Concert held by Candido Fabre in Santiago de Cuba for the recent harricane Sandy which destroyed much of the city.

MEGA CONCIERTO EN SANTIAGO DE CUBA

Con la realización de un Mega Concierto en la Avenida Garzón en pleno corazón de la ciudad de Santiago de Cuba culmino este sábado la grabación de un Vídeo Clip al tema “Te vamos a levantar Santiago” escrito y orquestado por el maestro Cándido Fabré dedicado a los santiagueros después del paso del Huracán Sandy por esa sur oriental provincia cubana.

La grabación del Clip Te vamos a … había comenzado el jueves en diferentes locasiones de la ciudad héroe por un equipo de realización convocado para la ocasión y dirigido por los experimentados realizadores Aramys Fonseca y Alden González, con la producción de LIA VIDEOS.

El Clip Te vamos a… que se ha convertido ya en himno de espiritualidad para los santiagueros después de los lamentables sucesos ocurridos en esta ciudad por el paso del fenómeno atmosférico, contó en esta ocasión con la participación de la multipremiada conga de Los Hoyos. Que junto al maestro Cándido Fabré arrollaron hasta el cansancio por la céntrica Avenida Garzón hasta llegar al Coppelia La arboleda, lugar donde el sonero cubano junto la Banda que lo acompaña ofrecieron un Mega Concierto hasta pasadas las tres de la madrugada, momentos en el cual Fabré agradeció al pueblo de Santiago de Cuba y a todos los organismos e instituciones que colaboraron en la realización de la obra audio visual.

Mega CONCERT IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA

With the completion of a Mega Concert Garzón Avenue in the heart of the city of Santiago de Cuba culminated Saturday recording a video clip to the song “We’re going to raise Santiago” written and orchestrated by master Candido Fabre dedicated to Santiago after Hurricane Sandy for the south eastern Cuban province.

The Clip recording … We’ll began on Thursday in the city locasiones different hero for filmmaking team convened for the occasion and led by experienced filmmakers and Alden Gonzalez Fonseca Aramys with VIDEOS LIA production.

The clip you’re going to … that has become the anthem of spirituality and to the people of Santiago after the unfortunate events in this city for over atmospheric, told this time with the participation of the multi Conga Los Hoyos. That with the master Candido Fabre endlessly overwhelmed by the central Avenida Garzon Coppelia until the Grove, where the Cuban sonero along the accompanying band offered a Mega Concert until after three in the morning, moments in which Fabre thanked the people of Santiago de Cuba and all the agencies and institutions who contributed to the realization of the audiovisual work

Candido Fabre and family in their home Manzanillo, Cuba

About Latin Music Downloads

Welcome to the Latin Music Downloads (www.latinmusicdownloads.com) where you will find music from all corners of Latin America and of African roots.

The Latin American Download is one on many projects which comes under umbrella of Tumi Music Ltd.

Taking our name from a ceremonial Inca dagger called the ‘Tumi’ (one of the most important symbols of heritage for Latin Americans)

Since 1983 Tumi Music has been at the forefront of the vast and diverse field of Latin music. In that year whilst in Bolivia, Mo Fini, founder of Tumi Music, heard the music of Rumillajta and began to promote them. By organizing the first ever European tour by an Andean folk band and releasing City of Stone, Rumillajta’s groundbreaking debut album, Tumi Music was born. During that year, the band headlined all big festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Strawberry Fair, Royal Festival Hall and a sellout venue in Edinburgh Festival, selling over 100,000 cassettes during that summer.

Today Tumi Music is regarded with the utmost loyalty and respect by all its musicians in Latin America. By realizing the potential of various musical styles such as Andean folk music and Cuban music well before any of its competitors, Tumi Music has built up an enviable catalogue of over300 new recordings by some of the greatest artists in Latin American and Caribbean music.

Tumi Productions has built its reputation on active artist promotion, encouraging a large touring network, providing a long-term commitment to artist development, and producing unique and exciting recordings.

Every album is a carefully considered project, and today Tumi is regarded with the utmost loyalty and respect by all its musicians. By realizing the potential of the various musical styles of that vast continent, from Andean folk to Cuban son regardless of trends and well before any of its competitors, Tumi has built an enviable catalogue of recordings by some of the greatest artist in Latin America and the Caribbean. The label has also experimented with ‘cross-borders’ projects, like the excellent award-nominated ‘Banacongo’ collaboration between Papa Noel from Congo and Papi Oviedo from Cuba.

Tumi Music has built up a solid reputation based on pro-active artist promotion, a large touring network, exciting recordings, quality packaging and a long term commitment to A&R, regardless of trends or the latest musical fads. Every Tumi Music album is a quality recording, produced by artists expert in their fields and mastered in the highest quality sound studios. Furthermore every production is a carefully thought-out project in itself: expertly designed and beautifully packaged.

Latin Music downloads objective is to present you with not only all the Music we have been recording during the last 30 years but the very best of the popular sounds around today such as Son, Salsa. Bossa, Samba, Forro,Merengue,Andean and Cumbia but also to build up an eclectic selection of excellent artists in as diverse fields. and authenticity to the extent that some of our earlier Peruvian music was recorded using instruments used in the grave yard of cultures such as Chancay, Inca, Mochica and Chimu, some which could have been made from human bones and skulls.

Our aim is to build one of the strongest links among different cultures all over Latin America and build a platform where all independent musicians and music lovers come together and share and enjoy the Music.

Mo Fini (Founder and director January 2012)

www.mofini.com

Candido Fabre and family in their home Manzanillo, Cuba

Candido Fabre, the best Sonero in Cuba if not in the world!

Benny More was the most important Sonero of 50′s and early 60′s

Felix Baloy, the great Sonero

Tiburon Morales

It would be no exaggeration to say that Son is not only “the most sublime pastime for the soul” as claimed by the indispensable Ignacio Piñeiro, but also the musical face of Cuba before the world; the definitive consecration of its national music.

Regarding its origins, it is often said that señora Teodora Ginés came from Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic to Santiago de Cuba, at the end of the 16^th century.  Popular legends credit her with playing a mandolin down the streets of this eastern city accompanied by her sister, bringing joy to the lives of its citizens.

But the fact is that there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate even the existence of señora Ginés and the legendary Son de la Ma’ Teodora.

Now, without doubt, the town has gradually become something of a guitar-capital. However, all this atmosphere is due to a rather indispensable history.

Ever since French landowners first brought their wealth and servants to the hills and streets of Santiago no place has been left bereft of music. It didn’t take long before singers, guitars in hand, started to appear, always in the poorest neighbourhoods. These were mainly “Guitarreos ” (strummers) who used instruments made by a black carpenter named Rebollar.

Researchers confirm that in the middle of the 19^th century, there was a proliferation of troubadours in the neighbourhoods of the outskirts of Santiago, and it was they who created the conditions for traditional bolero to emerge.

However, it wasn’t until the closing years of the century that, in Santiago, “La Trova Cubana”  (The Cuban Ballad) would evolve into its distinctive style, with Pepe Sanchez as the head of an historic generation of exponents.

But, just as important as the impact Franco-Haitian culture had on the eastern part of Cuba from 1791 onwards (as a result of the Haitian revolution), has been the prevailing influence of black Africans. They brought to the island a strong rhythmic component which spontaneously communed with European melodic richness giving rise to the most syncretic musical result of the Cuban national identity –the Son.

Many state that this richness – the fruit of ethnic interaction – facilitated Cuenca del Rio Cauto (a rural zone in the east) to give voice to the first manifestations of the Son style. We shouldn’t also forget the contributions from the hills of Baracoa, where the rustic tres became king and, later in the skilled hands of Nene Manfugas, came down to Santiago to gain acclaim.

In Santiago the Son co-habited with the Trova and became its brother, which in time produced marvels as interesting as bolero-son. It was the same Miguel Matamoros who aired them and, with his anthological Trio, presented this combination to the whole world.

But a little earlier, in the first ten years of the 20^th century, the soldiers of the Permanent Army took the son to Havana where it was urbanized by the Havana Sextet. Later would come a long list: Maria Teresa Vega, Ignacio Piñeiro, Arsenio Rodríguez, La Sonora Matanacera, Conjunto Casino, Benny More… until more recently Elio Reve, Juan Formell y Adalberto Alvarez.

