Running through these photos really took me back to my times in Havana. Check out a sampling of the set below, shot by Cuban photographer Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo.
Race in Cuba: Images of Cuban Life
Scenes from the lives led by black people on the island, shot by native son Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo.
Check out the full set here: TheRoot.com: Photos of Black Cuban Life.
Come out to The Bronx Museum of The Arts tonight for a special program currated by our peoples Asho. Check out the details below…
First Fridays! Africanísimo 4! Outdoor Film Screening in collaboration
with
African Film FestivalScreening of
Youssou N’dour: I Bring What I Love Dr Chai Vasarhelyi, Senegal/USA, 2008, 102 min.Music by DJ Laylo (Afrobeat, High Life, Reggae)
Performances by Asase Yaa (Ivory Coast,Guinea, Mali)
FRIDAY AUGUST 13, 2010, 6:00 to 10:00pm
Location: The Andrew Freedman Home
1125 Grand Concourse (at McClellan Street)
Rain location: The Bronx Museum of the Arts
Admission: Free
More info after the jump…
Jah cure takes it to the streets of Havana for his latest visual….
….via.
Today’s Times features a story on the past, present and future of Puerto Rican baseball, and the politics behind their recent decline.
Check out a excerpt from the story below…
…In 2009, only 3.5 percent of position players in Major League Baseball came from Puerto Rico, a 24-year low. Meanwhile, the percentage of Cuban and Venezuelan position players has nearly doubled in the last decade.
An average of 27 Puerto Ricans a year were drafted and signed during the past decade, down from 35 a year during the 1990s. Ten times as many amateurs were signed from the Dominican Republic.
Major League Baseball has tried to boost the popularity of the sport through the World Baseball Classic and by playing regular-season games in Puerto Rico, including this week’s series between the Mets and the Florida Marlins.
Yet the games will do only so much….
Check out the full article here: Puerto Rico’s Baseball Pipeline Runs Low - NYTimes.com.
Tonight and tomorrow evening check out two events that explore the harmonic links between NYC and Havana. Details are below….
Joining forces with the generous support of George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival New York, we are thrilled to present the third installment of Habana | Harlem™ at Harlem Stage. Two nights of stellar performances produced by Neyda Martinez and Onel Mulet honor the legacy of the rich cross-cultural collaborations between Havana and New York, begun in the early 20th century and continuing unabated to this day.
Friday, June 25 Cultural Fusion: Past, Present and Future
In the tradition of Harlem Stage’s Harlem Stride program, this evening will feature a musical dialog between two world-renowned pianists – the New Orleans legend Henry Butler and Cuban sensation Osmany Paredes. The program will begin with curated selections from the late 20th century employing pieces from the “early jazz” period alongside ragtime, danzones, and habaneras to reveal and celebrate historical parallels.
Saturday, June 26 (standing room with limited seating) UPTOWN NIGHTS with The Pedro Martinez Project featuring guest vocalists de’Adre aziza, Ihsan, Maria Isa, Nina Rodriguez, and DJ Cato.
The second component of “Cultural Fusion: Past, Present and Future” will introduce audiences to the singular vision and dynamic energy of Pedro Pablo Martinez’s newly formed Pedro Martinez Project. In his new role as bandleader, “Pedrito” (formerly of Yerba Buena) infuses the project with his unique brand Afro-Cuban funk with hip-hop inflections. Fans will groove, move and dance to his exciting new music.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here: George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Fest. NY.
Today in Central Park, take in the sounds of classic Fania records, along with the live music of Pupy y Los Que Son Son. Check out the details below….
Cuba es Libre with a rare live set from songo icons Pupy y Los Que Son Son, pan-latin grooves from Jose Conde and an all-star DJ celebration of NY salsa.
As a former member of the internationally acclaimed Los Van Van, Cuban pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader César Pedroso has proven his talents. Now, touring under his nickname ‘Pupy’ Pedroso has set about taking the planet by storm. Along with his group, Los Que Son Son, Pedroso is a trailblazing representative of the relatively young style of Timba music. Pupy y Los Que Son Son SummerStage appearance marks a major highlight of their first US tour.
