From Album: "The Real Havanna Classics - Cuba Vista Vol 2".

From Album: "Xavier Cugat ~ The Original Latin Dance King".

Xavier Cugat, born Francesc d'Asís Xavier Cugat Mingall de Bru i Deulofeu (1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish-Catalan-Cuban-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman. In New York, his was the resident orchestra at the Waldorf-Astoria before and after World War II.

Cugat was born in Girona, in Catalonia, Spain.  His family emigrated to Cuba when Xavier was five. He was trained as a classical violinist and played with the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana. On 6 July 1915, Cugat and his family arrived in New York as immigrant passengers on board the S.S. Havana.  ~ Read more from Wiki

From Album: "Francisco Cespedes ~ Autorretrato:Okan Eyo".

Cuban-born singer/songwriter Francisco Céspedes left his physician career to get involved in popular music. The talented artist decided to stay in Mexico while visiting the country along with the Cuban Modern Music Orquestra. In 1992, Luis Miguel recorded his songs "Pensar En Ti," featured on his album Aries, and "Que Tu Te Vas," on Nada Es Igual, which were good enough to captivate the attention of Warner Music. In 1997, Francisco Céspedes participated in Viña del Mar Festival, representing Mexico with "Hablo de Ti" and issuing his debut album, Vida Loca, that same year. In 1998, the singer and composer joined Presuntos Implicados, recording "Nadie Como T?" Later, Céspedes made Donde Esta La Vida, recorded in Mexico and the U.S., produced by Juan Carlos Paz y Puente.

From Album: "Chucho Valdes & Irakere ~ Unforgettable Boleros".

Chucho Valdés (born October 9, 1941), born Jesús Dionisio Valdés, is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was born in Quivicán, Cuba. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists. His father is the famed Cuban pianist and former director of Havana's famous "Tropicana" night club band Bebo Valdés.

Chucho has won five Grammy awards - one in 1978 for the album Live at Newport by Irakere, a second in 1998 for his contribution to the CD Havana by his band Crisol (formed in 1997), with two songs Mr. Bruce and Mambo para Roy written by Chucho, and the third in 2003 for his album Live at the Village Vanguard.    ~ Chucho Valdes Official Website

Irakere (Yoruba for "vegetation") is a Cuban band founded by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973 that won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording in 1980 with its album Irakere. The original members of the band were Chucho Valdés (piano),Arturo Sandoval(Trumpet), Paquito D'Rivera (alto saxophone and flute), Oscar Valdés (percussion and vocals), Carlos Puerto (bass), Carlos Emilio Morales (guitar), Jorge Varona (trumpet), Tato Alfonso (percussion) and Bernardo Garcia (drums). Its later members included flautist José Luis Cortés who later founded NG La Banda; percussionist Anga Díaz, who later went to France; percussionist Fran Padilla, who later moved to Spain; saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, who left Irakere and Cuba in 1980 during a tour in Spain before moving to the United States; trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who went to the US in 1990, as well as Saxophonist Carlos Averhoff.

The group used a wide array of percussion instruments like batá, abacuá and arará drums, chequerés, erikundis, maracas, claves, cencerros, bongó, tumbadoras, and güiro.

Irakere's song "Anunga Nunga" was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The song has been erroneously titled "Aguanile", even in the Vice City booklet and soundtrack. Other songs of theirs, "Bacalao Con Pan" and "Baila Mi Ritmo" (with Chucho Valdez) were featured on the soundtrack of the 2006 video game, Scarface: The World Is Yours.

~ From Wiki

From Album: "Los Sabandeños ~ Coleccion (6CD)".

"Los Sabandeños", began his musical activity in 1966. It is now more than 40 years since that group of friends of the university of La Laguna, as a group decided to formalize and initiate a continuous musical work, reflected in nearly 70 recordings, a sound file that takes valuable part of the vernacular expression, as well Song of Creation itself and adapted versions. Not only have they addressed the various genres that make up the varied Canarian folk repertoire but, simultaneously, have been dedicated to spreading the rich Latin American songs and, more recently, the bolero, for scholars who have shaped it as a characteristic of the genus traditional Latin music. Such has been the impact of the trajectory Sabandeños, which have become a required reference point for traditional music, which goes beyond the Canaries…

http://www.sabanda.org/

From Album: "Chucho Valdes ~ Solo: Live in New York".

Chucho Valdés (born October 9, 1941), born Jesús Dionisio Valdés, is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was born in Quivicán, Cuba. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists. His father is the famed Cuban pianist and former director of Havana's famous "Tropicana" night club band Bebo Valdés.

Chucho has won five Grammy awards - one in 1978 for the album Live at Newport by Irakere, a second in 1998 for his contribution to the CD Havana by his band Crisol (formed in 1997), with two songs Mr. Bruce and Mambo para Roy written by Chucho, and the third in 2003 for his album Live at the Village Vanguard.

In 2008 Sony released an album of Chucho playing with his father Bebo Valdés.

Chucho's son, Chuchito, is a modern Jazz pianist and, like his antecedents, a gifted musician.   ~ Read more from Wiki

Chucho Valdés Official Website

From Album: "Gonzalo Rubalcaba ~ The Blessing".  Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963 in Havana, Cuba) is a Grammy Award-winning Cuban jazz pianist and composer.