Since Benny More perhaps Cuba has not seen another sonero like Benny More , but the most important of all soneros commonly believed to be Candido Fabre,Tiburon Morales and Felix Baloy and ironically all come from Santiago de Cuba!

Compay Seguudo is burried in the ravyard of Santiago de Cuba among many heroes.[gallery columns="5" orderby="rand"]

The idea arises because from the XVI century and until principles of the XIX century, the great majority of the funerals took place fundamentally in the patios of the churches, or inside the same ones when it was about ecclesiastical, military, political or social important personalities.

Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba is home to s one o

Travelling in a cart around Santiago de Cuba.

Compay segundo in Santiago de Cuba

f great Cubans legends both past and temporary. The Cemetery constitutes a reminder of the last and present history of Cuba, because there lies some of the personalities’ rest more valiant and illustrate of the independence wars, as well as some outstanding f

Mo Fini, Candido’s Grandson and Candido Fabre

Candido Fabre and his family in his house in Manzanillo, Cuba

Candido’s poster the great baseball lover and Conchita

Travieso “Candido Fabre Jr.” during his recording session in the bedroom of their house in Manzanillo, Cuba. October 2012[gallery orderby="rand"]

 

It is midday on Friday 19th October.   As I sat In Candido’s house in Manzanillo ,Conchita (Candido’s wife) kindly served us with my favourite food of all time;  Rice, Beans and freshly caught fish.

All morning I had been sitting  next to Travieso (Fabre jr.) in his studio/ bedroom and listening to the new recording that he has been putting together for the last year or so and now it was a relief to be away from the blasting sound of music for a while.  The house felt  more like Piccadilly Circus than a house with people coming and going and the news was coming in that Candido was finally getting up.   In the sitting room there were people queuing for interviews, video work..etc and meanwhile all the instruments had to be shipped from Manzanillo to Bayamo for the night event which quite to my surprise sounded a much bigger event than I had thought.

Eventually I finished eating and Candido came down, after a big hug I left him to his interviews and went to the studio putting some trombone to one of the  Travieso’s song.

When we finished everything was rather quiet and once again the house converted back  into a family gathering with Candido Fabre’s grandson  from his daughter Muñeca  and his wife Conchita .  As we sat around we took lots of photos and talked about how 19 years had disappeared just like a night.

I still clearly remember, our daughter Nina was around one year old and we had gone to Cienfuegos for our holiday.  It was early in the evening and I could hear music in the street.  I left my wife Lucy and Nina in the hotel and walked towards a crowd of people.  As I ploughed my way through mountains of people I saw this young charismatic black singer  communicating with his audience as I had never seen before, he was indeed improvising rather than singing. He went on for hours and I knew that he was very special indeed. As I had to go back I pushed myself behind the stage and left my name and Tumi Music details to his violinist who had come back for a glass of water and asked her the name of the singer and she said ” Candido Fabre” and I said please let him have my card and that moment was the start of a long and respectable relationship between one of Cuba’s greatest singers and myself and Tumi Music. We went on to record 4 CD’s, and he toured UK and mainland Europe more than a dozen times. Today I consider Candido more as a member of my family and a good friend rather than a musician on my label “Tumi Music”.

On the evening of Friday 19th. October 2012, we all turned up to Bayamo.  As we approached the venue “El guajiro natural” the police were chaining off the entire area. I was driving with Carlos who had been accompanying me during the journey on the Island. I drove towards the barrier and introduced myself with the passport in my hand. The officer in charge soon removed the barrier and provided us with a parking space. I was accompanied to the back stage when Candido Fabre received us  with lots of hugs and smiles.

We went to the back where special seats were reserved for us, but I wanted to be at the front and  after saying hi to many people I left the table and went to the front.  Arturo Jorge, the trova band was finishing their last song . They sounded really amazing too.

