Speaking of Cuban radio, it's streamed live on the internet at CUBASI.CU - El camino de Internet a Cuba. Click on the "Multimedial" link near the top of the page, and then click the "radio en vivo" link in the window that pops up, and you have a choice of the four major stations, along with links to programming schedules.  ¶ 9:22 AM

  Charanga Habanera has the number one spot this week on Radio Progreso - Éxitos de la Semana in La Habana. Pupy y Los que son, son and NG La Banda also have new tunes on the chart.  ¶ 9:08 AM

  SalsaPower.com has a great blingual review of the new Mamborama CD on their site. Thank you, Jacira Castro! How the hell did you know I'm from Wyoming? And didn't you know that Wyoming is the Timba capital of El Yuma? No, I didn't know that either... Just kidding. Everyone knows that the Timba capital of the US is Kevin Moore's house.  ¶ 2:45 PM

  Last December, while I was down in Havana recording the new Mamborama CD, I dragged my equipment over to Callejon de Hamel and recorded the rumba group Iroso Obbá live there. The group sells the CD now at their gigs, but you can listen to it online.   ¶ 2:57 PM

  According to the listings at Canal Cubano - Musical Performances, La Tropical is back open in La Habana after being closed for nearly two years. If you happen to be in Habana this Saturday, you can catch Los Van Van there. La Tropical has a lot of history, some of it not good. But although it had a reputation for lots of fights, I didn't see any the two times I visited there. Hopefully now that the place has undergone an extensive renovation, they'll keep the fights outside. It's a great place to hear music--open air, under the stars, mostly Cuban crowd. It was looking good when I was there at a Los Van Van rehearsal last June. They put in a new stage and generally spruced it up, but it's basically the same place.  ¶ 4:01 PM