One of the most important figures to emerge from Afro-Cuban jazz in the '90s, Gonzalo Rubalcaba is an extraordinarily versatile pianist able to blend disparate strands of Cuban and American jazz tradition into a fresh, modern whole. Born into a musical family in Havana on May 27, 1963, Rubalcaba began studying classical piano at age eight, honing his technique in that area for the next 12 years while playing around Havana by night. In 1983, he toured France and Africa with Cuba's longstanding Orquesta Aragon, and formed his own band, Grupo Proyecto, in 1985, the same year he was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie. In 1986, Rubalcaba played the Havana Jazz Festival with the American rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Paul Motian, and with Haden's support soon appeared at major international festivals like Montreal and Montreux.

Rubalcaba's early dates for Blue Note -- 1990's Discovery: Live at Montreux and the following year's The Blessing -- were instant classics, breaking him among American jazz audiences and showcasing his virtuosic technique and dense improvisations. Rubalcaba was finally able to play for American audiences beginning in 1993, including a star-making appearance at Lincoln Center, and soon emigrated from Cuba (though not to the U.S. right away; he eventually settled in South Florida in 1996). Rubalcaba recorded for several labels, including Blue Note, which was home to much of his best later work, including 1999's introspective Inner Voyage, 2001's Grammy-winning Supernova, 2004's Paseo, which offered new interpretations of old songs, and 2005's aptly named Solo. In 2002 Rubalcaba shared the title of Artist in Residence at the Montreal Jazz Festival with fellow pianist Chucho Valdés, and in 2003, as part of the Bele Bele Jazz Club series, issued Straight Ahead, re-releases of three separate recording sessions between 1986 and 1987.    ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Official Website

From Album: "Enrique Chia ~ World's Favorite Piano Love Songs Vol.3".

Born Enrique Calixto Chia in Cienfuegos, Cuba; son of José Antonio Chia (a pharmacist) and Alicia Fernández Valdivia (a piano graduate of the Havana Conservatory); moved to U.S., 1961; married Diana Beguiristain, 1968;

The traditional sounds of Cuba have been resurrected through the piano playing of Enrique Chia. Nominated for a Grammy Award in 2001 in the Best Classical Crossover category for his album The Music of Ernesto Lecuona, Chia weaves a dance-inspiring mixture of soft pop, Latin dance tunes, and boleros. Although he initially performed only at benefit concerts for the Jackson Memorial Hospital's cancer clinic for children, Chia has increasingly reached out to a global audience. For much of his career, Chia balanced music with academic pursuits. Leaving Cuba in 1961, he earned a bachelor's degree in English at West Georgia College. Transferring to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, he earned a master's degree in metallurgy in 1967 and a Ph. D. in 1975. Although he frequently played piano at parties, Chia remained focused on his non-musical life. After working as an adjunct professor in Georgia Tech's materials engineering department, he accepted a special faculty position at Georgia Tech Research Institute in 1986. Four years later, he began working at the American Fine Wire Corporation in Selma, AL. Rising to the position of executive vice president, he retired from the company in the mid-'90s. An insightful inventor, he holds more than 50 patents for developments in metals and processing. Dedicating himself to music since his retirement, Chia has more than made up for lost time. Since 1998, when he released his long-overdue debut album, Chia has recorded an additional 17 albums and was an OTI award finalist for his song, "Ayuda Al Nino," written for UNICEF's Year of the Child.     ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide

From Album: "Omara Portuondo ~ Oro Musical".   Omara Portuondo (October 29, 1930-) is a Cuban singer whose career has spanned over half a century.

Omara Portuonda is the grand old lady of Cuban music. While her early recordings made her a star in Cuba, her participation in the 1996 album and video documentary, The Buena Vista Social Club, brought her to international attention. Her solo album, The Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo, released in 2000, reinforced her status as one of Cuba's greatest musical ambassadors.

A native of Havana, Portuondo was one of three daughters born to a baseball player on the Cuban national team and a woman of Spanish heritage who left the comfort and support of her wealthy family home to marry the man she loved. Her parents' singing provided the soundtrack for her early life. As a youngster, she sang in school choirs and music classes.

Heavily influenced by an older sister, Haydee, a dancer at the Tropicana cabaret, Portuondo attended many of the troupe's rehearsals. When the ensemble found itself short one dancer, in 1945, she was recruited to fill the vacancy. The experience launched her on a career as a dancer and she formed a successful partnership with Rolando Espinosa. Portuondo balanced her dancing with singing engagements with friends, including Cesar Portillo De La Luz, Jose Antonio Mendez, and pianist Frank Emilio Flynn, calling themselves Loquimbambla Swing. The group helped to pioneer the filin style of music that blended bossa nova and American jazz. For a while, she also performed with Orquestra Anaconda.

In 1952, Portuondo joined with her sister and Elena Burke to form a vocal group, Cuarteto d'Aida. The group's sound was established with the addition of pianist and director Aida Diestro and female vocalist Moraima Secada. Although she released her debut solo album, Magia Negra, in 1959, Portuondo continued to work with the group.

Cuarteto d'Aida's fortunes were drastically effected by the Bay of Pigs crisis in 1961. Although they had become frequent performers in Miami, FL, they were prevented from returning as the relationship between Cuba and the United States collapsed. While Portuondo returned to her homeland, continuing to perform with Cuarteto d'Aida until 1967, her sister elected to remain in the United States.

Although she performed with Orquestra Aragon in the 1970s, Portuondo had settled into semi-retirement by the mid-'90s. Her plans to slow down her career were altered after Ry Cooder, who was in Cuba recording with the Chieftains, heard her sing in 1995. When he returned, the following year, to produce The Buena Vista Social Club, Portuondo was invited to become a featured vocalist with the all-star group. In 1998, Portuondo recorded a duo album, Desafios, with Cucho Valdes.    ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide