Tropicana Night Club, Havana Cuba

For more vintage Havana deliciousness, visit this link, where I found the image below.

Tropicana Night Club, Havana Cuba
Originally uploaded by baikinange

Fiesta de Cha Cha Cha

Orquesta Hermanos Castro - Bon Bon Cha

Rockabilidad

How they manage to swing while exercising polite restraint is beyond me, but three of the four songs are pretty terrific.

Rockibilidad - Los Llopis

The Other Hermanos Castro

I don't think it's Fidel and Raul, but the OTHER Hermanos Castro here, and that would be um....Moishe and Teyve, I believe. Anyway, it's some pretty great cha cha and mambo.

Saucy Cubans

Here's yet another reason for me to be irritated at myself for not speaking Spanish....when Global Groove offers a compilation of off-color songs that supposedly have VERY saucy lyrics. The only one I can figure out is Graciela's Si Si No No, maybe the multilingual can clue me in on the rest.

Muy Caliente!

¡Sabroso! Great harmonies from the Cuban vocal group Cuarteto D'Aida, backed by a killer band featuring Chico O'Farrill.

Tropicana Turns 70

Havana's Tropicana Club recently celebrated its 70th birthday, and Pulp International has some lovely images and memoribilia to mark the occasion.

Bienvenido Granda

They just don't sing 'em like they used to, nor do they design sets like they used to, for that matter. For more from Cuban singer Bienvenido Granda, affectionally known as "The Mustache that Sings", go to Musica Alrededor del Mundo.

Celia Cruz - Canta

Gorgeous vintage songs from the Queen of Cuban music, Celia Cruz, courtesy of listentoyourears. Cha cha cha!

Are You Ready to Rrrrrrrhumba?

The Lecuona Cuban Boys want to know.

Actually, this video is much better, but the owner decided to disable embedding. Ostensibly to prevent rampant and widespread viewing, or something.

Los Zafiros - Y Sabes Bien

Uploaded by doowop50's

Los Zafiros is a cuban vocal group from the 60's , a unique and heady mix of doo-wop, ballads and boleros, soul and samba, tumbaos and twists.
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A documentary : Music From The Edge Of Time (2004) Los Zafiros film

Beny Moré, Muy Sabroso

Bandleader and vocalist Beny Moré was in the forefront of Cuban music from the late 1940s until his untimely death at age 43 in 1963. From lush and fluid ballads such as Matasiguaraya to the energetic Babarabatiri and uptempo Que Bueno Baila Usted, Beny was the master of all types of Caribbean music--merengue, chacha, son, mambo.
The below clip (music starts about :40 in) shows Beny's ability to drive his swinging big band while deftly selling the vocals.

Alexey Titarenko: Havana Sketches

Lens Culture... Alexey Titarenko: Havana Sketches. "...St. Petersburg photographer Alexey Titarenko (b.1962) is best known for his moody interpretations of older urban landscapes temporarily animated by ghost-like inhabitants passing through in daily life. A remarkable series from his hometown just after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s signaled the strength of Titarenko's artisistic and soulful vision, and he quickly became recognized as an important photographer to watch.
At a recent solo-exhibition at the Nailya Alexander Gallery in New York City he presented an all-new series called 'Havana Sketches' made in Cuba during 2003 and 2006. Titarenko believes that 'the artist’s most important goal is to recreate through his art those aspects of the profoundly personal that form the unique essence of the individual and to impart to it universal forms that are visible both to himself and to others.'"

Buena Vista Social Club

Screen caps from 'Buena Vista Social Club' [IMDb] posted at Nostalgia No. 2.

Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan:

Added by CACAOreprise