Singer, songwriter, and producer Jose Conde is celebrated for his recordings with the Cuba-centric band Ola Fresca, which deviate from traditional Cuban music forms through a liberal juxtaposition and fusion of rhythms and the playful use of language. The Brooklyn-based, Miami-raised son of Cuban immigrants, Conde has reached a large audience by being featured in numerous recent compilations. Tonight marks the official unveiling of music from his upcoming solo 2010 release with his funky new pan-Latin powerhouse of a band, the nu Latin Groove.
NYC native and world-renowned DJ Bobbito Garcia is the Creative Chief at Project 2050, an ideas and solutions shop. The former Bounce Magazine Editor In Chief is also the critically acclaimed author of Where’d You Get Those? NYC’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 and has a new CD compilation out titled Connection .
DJ Laylo’s unrelenting commitment to good music and rocking the crowd has earned her a reputation as one of NYC’s foremost turntablists. Born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents, her musical selection reflects her NY upbringing: hip-hop, soul, salsa, house, merengue, reggae, and Afrobeat.
Born and raised in the culture of hip-hop, DJ SAKE-1 has been looking for the perfect beat since 1989. A founding member of California’s (((Local 1200))) Sound System, DJ SAKE-1 has utilized a combination of advanced science and Bay Area hustle to genetically alter the hip-hop idiom into a 360 degree circle of soul.
For even more info and directions, check out SummerStage.org.
It’s that time again…check out the details on tonight’s festivities at The Bronx Museum of The Arts below…
First Fridays! @ The Bronx Museum presents:
And the beat goes on! A Jazz Night with Dr Valerie Capers.The Capers Family: A Bronx Jazz Story.
Interactive Presentation and Lecture by Maxine Gordon,
Senior Interviewer and Jazz Researcher for the
Bronx African American History Project.Introduction by Dr Mark Naison,
Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University;
Principal Investigator, Bronx African American History Project.Live performance by Dr. Valerie Capers
& Her jazz ensemble consisting of:Alan Givens, saxophone & flute
Mark Marino, guitar
John Robinson, bass
Earl Williams, drums and special guest artist,
Pito Castillo, Latin percussion.They will be playing music inspired by the Civil Rights Movement (1960-1968).
The Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse,
Bronx, New York 10456.
718.681-6000
Check out the full info here: First Fridays! @ The Bronx Museum.
My bad for the late notice….check out the details below….
AFROCUBA! NYC EDITION
A new monthly party with all the AfroCuban vibes & beyond.Every first Thursday of the month
Music by resident DJ ASHO playing the best of salsa, timba,
son, guanguaco, rumba y yoruba.9pm-2am
Favela Cubana
543 La Guardia Place
Btw Blecker & West 3rd
212.777.6500Trains A, B, C, D, E, F, V at West 4th/ R, W at Prince St
www.favelacubana.com
…I’ll be there. Will you? Check out more info here: AFROCUBA! NYC EDITION (Facebook).
Spotted this one online earlier this week, and made it a point to share it with the masses. Check ouy the details below…
Lechón Asado (Cuban-Style Roast Pork) Ingredients:
- 15 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup lime juice
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup olive oil
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or loin of pork
WIth this blogging thing, sometimes you look for a story, and sometimes one finds you. This one found me.
Check out the story of Cuban baseball legend Luis Tiant, by way of the documentary The Lost Son Of Havana below…
The Havana sun casts a golden, late afternoon light, lending a brief glow to a narrow street. Decaying houses, with their half-crumbling facades, somehow cling to their faded glory. The camera pulls back and reveals the silhouette of a man, rounded by age and good living, puffing on a cigar. At the age of 67, Luis Tiant has come back to Cuba, the island he had left at age 20 for a trip he thought would last a month and became nearly a half-century. But is this still home? What is home for an exile that becomes a star in his new land, leaving former teammates to play for their government and country in isolation and povertis home for a man who never had a sister or brother and whose parents are dead? Where can he go to sort out the guilt and the glory? And is it too late?
I’ll (hopefully) have a full review of the film next week, so be on the lookout for that.
In the meantime, for more information check out the film’s official site: The Lost Son Of Havana Official Website.
