Not a Cuban-theme event… but we know some of the backers… and one of our fine local Cuban musicians, Jalidan Ruiz, will be on conga… Eliana Cuevas who has been so often at Lula Lounge, is also a singer…

UPDATE: note that this week’s opening night May 16, 2013, appears to be a freebie… couples can RSVP for admission, see address on the poster.

LUCY RICARDO SOUND SYSTEM is a 10-piece Latinova ensemble comprised of an all-star lineup of Toronto’s top Latin musicians including vocalists Eliana Cuevas and Kwansa Shelley of Bran Van 3000. Beginning on May 16, they will perform a weekly Thursday residency at the Courthouse, 57 Adelaide Ave. E. Lucy Ricardo weaves a playful hodge-podge of musical styles including samba, bossa nova, bolero, rumba and mambo to favorite covers by Astrud Gilbert, Stan Getz, Jobim, Celia Cruz and Sergio Mendes. Fans new and old will finally have access to these once hard-to-find classics in downtown Toronto.

Courthouse, 57 Adelaide Ave. E. – Doors 8:00pm; concert 9:30pm – Tickets $10 (available at the door)

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Every jazz community seems to have at least one Bobby Carcassés: a cat who is good enough to star in a bigger scene, but stays behind to mentor young musicians and organize within the city. The lesser-known heroes, the musicians’ musicians. Except the community represented by Bobby Carcasses [car-cuh-SES — accents don't work on NPR.org] happens to be Havana, Cuba — where jazz was once stifled by a fiercely anti-U.S. government.

Every jazz community seems to have at least one Bobby Carcasses: a cat who is good enough to star in a bigger scene, but stays behind to mentor young musicians and organize within the city. The lesser-known heroes, the musicians’ musicians. Except the community represented by Bobby Carcasses [car-cuh-SES — accents don't work on NPR.org] happens to be Havana, Cuba — where jazz was once stifled by a fiercely anti-U.S. government.

That’s from an NPR article…

It’s difficult to imagine the dedication to jazz that kept it alive in Cuba while it was considered pretty much treasonous.  Here’s one of the men who did that, and has ensured that jazz is as strong an influence in modern Cuba as it is today.

On stage in Toronto, at Lula Lounge, as part of the Lula World festival… we can enjoy the easy showmanship and talent of this great musician.  Sharing the stage, in respect and musical friendship, will be legends of jazz Hilario Duran, and Jane Bunnett.

… Who now finally in Cuba, gets his recognition as a leading light of Cuban music and a great artist:

From Radio Angulo / editorweb@radioangulo.icrt.cu / Saturday, 16 February 2013 12:58

The singer, songwriter and instrumentalist Bobby Carcasses recieved today the 2012 Cuban National Music Award.

A jury chaired by Digna Guerra, director of the National Choir of Cuba, and integrated by the musicologist Maria Teresa Linares, and teachers Luis Carbonell, Adalberto Alvarez and Pancho Amat (they all deserved this award in previous years), selected Carcasses by all of his work.

Bobby Carcasses, a leading exponent of the Cuban jazz, has become known for the variety of roles he can play over the stage, with his trusty trumpet and vocal work, for what many qualify him as a ” showman”.

His work has not been limited only to music, but has expanded into areas such as teaching, painting and poetry.

Carcasses, who was born in Jamaica, is founder of one of the most important events of latin jazz in the world: the Jazz Plaza Festival, which he founded along with other important Cuban musical figures.

His most famous titles are: “El amor llegara con el tiempo,” “Como pompas de jabon,” “Son de Cuba a Puerto Rico,” and “Guanguanco Blues.”

His discography has nearly ten albums in collaboration with Emiliano Salvador, Enrique Jorrin, Mario Bauza, Chucho Valdes and his son Roberto Julio (well-known from being the leader of modern fusion group Interactivo).

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Lulaworld widens the scope…  they prove the Cuban musical story is amazing every week with musical examples.

Now Lulaworld presents a free afternoon lecture. Through music and video examples, you’ll see and hear the rich and rica history of son, danzon, cha-cha-cha, mambo, and learn about how they helped form modern-day salsa.

Lani Milstein…  an academic, a rumbera, a manager, a PR professional… rolled into one… has extensive history around Cuban music in various other cities before arriving in Toronto a few years back.  Lani is going to share some of her knowledge… and secrets… on the topic.

She holds a BFA in theatre/classical voice and an MA in ethnomusicology, and has worked extensively as an arts administrator, researcher, performer and producer throughout Cuba, Canada, and the United States. Currently she’s managing our fabulous local Cuban rumba troupe Iya Ire, among other jobs.

AFTER THE LECTURE:

This is more a coincidence than a plan, but it should be a blast… the Toronto Casino and Timba group runs “Rueda de la Calle” … free Cuban dancing on the street.

The group had planned another activity but they don’t want to miss the lecture… so why not combine?

Stick around after Lani’s expose… enjoy some actual Cuban music and dance… playing some of the latest timba music, dancing “casino” and “rueda de casino”… i.e., Cuban-style salsa music and dancing.

If you know your “Dile que no” from your “Enchufla” you can join the rueda for a while!  Or just listen, or dance however you feel, to the same salsa music that is popular right now in Havana.   From about 2:30PM til about 5pm.

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You are invited to AfroLatino’s mega salsa and timba party!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

9:00pm until 2:00am

$10 cover includes !!!  :

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Led by piano player Jorge Betancourt and featuring some of the city’s top Cuban players, Cafe Cubano is one Toronto’s most popular salsa and timba bands.

