Cuban
Isla de la Musica
Nov 23, 2007 The biggest surprise at Havana's Cubadisco '98: A burgeoning retinue of Americans hoping to cash in
Nov 23, 2007 The biggest surprise at Havana's Cubadisco '98: A burgeoning retinue of Americans hoping to cash in
His name is Federico Britos
Nov 23, 2007 Violinist Federico Britos has played with Duke Ellington, Astor Piazzolla, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden, and Cachao, among others, all the while sustaining a career as a symphony concert master and a leader of various jazz ensembles and even, currently, a danzón sextet. Britos is a musician's musician, a hard-working sideman in Latin, jazz, and classical circles, a composer and player who tends to purposefully describe his projects as ''non-commercial.'' Haden has compared his jazz violin playing to that of the Ellington band's Ray Nance, and Paquito D'Rivera has credited him for bringing the bossa nova to Cuba. But to audiences in Miami and elsewhere, Britos is probably best known simply as ''that violin player,'' as in, ''That violin player is amazing!,'' the sort of whispered comment that inevitably greets his appearance on stage.
Nov 23, 2007 Violinist Federico Britos has played with Duke Ellington, Astor Piazzolla, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden, and Cachao, among others, all the while sustaining a career as a symphony concert master and a leader of various jazz ensembles and even, currently, a danzón sextet. Britos is a musician's musician, a hard-working sideman in Latin, jazz, and classical circles, a composer and player who tends to purposefully describe his projects as ''non-commercial.'' Haden has compared his jazz violin playing to that of the Ellington band's Ray Nance, and Paquito D'Rivera has credited him for bringing the bossa nova to Cuba. But to audiences in Miami and elsewhere, Britos is probably best known simply as ''that violin player,'' as in, ''That violin player is amazing!,'' the sort of whispered comment that inevitably greets his appearance on stage.
Portrait of the Artist As a Communist Bureaucrat
Nov 23, 2007 Cuba's Minister of Culture Abel Prieto faces a daunting challenge: Sell Cuban culture to the world, but don't sell out the revolution
Nov 23, 2007 Cuba's Minister of Culture Abel Prieto faces a daunting challenge: Sell Cuban culture to the world, but don't sell out the revolution
Bring on the Cubans!
Nov 23, 2007 The Castro government is marketing music, and the whole world is buying. Except Miami.
Nov 23, 2007 The Castro government is marketing music, and the whole world is buying. Except Miami.
Nov 21, 2007 Grammy-winning pianist Bebo Valdés tells the story of his life through this playlist of great Cuban classics and jazz tracks. This playlist originally appeared on MTV's URGE digital music service.
Nov 19, 2007 I spoke to NPR's All Things Considered about a bunch of albums by young Cuban artists living on and off the island.