Calle Real (band)
Encyclopedia
Calle Real is a Timba
band from Sweden
founded in 1999. Calle Real is now twelve guys who play modern timba with distinctive pop influences. It's well arranged and tightly played music for the club scene. There's a definite heavy groove with a sound that differs from the mainstream. It can be rock, funk, R&B or mostly pop, which can be expected since the band grew up with MTV.
The band was founded towards the end of 1999 by Patricio Sobrado, initially as a trio, playing old Cuban songs in a Buena Vista Social Club style. Since then, new musicians have been added while others have moved on. The style has changed to timba.
Today Calle Real consists of the following members:
Thomas Sebastian Eby - lead vocals
Karl Frid - giro, backing vocal & trombone
Petter Linde- trumpet
Nils Janson
- trumpet
Patricio Sobrado - tres, backing vocals & band leader
Gunnar Thullberg - keyboard & guitar
Cezary Tomaszewski - trombone
Andreas Unge - bass
Rickard Valdés - congas & timbales
Harry Wallin - drums & timbales
Michel Zitron - backing vocals
Magnus Wiklund - trombone
Several of them have spent long periods in Cuba and have studied music, although no one in the band is actually Cuban except Rickard Valdés, who is the son of the legendary pianist Bebo Valdés
and who is half Cuban. There are a variety of ethnic origins within the band, including Patricio Sobrado, who has his origin in Chile, and the trumpet player Jacek Onuskiewicz and the trombone player Cezary Tomaszewski, who are from Poland, but all of them grew up in Sweden.
In 2003, the band received an invitation to play at a festival in Cuba, Benny Moré. It is a festival that assembles the best salsa and timba bands in Cuba and which also invites some international acts. The whole adventure was filmed, which resulted in a music documentary Spelplats Cuba (A Gig in Cuba), later shown at the Gothenburg Film Festival in 2005 and bought by Swedish Television.
Over the years, Calle Real has also played Swedish festivals like Folkmusikfestivalen in Umeå, Urkul, Linköping Jazz & Blues, Stockholm Jazz Festival and Göteborgskalaset. They have also performed on several stages around Sweden.
Timba is an afro-Cuban music style which developed from salsa, with a hard beat and a heavy bass. It was initially created during the early 90s by leading Cuban bands, foremost NG La Banda. It was further developed by groups like Charanga Habanera, Isaac Delgado, Paulito FG and Los Van Van.
The fact this music is so well performed by Calle Real is not so strange, as interest for Spanish and Latin-American culture and music has grown during the last few years. However, the fact that it would lead to young Swedish musicians adopting a music style and taking it further is not so common. One can also clearly hear that the band members have grown up with a lot of different musical influences, though without losing the Cuban style.
The music Calle Real is making is composed and written by themselves, and although it's partly influenced by other bands' sounds, it is still something completely new. This was proven when the band was in Cuba, where the reactions were extremely positive and the Cubans thought the music was new and exciting.
In 2004 the band got the offer of help in the form of a recording, from Swedish hip-hop label Redline Records. They recorded five songs that summer, which lead to the debut album Calle Real con Fuerza in 2006.
That album was released in Sweden on 1 March 2006.
Timba
Timba is a Cuban genre of music sometimes referred as salsa cubana . However, the historical development of timba has been quite independent of the development of salsa in the United States and Puerto Rico and the music has its own trademark aspects due to the Cuban embargo and strong Afro-Cuban...
band from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
founded in 1999. Calle Real is now twelve guys who play modern timba with distinctive pop influences. It's well arranged and tightly played music for the club scene. There's a definite heavy groove with a sound that differs from the mainstream. It can be rock, funk, R&B or mostly pop, which can be expected since the band grew up with MTV.
The band was founded towards the end of 1999 by Patricio Sobrado, initially as a trio, playing old Cuban songs in a Buena Vista Social Club style. Since then, new musicians have been added while others have moved on. The style has changed to timba.
