat magazine.

His songs have been performed by important salsa stars such as, Jhonny Rivera and Isidro Infante. In his homeland, based on public polls, Paulito remained the most popular singer between 1992 until to today.

Today, his mature work can be distinguished by well-studied melodic lines, unorthodox rhythmic passages, a restrained rock energy, and lyrics that are faithful chronicles of our times, yet refuse to yield to simplistic formulas or vulgarity.

Paulo FG conveys the expressiveness of Cuban streets, the vibrant popular poetry, and life’s reality. His successful fusion of music genres such as rock, balada, jazz and son amounts  to a great blend of original lyrics.

To critics, he’s a music revelation, to his public, the most popular of current times and to him, an irredeemable movie enthusiast and a Jazz loyal fan. Above all things, Paulo is highly respectful of his public and an unconditional music lover”.