Afro-Cuban All Stars

Afro-Cuban All Stars is a Cuban band led by Juan de Marcos González (formerly tres player for Sierra Maestra). Their music is a mix of all the styles of Cuban music, including bolero, chachachá, salsa, son montuno, timba, guajira, danzón, rumba and abakua.

They are known internationally for their 1997 album A Toda Cuba le Gusta, which was recorded at the Buena Vista Social Club sessions. Members have included Rubén González, Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Ibrahim Ferrer, Raul Planas, Pío Leyva, Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, Félix Baloy, Yanko Pisaco and more recently Caridad Hierrezuelo and Pedro Calvo.

History

In early 1996 Nick Gold, head of World Circuit Records, invited Ry Cooder to participate in an experiment combining Cuban and African musicians. A group of Cuban musicians had already been assembled, including Rubén González as the selected pianist. However, since the African musicians had experienced difficulties in obtaining visas, the focus changed to recording Cuban music instead.

All-star (disambiguation)

All-star is an entertainment industry (sports, film, music) term.

All-star (or All Star) may also refer to:

Awards

Literature

All-star

All-star (also stylized as All-Star) is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. It can also be used for a group of individuals, who are popular in certain areas.

Sports

"All-star" as a sports term refers to individual players named to an "all-star" roster or team representing the top performers during and before the end of a season in a given sport, or to a list of top participants who played in individual sports such as golf and bowling. Events limited to such honorees are referred to as "all-star games" or events.

In American team sports the premier all-star games are the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, Pro Bowl, NHL All-Star Game, and the MLS All-Star Game. Many all-star teams, such as collegiate "all-conference" and All-America squads, are recognitions of performance only, without the connotation of those selected ever being teammates in a game.

All-Stars (band)

The All-Stars (originally known as the Cyril Davies (R&B) All-Stars) were a short-lived British blues combo active in the early-mid 1960s that later evolved into a studio supergroup. Their later recordings are often credited less ambiguously to the Immediate All-Stars due to their strong ties to Immediate Records.

History

Cyril Davies

The All-Stars were initially formed as a backing band for Cyril Davies after his departure from Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated in October 1962. The original lineup was tentatively christened the Cyril Davies Blues Band and was made up of former members of Screaming Lord Sutch's group, the Savages, including Nicky Hopkins on piano, Carlo Little on drums and Rick Brown on bass. The band also featured Jimmy Page on guitar for a brief period, though he soon backed out to focus on his burgeoning career as a session musician and was replaced by Bernie Watson, another former member of the Savages.

In December 1962, Davies was in competition with Korner to recruit Long John Baldry as a second lead vocalist. Baldry played a few gigs with each band before eventually deciding to join Davies' camp in January 1963. At the same time, Davies also added female backing singers to the lineup in the form of South African trio the Velvettes (not to be confused with Motown trio, the Velvelettes). This trio was made up of Hazel Futa, Patience Gcwabe and Eunice Mamsie Mthombeni, all of whom had emigrated to England after touring with a musical stage production of King Kong. On 27 February, the band recorded their first single for Pye Records: the original compositions "Country Line Special" and "Chicago Calling", released under the name Cyril Davies and His Rhythm and Blues All-Stars. However, Baldry and the Velvettes are not featured on these recordings.