Los Van Van's U.S. tour, which was scheduled to hit New York, Denver, San Francisco and L.A. in June, has been cancelled.
The cause is not diplomatic, reports say, but a snag in business negotiations. The band claims to have its issued U.S. visas in hand.
Los Van Van getting on their tour bus in Germany, 2008
Is this good news or bad news? I would love for a "do-over" tour schedule to include a few stops in other U.S. cities that are not so fortunate as to have Cuban artists performing there regularly. I bet Los Van Van would bring down the house in Greensboro and Atlanta. Don't forget about us.
It's like the cultural literacy clock didn't just stop during the Bush administration, but got set back decades. As if no one remembers that in the late 90s and early '00s, groups from Cuba toured through Triangle venues several times a year. The diplomatic barrier may be broken, but here in the Heartland/Dirty South, we are still waiting for the Cuban drought to be over.
Omara Portuondo, legendary Cuban singer who came to U.S. audiences' attention in 1996 as an original member of the Buena Vista Social Club, just performed two concerts in California on her first U.S. tour since 2004:
I'm not breaking news on this one, but I'm still in shock I think. Does this mean that the doors have finally, definitively, been reopened to Cuban artists? For the past 5-6 years they have been systematically denied visas and FBI clearances.
I had also heard that Pablo Milanés and chamber orchestra of Zenaida Romeu (who performed at Duke before the halt on visas) both received visas around the same time. Is Omara the first to touch down? I'm not sure, but it would be a nice way to reopen the gates.
UPDATE / CORRECTION: Yes, the show will air! For digital cable package customers, UNC-ED airs Latin Music USA on 11/17 and 11/24 in two 2-hour segments.
WUNC-TV will air Latin Music USA on four Fridays in November beginning 11/6.
My apologies, UNC-TV! Your website is very hard to search, however, when I enter "Latin Music USA" on a general search I get no records. On the calendar search I had to pre-select the correct day (thanks, Georg) in order to locate these. New Link Added:New York Times review of Latin Music USA episode 1
****original post below***** I just realized that Durham Time-Warner Cable PBS station WUNC-TV is not showing Latin Music USA, a new 4-hour documentary series scheduled to start airing across the country Monday, Oct. 12. This new documentary promises to be a definitive landmark, produced by WGBH Boston and the BBC, and containing interviews with some of the most important living figures in Latin music.
The omission is egregious when you consider that it's Hispanic Heritage Month. Preview screenings and concerts with musicians from the film have been going on in cities around the country leading up to this premiere.
I'm really disappointed that it does not appear to be on the WUNC-TV schedule at all, either now or at a later time. (They recently cleared a whole week of regular programming for the Ken Burns National Parks series.) Does anyone know if it is the same story in surrounding areas? Raleigh, Chapel Hill, etc., is it airing on PBS stations where you are?
It's that Sotomayor mambo, at last. Music courtesy of Bobby Sanabria.
Supreme Court JusticeSonia Sotomayor's dance partner is Esai Morales, who played the motorcycle-riding bad boy half-brother of Richie Valenzuela in La Bamba. Not bad.
I think one of my wildest dreams just came true. Not only that, I learned the word for "high jumper" in Norsk (= høydehopperen).
Shout out to all my mambo-loving, Dagbladet-reading brothers and sisters! Velkommen til Onda Carolina, and keep supporting Latin music in your Scandinavian wonderland...un cariño especial a los caribeños allí.
What's next? Will Judge Sonia Sotomayor herself check in with an opinion? You never know...
Read his story--an Onda Carolina exclusive!--of how the song was written in 1998 about Cuban Olympian Javier Sotomayor, and how Kolve's band Mambo Compañeros developed from its beginnings on Norwegian television and remains one of Norway's leading salsa bands.
The first part of our conversation reads like an Abbot and Costello routine, so I've left the comedy of errors intact, as we both try to understand why we seem to be talking about completely different songs! In a sense, we were...
Kåre was just bidding dinner guests farewell in Trondheim as I called him Wednesday morning at 10:30 am Eastern Time (US):
Sylvia Pfeiffenberger: You’re on your way to a rehearsal, is it for Mambo Compañeros?