8PM jazz group… free with your admission… Trinidadian-born, NYC-schooled, iconic Toronto-based trumpet player Brownman brings 3 members of his latin-jazz supergroup Cruzao to Lula for one night, sporting a modified repertoire written specifically for this smaller trio permutation.

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DANCE TEACHERS

We list those elsewhere on the site, please click HERE

MUSIC TEACHERS

Some of the excellent working musicians who teach as far as we know:

As far as contacting these fine musicians, we recommend finding out where they have gigs and talking to them face to face.  I’d ask the people at Lula Lounge for one.  And if you have some direct contact information, or status updates, please let us know!

RADIO SHOWS

Chris Butcher show Dig! (Thursday 6-8 pm CIUT) includes some music from Cuba, he’s involved as trombone in several of the bands that play regularly at Lula Lounge.  His radio show includes the modern dance music “timba” and other cool music from Cuba.

On CJRT Saturday 1-4 the show Cafe Latino hosted by Laura Fernandez includes son, jazz and fusion music from Cuba.

CUBAN FOOD

There’s Julie’s at 202 Dovercourt Road, Toronto.

Havana style Cafe and Gallery on Brown’s line, west Toronto.

OTHER SOURCES and PLACES

Lula Lounge is the #1 supporter of Cuban and Latin music in this town, no doubts.  Best live music here weekly…

See their site for the hot bands tha appear their on a weekly basis.  And on Sundays, the Cuban son brunch, tasty and sabroso.

The public Facebook group called “Toronto Casino and Timba” is becoming a place where many events are announced.  You have to belong to Facebook to see this.

We have a kind of mirror of “Cuba in Toronto” on Facebook.  But sometimes, people post good news there directly, without posting it on the website as well… so you can check that too.

TIMBA DJ

Ask for DJ Bernal, or DJ Yumaniche for your Timba DJ work.  (Updates needed, if you know how to contact these people!)

REGULAR TRIPS TO CUBA

The school AfroLatino ( see dance list above) does annual trip to Cuba, focussing on salsa and a bit of fokloric dancing, using excellent local teachers: this year, the All-Stars rueda troupe in Santiago de Cuba.

Joyce Humbert of RitmaCuba ties in with the excellent Ritma Cuba vacations, which feature all kinds of Cuban music and dance

If you have more regular weekly or monthly Cuban culture-related events please contact us!

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Wed Apr 24 2013, something non-Cuban… but quality per our taste!

The Porcupine’s Quill and Marc Glassman’s TINARS (This is not a reading series) present the launch of Alec Dempster’s book Lotería Jarocha and a performance by Café Con Pan. Lotería Jarocha assembles a series of linoleum-block prints created by Mexican-Canadian artist Alec Dempster after his return to his native Mexico in the mid-1990s. Discovering a lively genre of folk music from the Veracruz region, Dempster subsequently devoted himself to documenting his heritage with printmaking. The result is Lotería Jarocha, a collection of expressive images which catalogue Dempster’s encounter with the vibrant son jarocho culture of his birthplace.

SIDE NOTE: We got to hear Cafe con Pan courtesy of Miko Sobreira, who has sometimes taught the lesson before a dance band at Lula Lounge.

It was a concert spin-off of his SHINE cabaret series… watch for them, this is great face-to-face, person-to-person, grass-roots entertainment with real people.  How to make new connections with strangers in the big city… real people, no lounge-lizard personalities .   http://www.49st.com/event/shine-an-eclectic-cabaret-1#info

And the night we saw Cafe con Pan, they hadn’t practiced music that day – only Mexican cooking, they served the meal!  Fabulous…

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One of Cuba’s most talented arrangers and composers, Linares Brown began his career with Cuban groups Valentin y Los Del Caribe, Azucar Negra and Adalberto Alvarez.  Vlad teaches beginner lesson before the main show.

Lula Lounge 1585 Dundas St W near Brock.

BONUS BONUS BONUS

Jazz at 8 pm:

Whitney Ross Barris (8pm)

With influences such as Chet Baker, Tom Waits, Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Oscar Peterson and a strong background in theatre performance, Whitncy Ross Barris brings a unique and innovative approach to jazz standards.

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Just the thing for music fans in Toronto in May… every year,  Lula World will BE HERE for you to celebrate and join the party.

We’re warning you, just so you know you will need to spend some time… at the hub of rhythm in Canada… Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St W here in Toronto.

The annual LULAWOLRD festival gives Lula the opportunity to work with local artists to create special presentations that push our programming into previously unexplored areas, to encourage new collaborations and to feature special guest artists from outside of Toronto

To that end, this year’s festival opens with a night of Ethiopian jazz with special guest Fantahun Shewankochew and includes a project that brings together local and international Ukranian musicians. Several of the concerts incorporate classical music, soul and reggae influences. For the first time one of our special international guests is a dancer rather than a musician.

Lula’s Latin Soul

Although, our reach is wide, there’s no denying that Lula was born with a Latin soul. When planning the LULAWORLD 2013, we looked at the latest projects by Toronto artists and were amazed by the depth, variety and calibre of the work being brought forth by the Latin music community over the last year. As a result, this year’s festival includes many aspects and elements of Latin music as it blends with, and informs other genres. This year’s concerts (which include 5 CD releases) will reveal the Latin soul as it is joyfully expressed through classical, hip hop, reggae, Afrobeat, Jewish music, jazz and straight ahead salsa!

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5th of April 2012… Six Degrees Club… 2335 Yonge Street Toronto

Tania in Toronto

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