CUBA CULTURE SECTION - Havana Journal > Music & Literature
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Boston.com
In a little-known nook of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, with a fine view five floors above Boston Harbor, lies a book-lined room with a lion skin throw rug, a scrapbook with photographs of old fishermen, and a host of other odd relics from Cuba.
Entry is permitted only by appointment.
The 30-year-old collection is a peculiar exhibit in a museum built to honor the late president, given his efforts to overthrow the island country’s leader, Fidel Castro.
The collection, instead, serves as a repository of information about another American icon from the same era: Ernest Hemingway.
Despite…
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(Original title is Havana Times: The First Anniversary. As many Havana Journal readers know, I have been a long time critic of Circles Robinson and the Havana Times since he was never up front with his job as a worker for the Cuban government. See my comments in bold in parenthesis added to the otherwise unedited article below.)
By Circles Robinson
HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 15 - One year ago I was on vacation in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, sitting in a friend’s apartment during the second week of October editing the diary posts and features…
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Billboard
An international lineup of Latin acts will join Colombian rocker Juanes at his controversial “Paz Sin Fronteras” (Peace Without Borders) concert, scheduled for Havana, Cuba Sept. 20.
The free concert, which coincides with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, will also feature Spanish pop act Miguel Bosé and Puerto Rican tropical star Olga Tañón in addition to Cuban artists Amaury Perez, X Alfonso, Carlos Varela, Los Van Van, Silvio Rodriguez and Orishas. CuCu Diamantes and Yerba Buena, Italian artist Jovanotti, Puerto Rico’s Danny Rivera, Ecuador’s Juan Fernando Velasco, and Spain’s Victor Manuel and Luis Eduardo Aute are also…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Jesus “Chuchito” Valdés and Elio Villafranca are taking time off from their 2009 World Piano Summit tour to perform on July 17 at 8pm at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod.
Jesus “Chuchito” Valdés
Jesus was born and raised in Havana Cuba is a world renowned pianist, composer and arranger who led the renowned Irakere band before taking his fiery brand of Afro-Cuban jazz on world tours that made him famous beyond the western hemisphere.
He will play music from his albums…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
The promoters of these Cuban musicians sent me a CD. From the moment I started to play it I knew this was something powerful.
Click on the image above to hear a sample of Madera Limpia’s music.
Madera Limpia captures the soul and power of the youth movement in Cuba and specifically in Eastern Cuba. The band is from Guantanamo, a very rural area of Cuba.
The name is known for having the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay but that really has no effect on the people…
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Billboard
As the annual Cuban music trade fair Cubadisco kicked off Saturday in Havana Cuba, promoters in the United States are hoping that a thaw in relations with Cuba could revive interest in the island’s music.
Encouraged by President Barack Obama’s remarks in April that he’s seeking a “new day” in relations with Cuba, U.S. promoters have quietly begun planning stateside concerts by Cuban artists for as early as June, pending their ability to secure permission from the U.S. Department of State to perform in this country. Washington hasn’t authorized such visits since 2003.
The a cappella group…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
If you love Cuba, political intrigue and clandestine government operations, you’ll love Havana, Top Secret.
Renowned Miami surgeon, Raymond Peters, learns a secret that throws him into a life-changing whirlwind of danger, international intrigue, and the chance to reunite with his childhood sweetheart, Sonia. Peters, still grieving over the loss of his wife Rebbie, when his childhood friend Pepe Orozco, whom he hasn’t seen or heard of in thirty years, reappears in his life with a shocking secret. Sonia, the teenaged sweetheart Raymond left behind in Cuba, was pregnant. She had a son,…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Havana: My kind of Town is a hip, streetwise guide to understanding Havana and Cuba. The book is packed with stories that provide a taste of the unique flavor that is Cuba.
Readers and travelers alike will sample Cuba’s Culture, cuisine, lifestyles and US Cuba relations. Havana - My Kind of Town will provide not only the nuts and bolts of Cuba travel, but assure you of a memorable trip. From tame to wild, it is all here at your fingertips.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Island of Cuba 1
Chapter…
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Speaking out: Spanish translation services a worldwide essential
From Cuba, throughout the Caribbean, across Central America, spreading to South America, and emerging in Europe; when time is of the utmost importance and you’re facing a deadline, or you don’t want to risk getting the wrong message across, it’s essential that you’re in contact with a professional translation company that you can trust to do the job right, first time, with an unsurpassed attention to detail and dedication to quality. Entrust your important documents to the translation professionals, and get the best assistance when it comes to getting your message across. …
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Time.com
If this were a music video, it would start in this living room in Havana, with a tight shot of the skinny kid in the white tank top at the keyboard. He counts it off from four, and with a sort of animal ease, his fingers fly, and a montuno rhythm swells through the dented amp, surging until the drummer can’t help joining in with the five-beat clave that is the backbone of all music here. And then the camera swings to the timbalero with a pink star dyed into his fade, cracking into the rhythm, and here comes…
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