Kåre Kolve: Yes.
SP: How did you produce this song so quickly, and when did you start writing the Sotomayor Mambo?
KK: Why?
SP: When. Like how soon after this nomination?
KK: Oh. I wrote it way back in 1998.
SP: The song? But not the lyrics?
KK: What?
SP: Did you add these lyrics for the occasion?
KK: Well some of them, yes. I got a little help with the Spanish and also had some contribution from the lead singer, he’s a Cuban guy.
SP: Which one is it, Alexander [Fernández] or Luison [Medina]?
KK: Yeah, Alexander.
SP: Ok. So he added some lyrics to a tune you had previously written. KK: Yes and there’s other guy that is called…uh…uh…he helped me to translate into Spanish some of the words there…
SP: Not Luison but someone else?
KK: Cortes!
SP: I don’t know this name.
KK: I think he’s written on the record somewhere.
SP:Cortes?
KK: He’s called uh, Cortes, is his last name. His surname is…oh, I can’t remember…
SP: That’s ok. Is he a member of your band?
KK: No, no, he was just a friend.
SP: What do you do in the band, what’s your instrument?
KK: Saxophone player.
SP: Do you normally write tunes?
KK: Yeah, I do a lot of writing.
SP: Ok. 1998, what was this track originally called? Was it on your album in a different form, in a different version?
KK: Ehh, excuse me, one more time?
SP: Was this tune on your earlier album in a different version? Did it have a different name? Have you recorded this song before?
KK: Ehh, no, it was just during the uh, the first time we uh, played it was actually on a Norwegian TV show…
SP: Oh really?
KK: Which was hosted as an athlete's show. And Sotomayor was one of the guests.
SP: You’re kidding me. So she was a guest on the show, back then, and you wrote the song for her?
KK: Well, I think you misunderstand a little bit.
SP: Ok. I’m trying to get the picture…
KK: Are you talking about the…
SP: Sotomayor Mambo…
KK: …the minister of the…?
SP: Well, she’s the nominee for um…well, I don’t know who you wrote the song for. But over here, they’re playing this song for Sonia Sotomayor, the...
KK: OH!
SP: …nominee for Supreme Court Judge.
KK: Oh! Well, the song is, originally I wrote it for the high jumper, the Cuban high jumper—
SP: No kidding!
KK: …Javier Sotomayor.
SP:Laughs. Ok, well, I knew there was going to be some story here, I was trying to get to the bottom of it!
KK:Laughs. I was thinking a little bit about it because I thought it was a little bit strange that you uh…
SP: Why am I calling now for this song…
KK: Yeah, because, yeah, I mean, it was released in 2002-2003. I was thinking something maybe happened with Javier Sotomayor, or something like that. But I was thinking also about the new minister, or no, this is a court…
SP: Yes. Who’s the new minister that you mentioned?
KK: Yeah.
SP: Who is that?
KK: Didn’t you uh…?
SP: Oh you mean our, in the US.
KK: In the US, yeah.
SP: Well she’s the nominee for our Supreme Court, so she’s a judge.
KK: Yeah.
SP: Ok. All right. This, you didn’t re-record it with different lyrics or anything?
KK: No no no. This was actually, if you catch the lyrics, you know, it’s all about the high jumper. He’s still got the world record in high jump.
SP: There was a couple words in [the song] I didn’t get, that didn’t make sense to me, and now I’m understanding why.
Both:Laughter.
KK: Oh, yeah yeah yeah. So this is a kind of contribution then to uh, because he’s one of the most famous athletes from Cuba, and uh, since we were playing on this show and he was a guest, you know, and so I wrote this song as a tribute to him.
SP: How interesting!
KK: And actually, after he returned to Cuba, and some years later, he started his own salsa band, which he called Salsa Mayor.
SP: Oh, no wait a minute! No way! Because I know that band, but I didn’t know this guy’s name or that a guy in the band was an athlete…
KK: Oh really? Laughs. Yeah I think he’s got a record in high jump, you know, I think it’s like 2.45 meters.
SP: So he’s got records and records. KK: Yeah I think he’s still got it, he’s had that record for 15 years or something.
SP: Ok. And Salsa Mayor, is that the same band, with you know, Maikel Blanco? That band?
KK: No, no.
SP: Oh, it’s a different one.
KK: Yeah this is a Cuban band.
SP: Yeah, but this is a Cuban band I’m thinking of…
KK: Oh really? Oh maybe, maybe, I’m not sure actually. But he’s not playing in it, he’s just using his name on it in some way. You know, like a brand.
SP: All right. Now this took place in Norway, this was in Norway, he was a guest.
KK: Yes.
SP: And you guys are in Trondheim?
KK: Yes.
SP: And you have a couple Cuban guys who are based in Oslo, is that right?
KK: Yes, they are part of the band.
SP: All right, so they travel—how far is it from Oslo, to Trondheim?
KK: It’s about one hour with plane. We’re one of the leading salsa bands in Norway, so we are used to travel, so I mean, if you live in Oslo it’s not far actually. We don’t feel that way at all.
SP: It is. Ok. Well this is explaining a lot! Because I wondered how you got the song out so quickly. They started emailing it around to people. Various Latino policy organizations have mailed it around and asked people to play it in support of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. Did you know that?
KK: I didn’t know. I’ve read [about the nomination] in the paper, yes.
SP: How do you feel about that?
KK: I think it’s really great. It’s about time that the Latin people are finally getting some important position, and especially a woman, because it’s such a macho, Latin people are so macho you know. A lot of man thing.
SP:Laughs. Interesting to get your Norwegian perspective. Have you spent time in the Latin American world yourself?
KK: Yeah, I’ve been a couple of times in Cuba.
SP: Yeah, I thought maybe, so, you have a lot closer ties to Cuba than we do, lucky for you.
KK: Yeah, we are. It’s no big deal for us to go there. Laughs. It’s more difficult to get from the States to Cuba actually than for us.
SP: Yeah, that’s definitely a fact, that’s a fact. Ok. So, the sonero on this song is Alexander Fernandez, and Luison plays conga, does he sing backup, does he also sing as a sonero?
KK: No, he’s the conga player. He sings on some of the songs but not that song, yeah. Alexander is our lead singer of that song.
SP: So, you didn’t make any effort to get this song out to US markets [after the nomination]? Like I didn’t know if you had any contacts over here that you know, maybe you sent the song over here to somebody and said, hey, check this out...
KK: No, no. It’s just a coincidence. There was just a review for an album [in 2004, by Rudy Mangual] in the Latin Beat music magazine in L.A. which is the biggest Latin newspaper about Latin music. That is actually the only contact we have had with the United States about anything.
SP: And no one’s contacted you now, since this happened? Am I the first person to call you about this, in relation to the judge?
KK: Definitely. If you can get us a tour over there, I’d be happy to.
SP:Laughs. Yeah, I wish I had that power. Sounds like a good band. I know there’s a hot Cuban music scene in Scandinavia. Michelle White, the timba specialist who covers it for Timba.com, she’s in Sweden.
KK: Yeah yeah, that’s true.
SP: We had the Afro Cuban All Stars here recently and Calixto Oviedo [who lives in Sweden] was with them…
KK: Yeah Yeah, I know him, very good friend. Oh, that’s nice. Alexander played a lot with Calixto.
So uh, all these [Cuban] guys. Alexander, usually he was a regular member of Manolito [Simonet] y su Trabuco…and he, what do you call it, when you find a Norwegian girl and he, what do you call it when you’re leaving, and you’re jumping off…you’re coming from an isolated country…
SP: You mean like…he married a girl there?
KK: Yeah, yeah, I mean he’s like the old Soviet people…
SP: Defecting.
KK: Yes, yes. He did that on a tour actually with Manolito and he stayed here in Norway. He’s been here ever after, but you know, both of these guys have Norwegian passports now so they can go wherever they like, and can go back to Cuba also.
SP: That’s nice for them.
The people who sent me this file of your song are from the National Institute for Latino Policy. I have a blog post about this, I’m going to supplement it now with our interview, because this information changes the picture considerably!
Both:Laughter.