Today Calle Real consists of the following members:
Thomas Sebastian Eby - lead vocals
Karl Frid - giro, backing vocal & trombone
Petter Linde- trumpet
Nils Janson
Nils Janson
Nils Janson is a Swedish jazz composer and trumpet player. He has recorded two solo albums entitled "Debut" and "Excavation", who both received good reviews in Swedish press....
- trumpet
Patricio Sobrado - tres, backing vocals & band leader
Gunnar Thullberg - keyboard & guitar
Cezary Tomaszewski - trombone
Andreas Unge - bass
Rickard Valdés - congas & timbales
Harry Wallin - drums & timbales
Michel Zitron - backing vocals
Magnus Wiklund - trombone
Several of them have spent long periods in Cuba and have studied music, although no one in the band is actually Cuban except Rickard Valdés, who is the son of the legendary pianist Bebo Valdés
Bebo Valdés
Bebo Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, led two famous big bands, and was one of the 'house' arrangers for the Tropicana Club.Valdés started his career as a pianist in the night clubs of Havana during the 1940s...
and who is half Cuban. There are a variety of ethnic origins within the band, including Patricio Sobrado, who has his origin in Chile, and the trumpet player Jacek Onuskiewicz and the trombone player Cezary Tomaszewski, who are from Poland, but all of them grew up in Sweden.
In 2003, the band received an invitation to play at a festival in Cuba, Benny Moré. It is a festival that assembles the best salsa and timba bands in Cuba and which also invites some international acts. The whole adventure was filmed, which resulted in a music documentary Spelplats Cuba (A Gig in Cuba), later shown at the Gothenburg Film Festival in 2005 and bought by Swedish Television.
Over the years, Calle Real has also played Swedish festivals like Folkmusikfestivalen in Umeå, Urkul, Linköping Jazz & Blues, Stockholm Jazz Festival and Göteborgskalaset. They have also performed on several stages around Sweden.
Timba is an afro-Cuban music style which developed from salsa, with a hard beat and a heavy bass. It was initially created during the early 90s by leading Cuban bands, foremost NG La Banda. It was further developed by groups like Charanga Habanera, Isaac Delgado, Paulito FG and Los Van Van.
The fact this music is so well performed by Calle Real is not so strange, as interest for Spanish and Latin-American culture and music has grown during the last few years. However, the fact that it would lead to young Swedish musicians adopting a music style and taking it further is not so common. One can also clearly hear that the band members have grown up with a lot of different musical influences, though without losing the Cuban style.
The music Calle Real is making is composed and written by themselves, and although it's partly influenced by other bands' sounds, it is still something completely new. This was proven when the band was in Cuba, where the reactions were extremely positive and the Cubans thought the music was new and exciting.
In 2004 the band got the offer of help in the form of a recording, from Swedish hip-hop label Redline Records. They recorded five songs that summer, which lead to the debut album Calle Real con Fuerza in 2006.
That album was released in Sweden on 1 March 2006.
Track listing
- "Somos Calle Real" – 6:57
- "El momento" – 5:42
- "Esperanza" – 5:37
- "Rompiendo murallas" – 6:46
- "Rumba de la Calle( Ambience)" – 0:35
- "Soy bueno, soy malo (La Rosa)" -6:32
- "El Beso" – 4:49
- "Amor tal vez perdido" – 5:36
- "Dime que me quieres" – 3:52
- "Princesa (Timba)"- 6:19
- "Sueña conmigo" - 7:50
- "Ya lo sé" - 3:19
Personnel
- Thomas Eby - Lead vocals, backing vocals, congas, bongos
- Patricio Sobrado - Tres, backing vocals, band leader
- Gunnar Thullberg - piano, keyboards, guitar
- Petter Linde - trumpet
- Karl Frid - trombone, güiro, backing vocals
- Nils JansonNils JansonNils Janson is a Swedish jazz composer and trumpet player. He has recorded two solo albums entitled "Debut" and "Excavation", who both received good reviews in Swedish press....
- trumpet - Cezary Tomaszewski - trombone
- Andreas Unge - Electric Bass and Baby Bass
- Rickard Valdés - Timbales, congas, claves, campana
- Harry Wallin - Timbales, drums