When the band finished Candido eventually appeared after his band played the first two songs and there they were all Candido’s old favourite hits as well as some new ones among them some of my favourite songs ” La Habana quiere guarachar contigo” and ” De Cuba vengo y Cubano soy”.

It was a truly memorable evening that I will never forget.

We stayed until the last song and then knowing we had a 10 hour drive to Habana, we left quietly!

Mo Fini (Managing Director)

20th. October 2012

Tumi Music

www.tumimusic.com

The British delegates wonder around the sduios of “Globo” in Rio

almost all telenovela are filmed in the studios in Rio..

Some 50 UKTI delegates in creative sector visited the South Americanb biggest studios “Globo”, in Rio de janeiro, Brasil

One of the main street of the strudio of “Globo”

Some 50 UKTI delegates in creative sector visited the South Americanb biggest studios “Globo”, in Rio de janeiro, Brasil

One of the main street of the strudio of “Globo”

One of the main street of the strudio of “Globo”

One of the main street of the strudio of “Globo”

Mo Fini of Tumi Music joined some 50 UK trade delegates to San Pablo and Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil organized by  the  “United Kingdom Trade Investment” known as UKTI.

During the week we participated in several seminars and meetings  with some of the key Industry figures both in San Pablo and Rio.

On Thursday 27^th. September a visit to the studios of the media empire “Globo” was organized.

Rede Globo  or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings. Globo is the second-largest commercial TV network in annual revenue worldwide behind just of American Broadcasting Company and one of the largest producer of telenovelas.

It was fascinating to learn that each Brazilian watches on average five and half hour TV every single day and the amazing studios makes equivalent of three feature films of telenovela or soap opera every single day. One wonders what is left in a day for other daily issues!

The network’s main production studios are located at a complex dubbed Projac , located in Jacarepaguá, Barra da Tijuca. It is composed of 122 owned and affiliate television stations throughout Brazil plus its own international networks.

HIJOS de AGUEYBANA/Agua del Sol: Ten or twenty years ago, this would easily have been church basement music. Bomba, a sound that developed when African slaves worked in Puerto Rican sugar cane fields, it lends itself to interpretive moves and all that jazz. This player and his crew move it in a more contemporary direction that lends itself to multi media presentations that can stand on their own without arts council money. Taking a leaf from Paul Winter’s world incursions, the originating Afro-Caribe vibe is firmly in place but you don’t have to be scared off thinking this is off beat girl friend music. Certainly not for everyone, but if you enjoy flashing your hipster stripes to the sounds of Mongo Santamaria pre-salsa, are this and a blunt waiting for you! A nice ear opener.

Its origins in Africa and in the great movement of Africans throughout the Caribbean tie bomba to other Afro-Latin traditions from Haiti to Cuba, sharing beats, instrumentation, and even terminology. But in Puerto Rico, bomba developed a wonderful local texture and character, and continues to be a moving and meaningful response to life on the island.

Two of Hijos de Agüeybaná’s members discovered its power and relevance and have dug into its past. Drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and researcher Ángel Luis was raised in New York City in a musical family who played in a band together. Yet he first heard bomba at a photo shoot as a young man. He was immediately blown away.

”I thought it was African music. I was stunned to hear it was from my island, from my home,” he recalls. He soon found himself returning to Puerto Rico, winning over sometimes reticent bomba elders, interviewing dozens upon dozens of veteran musicians and dancers to learn more about how, when, and why the music was performed.

His son, Otoqui, grew up dancing bomba from the very start; his mother danced while pregnant with him. Gently introduced to the tradition and mentored by his father, Otoqui turned away from bomba as a teen and got into break dance. “I realized hip hop wasn’t my music, that break dancing wasn’t my culture,” Otoqui recalls. “I thought about it, and decided I wanted to change people’s minds. I wanted to teach my friends that they needed to learn our music.”

Though incorporating other Latin and international contemporary elements into their music and bringing a wide sonic palette to its pulse and feel, the Reyes and the other performers in Hijos de Agüeybaná have an uncanny ability to transmit the rootsy beauty, and the gracious culture of bomba. At the core is the evolving interaction between drum and movement, a dialogue that the group captured on the album.