KK: Yes. You know I was mentioning this to my girlfriend just for a joke, when we saw news about Sonia Sotomayor, I said, well I wrote a song about this!
SP: And maybe someone will start paying attention to it!
KK: Yeah maybe, maybe, you never know. Well, Spanish people, they will probably recognize there’s something with the lyrics that doesn’t fit.
SP: So what’s the word for high jumper?
KK: In Spanish it’s salto alto.
SP: Oh, that’s what he’s saying! That’s why! You know at the end of the song he says El Rey…
KK:El Rey del Salto Alto.
SP: And I thought, maybe that’s the singer’s nickname. I just couldn’t make sense of that.
KK: Yeah. That’s the king of high jumping.
SP: Got it. And are they saying Bienvenido, something?
KK: Yes, Bienvenido al Noruega…
SP: Al Noruega…[Welcome to Norway]
KK: Yeah, and this was broadcast on the TV show, so this was a like, a celebration for him. And he actually was dancing to our music on the Norwegian television.
SP: That's cool. What’s the name of that TV show, is it a well-known show?
KK: Well it was at that time, but it’s like 11 years ago since that was. But you know I think we still got a clip of it somewhere. In Norwegian it's called Ja Vi Elsker [translation: Yes We Love], the first line of the Norwegian national anthem. Maybe you can find it, it’s not more than 2 minutes or something. It’s very charming, and it’s very early in our career also. Because we didn’t have Cubans in the band at that time, so I was the lead singer, which I am not anymore! Laughs. I’m the saxophone player.
We talked to him [Javier Sotomayor] afterwards. He was surprised and he was extremely happy about this song. We sent it to him after we recorded and he really appreciated it, we got nice thanks from him.
SP: That’s pretty cool. You just started the band in that year, didn’t you?
KK: About the time, I think it was 1996.
SP: Ok. Well, that’s really cool, Kåre. I appreciate your time.
KK: That’s fine, I mean, it’s very funny, I mean it’s a small world so, it’s quite funny that you always find something here and there, with Myspace and YouTube and whatever. New music can pop up everywhere actually.
SP: That’s right, and I figured why not make it even smaller, I’ll just try and contact this guy and see what the story is!
KK:Laughs Thank you, that’s very nice of you.
SP: How do you describe the music you guys make, you call it Mambo Compañeros. It’s not exactly timba, right?
KK: I think, our style is more of a mix of traditional salsa and timba.
SP: Ok cool, what a pleasure speaking with you. Good luck, say hi to the guys in the band.
Kaare (pronounced akin to "kawr-uh") was nice as pie, and surprised to get my call, his FIRST interview with the US press about "Sotomayor," a tune he wrote in 1998.
That's right, 1998. When Cuban high-jumper Javier Sotomayor visited Norway. That sure makes sense out of some of the lyrics I didn't understand, and what seemed like a vacuna of information about Judge Sotomayor!
"Bienvenido a Noruega" = Welcome to Norway: Javier was there making an appearance on a Norwegian TV program when the band premiered this song for him on live television.
"El Rey del Salto Alto" = King of the High Jump: Words that end the song, I couldn't make sense of it, thinking maybe that was the nickname of the sonero?
But of course.
Kaare was packing up to go to a Mambo Compañeros rehearsal, and he says that although the band had no knowledge of the use of their song in a viral publicity campaign* stateside, he's delighted that it's being played to celebrate Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court.
There is already a "Sotomayor Mambo." It's not really a mambo, it's modern Cuban salsa, and it's not from Da Boogie Down, South Bronx, where Judge Sotomayor hails from. It's from...Norway. Trondheim and Oslo to be precise, with a hand from Havana. 6 Norwegians and 2 Cuban expats make up the Mambo Compañeros, now test-marketing the cozy, anglicized name Mambo Companions.
This isn't a video, just an mp3 with still image. What's really interesting is that the National Institute for Latino Policy (that's US policy) has given it their endorsement, as you can see in the end credits. Reportedly, they were tipped to the song by Howard Jordán, host of WBAI's The Jordan Journal.
Now, the chorus is catchy enough, but as a national policy "response" to the right-wing attack media, it's a little thin. There's not much here about Judge Sotomayor's personal story or accomplishments, and I didn't hear one mention of her Nuyorican heritage. Cuba and the band, on the other hand, get numerous shoutouts. The Cubans in Compañeros are Alexander Fernández, who worked on some early albums of Cuban timba star Manolito Simonet, and Luison Medina, both active in various European bands. It's basically a party song, dedicated to the judge [Correction: See Update].
We'll see if the Mambo Compañeros' answer to Obamagirl goes viral. It's great to see musicians anywhere pay tribute to Sonia Sotomayor, who no doubt will continue to inspire her share of plenas, salsas, mambos, merengues and other ecstatic outbursts in song.
You gotta wonder, though, if Latin bands from the Bronx are not just a little bit peeved that NiLP, a think tank whose home address is Avenue of the Americas, New York City, has outsourced their national mambo policy to Norway.
I have a feeling I have entered a "no public comment" zone.
Bad news, it seems, re: Cuban artists seeking to travel to the U.S. to perform: folk singer/songwriter Silvio Rodriguez did not receive a U.S. visa in time to perform at Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration this past Sunday, May 3. State Department officials are quoted as saying his visa request is "in process." Visa delays have been tantamount to denials during the second Bush term.
This AP story in the Hartford Currant appeared yesterday. Rodriguez deplored his own inability to attend the event in an open letter to Seeger published on a Cuban state-owned website:
"I tried to return to be with you today, but, as you well know, it was made impossible by those who do not want the United States and Cuba to come together, sing together, talk together, understand each other...Not only I, but all of Cuba, embargoed as we still are by the abusers, loves you, and we are at your side now singing your prophetic We Shall Overcome and our Martí's Guantanamera.
[Translation Ned Sublette. It was Seeger's inspiration, in the early '60s, to pair Martí's lyrics with a 1928 Joseito Fernandez tune, "Guantanamera."]
Unfortunately for Rodriguez, no one seemed to miss him at the party. Neither his absence nor the reason for it were announced from the stage, nor was it mentioned in press coverage of the event, according to Sublette.
So much for hoping that a new era of U.S.-Cuba diplomacy had already touched the State Department. Naturally, I'm concerned about what this bodes for the rumored Los Van Van tour, but it's best to always wait and see. Esperanza!
Update 5/14:
A couple of commentaries on the Silvio Rodriguez case...this TV journalist Alina Fernandez says, it's no wonder his visa was denied, as he's not just a singer, but a politician with an extensive resumé that makes him quote an "embassador of tyranny" (in Spanish):
And here's an interview Rodriguez did in Cuba, telling about the U.S. consulate interview in Paris. (I tuned out about half-way through where he started telling an anecdote about Poughkeepsie...) but anyway, the gist is, he was disappointed not to receive the visa, because he had thought conditions in the U.S. had changed enough, with Obama in the White House, talk of a new attitude towards Cuba, the momentousness of the occasion (Pete Seeger's 90th), that it was to benefit an environmental cause (cleaning up the Hudson) etc. Consulate officials reportedly did question him about his membership in the Cuban parliament (in Spanish):
He says he is glad he was at least invited, he wants to break the ice between our two peoples. He describes also what they had planned for the concert; he and Pete were going to sing "Guantanamera" (a song Seeger popularized here in the 60s) together, in the second half of the concert, to be joined on stage by Juanes.
Everything has to have a little Juanes nowadays...
They are about to take the stage with Orquesta Gardel for the WORLD PREMIERE of a new timba tune written by trombonist Andy Kleindienst. It's entitled, get this: "Welcome to Shakori Hills"!
A song, written FOR the gig? That's like, 111% percent commitment. That's like a renaissance-scale luxury.
VIDEO of this blessed event will be posted as soon as I can get it uploaded!
Team Paso was there (Cuban-style dance school led by Stephanie and Eduardo Winston) to validate this experiment of timba-in-the-wildnerness.
