La Pasión según... Juan Carlos Pasión EGREM, 2004, Havana, Cuba Quite recently, Juan Carlos Alfonso and his Dan Den Band celebrated their fifteenth anniversary with a spectacular concert in Cuba’s National Theater. As a token of happiness –says Justino Diaz Cabrera- Juan Carlos broke his electronic piano in a flurry of passion and threw the keys onto the audience. We’ve seen rock stars shatter their guitars and break their drumsticks in two, yet it’s hard to imagine a Cuban pianist crushing his instrument against the stage floor. Amid the riffing sound of the keyboard and the enthusiasm of the public, the idea of Passion first came up. This CD culls a variety of beats and rhythms, ranging from rumbas, boleros, sons and ballads to danzons and charangas. But the sound is pure Dan Den. This is not erotic or sensual passion we’re talking about, but love for our rhythms and for a great dancer that has put Juan Carlos Alfonso and Dan Den high on his personal chart for the past fifteen years.

A Prado y Neptuno... iba el Cha, cha, chá Por siempre Jorrin EGREM, 2004, Havana, Cuba It never crossed Cuban maestro Enrique Jorrin’s mind (1926-1987) that after playing La Engañadora for the first time in the early 1950s, the cha-cha-cha (some sort of tribute to the so-called youth societies that used to hang out around the famous Havana corner of Prado and Neptuno) would have panned out to be one of the world’s biggest rhythms ever, played and listened to in Cuba and elsewhere under the sun. Now, EGREM Records is putting out a new CD to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Enrique Jorrin Orchestra. This charming collection of former blockbusters played by a new breed of musicians kind of rejuvenates cha-cha-cha altogether. There’s no better tribute to the creator of one of the most popular rhythms ever, a man who was also a well-known composer, director and fiddler.

Pupy y los que son... Qué cosas tiene la vida EGREM, 2002, Havana, Cuba Qué cosas tiene la vida is the title song of Cesar Pedroso’s latest musical compilation and the first for his new band Los Que Son Son. The repertoire includes a few tunes devoted to love affairs and women and the centerpieces of any relationship. Other compositions touch on social matters and unbury characters of Cuba’s daily life. The CD pays tribute to hall-of-fame Cuban soneros who have made history of their own. Casar “Pupi” Pedroso had already clinched his place in the history of Cuban music as a pianist and songwriter for 32 years in Los Van Van. This tireless seeker of fresh ideas and perseverant composer took on the challenge of forming his own band in an effort to underscore his own name as a leader of popular music bands. Thus, Los Que Son Son debuted in October 2001 and their melodies are now culled for the first time ever in this new CD.

La rumba ayer, hoy y mañana... ¿Dónde andabas tú, acerekó? EGREM, 2004, Havana, Cuba With a view to showcase different stages of the rumba realm, as well as black-origin music handed down to the Cuban people by long gone generations of Congos, Mandingas, Yorubas and other African civilizations, Rodolfo Chacon (director and art producer of this artistic project) has come up with a CD that gathers a makeshift band of outstanding rumba players from the turf. The end result is a magnificent compilation that pays tribute to the early rumba thumpers that enriched this musical genre and that belong in the hearts and the minds of the new breed of players. Miguel Angel, Mario and Luis -Los Aspirina- Maximo Duquesne, “El Gato” and the rest of this one-and-only entourage give an unscathed lesson of what rumba is all about, a legendary rhythm that fell in oblivion yesterday and is rescued today from the claws of time to claim the place in the history of Cuban music it has always deserved.