”To find that feeling, sometimes you bring the dancers to the studio. Sometimes you imagine the dancer in your mind,” Otoqui says. “Sometimes you just bring your feeling into the drum. The drum itself speaks; it talks to people.”

The inspiring gesture and potential of dance pervades the songs. Otoqui wrote “Te Invito” as a lovely, heartfelt explanation of bomba’s creative pleasures to his hesitant sweetheart, a visual artist. He urges her to feel the dance floor is a canvas and her feet are brushes (she was eventually won over and now dances bomba). “Ohami” was sparked by a friend’s evocative dancing, movements that sent Otoqui from behind his drum dashing for his notebook to jot the images down. “Agua del Sol” celebrates the role of homebrewed rum in bomba celebrations, how it warms the heart and moves shy participants from the sidelines to the dance floor.

But bomba is about more than good times; it’s about dignity. “Ask any elder and they will tell you: Bomba is respect. You have to have respect throughout, for the drums, for your partners,” Ángel Luis notes. Yet this respect doesn’t stymie creativity; it helps channel it, finding new ways to make old beats dance and sing.

”Bomba is your heart expressing itself freely,” Ángel Luis smiles. “It’s the letting go. Letting it flow freely and reach out to the world.”

About Hijos de Agueybana

The group Hijos de Agueybana directed by Otoqui Reyes consists of eight artists, all committed to preserving their Afro-Caribbean roots. The group has over ten years experience both of performing and offering workshops and courses on the historical and cultural significance of the genre of bomba. They have presented their dance and music to both national and international audiences across the Americas. In the Caribbean the African drum is central to cultural identity creating harmony, solidarity and leadership in both the music itself and the musicians who perform it, helping maintain social structure in communities and villages all over the Island.

In this, their first musical production, Otoqui Reyes, in collaboration with other great artists Cristi Mangual, Andy Montañez and Tony mapeyé creates a flavour unique to Puerto Rico. The drum or tambor Barril-Primo is played by Ángel Luis Reyes and Otoqui Reyes, reveling in its traditional rhythm whilst also integrating with other popular rhythms such as salsa and jazz, and electronic instrumentation such as indigenous-environmental “Lounge”. This creative collaboration is achieved by quality musicians such as: Luis Rosa, Tony Gonzalez and Ricky Torres, committed to creating art and music out of their rich culture. Complementary to the main drums come the second smaller ones which are played by Ramon Vazquez and Papo Aguilú together Jose Alicea, and Maraca. The harmony produced in several layers of drumming is accompanied by the joyful voices of Naomi Vasquez, Minerva Rosa and Quique Hernández.

Everything builds together in this production, like a big street party full of dance, culture and tradition – a great and tasty celebration of life!

The group Hijos de Agueybana directed by Otoqui Reyes consists of eight artists, all committed to preserving their Afro-Caribbean roots. The group has over ten years experience both of performing and offering workshops and courses on the historical and cultural significance of the genre of bomba. They have presented their dance and music to both national and international audiences across the Americas. In the Caribbean the African drum is central to cultural identity creating harmony, solidarity and leadership in both the music itself and the musicians who perform it, helping maintain social structure in communities and villages all over the Island. In this, their first musical production, Otoqui Reyes, in collaboration with other great artists Cristi Mangual, Andy Montañez and Tony mapeyé creates a flavour unique to Puerto Rico. The drum or tambor Barril-Primo is played by Ángel Luis Reyes and Otoqui Reyes, revelling in its traditional rhythm whilst also integrating with other popular rhythms such as salsa and jazz, and electronic instrumentation such as indigenous-environmental “Lounge”. This creative collaboration is achieved by quality musicians such as: Luis Rosa, Tony Gonzalez and Ricky Torres, committed to creating art and music out of their rich culture. Complementary to the main drums come the second smaller ones which are played by Ramon Vazquez and Papo Aguilú together Jose Alicea, and Maraca. The harmony produced in several layers of drumming is accompanied by the joyful voices of Naomi Vasquez, Minerva Rosa and Quique Hernández. Everything builds together in this production, like a big street party full of dance, culture and tradition – a great and tasty celebration of life! Enjoy! 07/11/12