I feel like I was present for something historic Thursday night: not only Gardel's first original, fresh out of the gate (with more soon to follow), but very possibly the first timba song ever written in the Triangle, and almost certainly the first timba song dedicated to Shakori Hills. The sound of timba, with its dynamic piano lines and punchy metales, really suits Gardel. Even though he talked a lot about "salsa gorda," Puerto Rican sonero Nelson Delgado carried the Cuban timba style convincingly right down to his "ahi nama's".
This band was born to play timba. Congratulations Andy! Gardel continues to set the bar higher.
It was in this same spot a year ago that their April performance at Shakori sparked my awe and the Indy cover story that ensued. There's something magical about that Dance Tent, where great evenings with Plena Libre, Bio Ritmo, and Ricardo Lemvo y Makina Loca have gone before.
His touring five-piece (which plays twice more on Friday) features Cuban-born bassist Jorge Bringas; New York Cuban and DUKE GRADUATE ('94) Alex Fernandez Fox on tres and jazz guitar; Venezuelan jazz percussionist Pablo Bencid, as versatile on cajon as drumset; and a surprise: conguero Gabo Tomasini of Bio Ritmo! Jose was born in Chicago, raised in Miami and makes his home in Brooklyn, but he and the Richmond-based Ritmo are good friends. There was a lot of diversity to his set, and Jose charmed with his laid-back sonero style and personal, often whimsical songs in styles from Haitian to joropo. They closed with some son and salsa, and Jose tells me TONIGHT'S SET (Friday night, Dance Tent) will be tailored to the dancer.
"It will be more of the dance stuff, and a couple funky things. We have a wide repertory," says the urban sonero.
"I like to sing in rhythm, and I like to tell stories. I'm trying to take the son spirit into funk," says Jose.
This performance from Thursday night, when they were fighting cold temperatures to keep their instruments in tune, shows their Cuban dance music side. "Puente a Mi Gente," about ending the embargo, features a frisky tres solo by Alex Fernandez Fox.
Jose didn't realize that the festival organizers found him via his nifty Obama video.
"Oh wow," says Jose. "Well we're going to have to do it tomorrow then. That was written for the election, so we'll do it in its original incarnation."
UPDATE added Saturday, 4/18:
Ok, I wondered what he meant. Here is Friday night's performance of the tune "Respondeme," which he adapted for the Obama video. It's a smart-sexy love song (appropriate):
Again, Alex Fernandez Fox takes a searing solo on tres. Alex says his first instrument was piano. At some point, he made his own tres, and then figured out how to play it. (Cubano hasta el hueso.) If I got the story straight, he played guitar in the Duke Jazz Band in the early '90s, under the direction of Paul Jeffries.
Jose Conde's singing voice reminds me a little of Bono, if Bono were an 80-year-old Cuban man living in the mountains. Maybe the Catskills. In any case someone like Alex and his tasty tres would never be far away.
Saturday at Shakori: Get Horny with The Beast
Today at 5 pm: Take a ride in Pierce Freelon's jazz hip hop vehicle The Beast with its new, pimped out horn section. Arranger/pianist Eric Hirsh says to expect new arrangements and more Latin soul flavor. Other Gardelites on hand: Pete Kimosh, Andy Kleindienst and Tim Smith. Vaya!
Bring a cozy for your beer, and maybe a stash of your own toilet paper (just in case the portapotty village runs out). I love the New York Pizza and the Indian food vendors, and the way the stars in the night sky always look brighter when you are out in the country. If you stay late, bring warm clothes in case the temperature cools down, and if you leave the festival at night, watch for small critters on the roads (I slowed for quite a few deer and bunnies). Drive safely! It's definitely worth the mileage.
Here's a little gossip for those hot on the trail of the rumored Los Van Van tour:
This message comes from a NY/NJ area promoter:
"I spoke to Lele [of Los Van Van] personally last Saturday while they were in Europe. He confirmed to me the dates of all the tours and venues for July-August, September-October, January-February, and April-May tours! They have everything listed and are very excited. The company bringing them is Monterrey International and the contact person is Paul Goldman. He was pretty much telling me...they should get their visas once they returned to Cuba. That's all they are waiting for."
With Hillary Clinton running the State Dept., I am as confident as I can reasonably be that they will get their visas. Why? Well, the last Cuban band to tour the Triangle--way back in 2003--was Barbarito Torres. And when he had trouble getting his visa and FBI clearance, it was Senator Hillary Clinton who stepped in for him.
DJ Melao is monitoring the situation closely, and broke the news in these parts. He's closely allied with timba artists and promoters, so keep refreshing his website for the latest.
UPDATE added Monday (3/6):
This word of caution from Elizabeth Sobol, manager of Tiempo Libre and a music industry veteran:
"Just FYI - I have gotten very different info from the presenters. We have been told that Monterey had to submit a "tour route" to the Cuban government in order to get the ball rolling. And that they put together more of a "wish list" than an actual tour route. A lot of the venues listed simply aren't even available on the dates/periods that are listed on what was sent out. Two of the venues in there are actually closed for renovations during the period.
None of this means that a tour won't happen, but I wouldn't get my heart set on seeing them in any of these markets unless and until you actually see the concerts listed and tickets on sale on individual venue websites.
So, they are looking for their Cuban visas? Hard to say. I can say that I look forward to the day when it's other governments, not ours, that impede the free flow of people, trade and culture.
Stay cool, kids.
UPDATE added Tuesday (3/7):
DJ Melao clarifies via Blackberry:
"This was direct info from Mayito and Lele. It was made clear dates and venues are subject to change at this point. But that is what they are aiming at...the last update I got was that Van Van has visas for a year with over 70 planned dates."
Communicator out.
UPDATE added Thursday (4/9):
Looks like the tour agent working with Van Van wants to put the brakes on the rumor mill until things firm up. Matt at timbageek.com posted this message from Paul Goldman of Monterrey International:
"There is no tour in place at this time, nor will there be until such time as visas are issued for Los Van Van by the US Government. The schedule published is 100% incorrect and should be removed immediately from any web site."
Got it?
So, my take on that is, that tells us where things stand: they are waiting for their U.S. visas. It also confirms that the schedule was a "wish list" submitted to get the ball rolling, rather than confirmed dates, as Elizabeth indicated (see 3/6 update). That schedule obviously wasn't supposed to leak out, but members of Van Van gave it to DJ Melao. And the rest is mystery!
This is a classroom performance at Duke by Ferhat Tunç, bağlama, recorded and posted with his permission. Nuray Ahmed plays guitar. An English translation of the lyrics is included below.
I've learned a lot about Turkey, its politics and culture, in the last few days, hanging out with Ferhat Tunç and his entourage.
The last event on his local residency is TODAY, Wednesday (3/25) from 7-9 pm at NCSU's Stewart Theater in Raleigh. (After this, they are headed to California, then Rome, then back to Istanbul.) I hear that Ferhat and Nuray will play music at the beginning, and again at the end of this event. There will be a panel discussion in between with Louise Meintjes and Catherine Admay, the two professors responsible for bringing them to Duke.
Tuesday afternoon I visited their class, "Human Rights and The Arts." The students had a lot of great questions for Ferhat about music and politics (and might I add, that classrooms are a different place now than when I was last a student? Everyone--without exception had laptops open, typing their notes and toggling between Google maps of Turkey, Wikipedia entries and the Freemuse.org site that has lots of source material about Ferhat in English.)
After that, he met some Turkish students for coffee in Van der Heyden, the café in Duke's library; they debated the Kurdish question and possible roads toward multiculturalism in Turkey.
Ferhat Tunç Unplugged from Santa Salsera on Vimeo. Ferhat Tunç playing the bağlama and singing a song about Pir Sultan Abdal, a 16th-century musician who was killed by the Ottoman Empire because he would not renounce freedom. Translation at the end provided by Ömür Kayikçi.
WHAT: Ferhat Tunç, Kurdish singer from Turkey WHEN: TODAY, Saturday (3/21), 4 p.m. - ? WHERE: Talullah's, W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill COST: (unknown, if any)
I saw Ferhat Tunç last night at the Duke Performances show. (Ferhat is on a short artist residency at Duke.) He played the saz or bağlama, a narrow-necked, fretted instrument which has 3 pairs of double-coursed strings. An extra bass string on this particular saz, for added depth, made for a total of seven tuning pegs. He sings with a particular, rather rapid, full-throated vibrato; at times it helped to just close my eyes and listen. I don't know what kind of scales or modes this music employs, but in my "Western" terms it sounded like minor keys exclusively--nothing I would characterize as a major mode--and occasionally micotonal, but not as much as the Arab music we heard recently. I picked up some unusual meters (9/8, maybe? what was that?) and one of Tunç's original tunes I thought could be happily repurposed into prog rock. A few of us thought he looked like Billy Bragg up there on stage, in jeans and a flannel shirt.
Tunç (pronounced "Too-nch") had just one musician with him (which is a shame, listening to the videos, would have liked to hear a whole band to get a better feel for this music): Bulgarian/Turkish classical guitarist Nuray Ahmed. Nuray was the one who explained the saz' workings to me, with the help of a very kind UNC student who translated for us. The owner of Tallulah's was at the concert last night, and they set up this impromptu concert for this afternoon at 4. Not sure if they will charge admission or not, but this is a nice chance to hear him if you missed the Duke show. He performed a lot of Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian songs, and through translator Firat Oruc, provided some context for the political and cultural contest.
See also, panel discussion on Monday (3/23):
Roger Lucey performs Monday night at 7:30 pm in the Nelson Music Room, Duke East Campus in the East Duke Building. He is a South African musician whose career was suppressed by security police in the '70s and '80s. This concert is a fundraiser for Freemuse.org, a Danish organization promoting free speech and human rights for musicians.
Please contact David Price's office in D.C. and ask that he Co-Sponsor and support this bill. Co-Sponsor is critical, he did it last year but he needs to be asked by constituents and he'll do it again. This takes minutes, please take the time.
When/if you call a suggested talking point is: I want to thank Congressman Price for supporting past Cuba-Related bills that have been before the House. I am asking now that he consider co-sponsorship of HR 874, and support this bill so that open dialogue and engagement may occur.
This bill will reinstate people to people exchange, make possible travel by families, increase amounts and times they are able to contribute to their families, loosen travel for our trade in Cuba in AG sales and reinstate academic travel without the current prohibitive restrictions.
Change is coming to Cuba. Your voice is needed now.
Orquesta GarDel plays FREE tonight as part of Carrboro festivities in honor of Barack Obama's inauguration.
ORQUESTA GARDEL Sunday (1/18), 8:30-9:45 pm Century Center, Carrboro
UPDATE added 1/26:
Just like being there...only darker. Underexposed footage of The Beast at a related inaugural ball at Carrboro's The Station. The visual is a bit of a throwaway, but the audio of their salsa-inspired tune "Translation" is pretty decent. For those who don't know, The Beast is Pierce Freelon's live hiphop group featuring the gardelicious talents of Pete Kimosh (bass) and Eric Hirsh (keyboards) plus Stephen Coffman on drums. Tim Smith sits in on saxophone.
Prior to this, GarDel's set at the Century Center for an audience of dancers, hippies and hula hoopers was energetic and relaxed. Just what everyone needed in the New Year and the new administration. This is such a great venue for live music and dancing, it's a pity we don't get to hear salsa there more often.
I suppose that The People's Cube, an anti-progressive satire site, generated this as some kind of ironic commentary.
Fittingly perhaps, the right-wingers had the palo (stick) upside down on their original graphic. This corrected version, with stick flipped (and irony removed), was created by musician and graphic designer Gary Eisenberg. You can read the thread about it in the Latin Jazz Yahoo Group. (Membership and moderator approval are required.)
UPDATE:
Gary is on a roll. Check out Obama as Rumbero-in-Chief:
Brooklyn-based Cuban singer Jose Conde (with his band Ola Fresca) made this nice get out the vote message for Obama.
I missed his set when he opened for Bio Ritmo at the Pour House in May, but hmmmm, the boy can sing. Smooth. I will not miss it the next time!
Speaking of Bio Ritmo, they will be in Charlotte tomorrow, touring with their new album, Bionico, and Chapel Hill at the Local 506 on November 7, just in time to work out your post-election stress. People get ready.
Back story: Read My review of Bio Ritmo's new album.
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