Los Angeles–based vallenato quintet Very Be Careful has a new album out. 'Escape Room' (Barbés Records) is the band's seventh disc in a career that spans twelve years. Comprised of richly-textured, accordion heavy jams, the album features original material as well as some covers of vintage songs by Calixto Ochoa and Abel Antonio.

Very Be Careful, specializes in vallenato, a Colombian folk rhythm that is something like cumbia's cousin, and though they've worked hard to preserve the music's integrity by keeping it old-school, it hasn't stopped VBC from delivering their sound with cutting-edge zest. The band has built a reputation as a high-energy, live act that injects punk rock bravado and indie appeal into their otherwise rollicking, danceable fusion. Simultaneously raw and groove-oriented, their romp-inducing rhythms onstage often lead to debauchery on the dance floor and for this Very Be Careful have attracted a faithful following of Angelenos. Led by accordionist Ricardo Guzmán -- who plays his instrument with the kind of fervor associated with an electric guitar -- and his bassist brother Arturo, VBC cut their teeth playing in the New York subway and small L.A. cafés. Their music soon took them from Echo Park to the world stage, with performances in Central Park Summerstage, Europe, Asia and beyond.

Recorded in Japan in 1980 and released originally as a Japanese exclusive vinyl LP, Irakere's 'Cuba Libre' is considered a long lost gem in Latin jazz by one of the most influential, contemporary conjuntos to emerge out of Cuba. For collectors of obscure Latin jazz LPs, the remastered album is like the holy grail of Cuban music. Composed, arranged, and produced by Japanese musician Chikara Ueda, the re-issue has long been out of print, never to be released outside of Japan until now.

The six-track album will drop in May under Far Out Recordings, a label that specializes in Brazilian music and is starting to broaden its radar to include Cuba. The record will be Far Out's first Cuban release. Formed in 1973, the legendary, multi-Latin Grammy winning Irakere -- originally comprised of a prodigious cast of players, including world-renowned pianist Chucho Valdés, ace trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, sax player Paquito D'Rivera, the late, master percussionist Jorge 'El Niño' Alfonso, and Oscar Valdés on vocals, amongst others -- is considered a pioneering exponent of the Afro-Cuban music, jazz and funk fusion. With almost the entire, original lineup intact, the only change being D'Rivera's replacement by German saxophonist Velazco Vrdeliz, 'Cuba Libre' is a crate digger's dream come true; a salvaged piece of Cuban music history in the form of a rare and brilliant recording.

The Grammy-winning ska-punk legends and rock en español pioneers will make their London debut on April 29 at Troxy, followed by a performance at Spain's Viña Del Rock Festival on May 1. 2009 was a comeback year for Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, a band which emerged from Buenos Aires' fertile, underground rock scene in the 80s with a unique, hybrid style that combined ska, the angst of British punk, socially conscious lyrics and high-octane Latin American rhythms. It was this bold fusion which helped the group conquer the world and essentially paved the way for what would later be called Latin alternative music.

Currently wrapping up a successful world tour in support of two albums released last year -- 'El Arte De La Elegancia' and the Grammy-nominated 'La Luz Del Ritmo' -- the band's contributions to Latin music were recently honored with a tribute album of Fab Cad songs interpreted by a new generation of some of the most prominent exponents of Latin alternative music. For their part, the band members have always looked to The Clash as their main source of inspiration and though they've even recorded with The Clash's former lead guitarist Mick Jones, they've never played a concert in London. In many ways the show will be their way of paying tribute to the spark that ignited their careers to begin with.

Summer is just around the corner and lucky for us Spanish four-piece Delorean has just released its first full-length 'Subiza' (True Panther) on iTunes. The collection of dance-floor friendly, sun-drenched poptronica promises to be the soundtrack of the summer. Delorean are no strangers to the international dance-pop scene. In 2008 they remixed the self-described, sleazy French pop trio Teenagers and Mystery Jets, then released the 'Ayrton Senna' EP, named after the Formula 1 legend, in 2009.

Now after playing every conceivable showcase at the 2009 CMJ, the boys from Barcelona are back with 'Subiza.' The album will be carried by all other digital stores worldwide April 20 and will be physically released on June 8. The band is currently touring stateside between April 9 through 17 in support of their new album. They'll return for a few dates in June and the Pitchfork Music Festival in July. Check out the video for their first single 'Stay Close' and tour dates after the jump.

The New Dimensions in Latin Jazz series returned to S.O.B.'s April 5 with a bang. The series' inception featured a double bill that included Grammy-nominated Cuban drummer Ignacio Berroa's quartet and the virtuoso Cuban pianist/composer Elio Villafranca performing a solo on acoustic piano.

New Dimensions in Latin Jazz began as a five month run at New York's Jazz Standard in 2007; it opened a window into the emerging, cutting-edge music and scene created by a new wave of Latin American jazz musicians now based in New York - musicians such as Argentinean trumpeter Diego Urcola, Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda, Grammy-nominated Cuban singer/songwriter/guitarist Juan-Carlos Formell, Colombian percussionist Samuel Torres, Argentinian bassist Pedro Giraudo, Grammy-nominated Brazilian accordionist/composer Tonhino Ferragutti, and the stellar Cuban jazz pianist/composers Elio Villafranca and Osmany Paredes who are redefining contemporary Latin jazz.

The series continued into 2009 at Zinc Bar and S.O.B.'s. with performances by Cuban saxophonist Yosvany Terry and the New York debuts of Venezuelan pianist Silvano Monasterios. The forward-looking live music series returns to S.O.B.'s for a string of live performance on alternate Monday's this Spring. The next performance on April 19 will feature multiple Grammy-wining, Puerto Rican bassist John Benitez's sextet, as well as Grammy-winning Argentinean pianist Fernando Otero and violinist Nick Danielson in a duo.

One of the most prominent, trailblazing voices of Afro-Cuban music, Graciela Peréz-Gutierrez, known simply as Graciela, died on Wednesday in Manhattan, where she lived. She was 94. The cause of death was renal and pulmonary failure.

Graciela paved the way for artists such as Celia Cruz and La Lupe, and more contemporary singers of Afro-Cuban music like Albita and Xiomara Laugart. Her professional career began in Cuba as a singer and bass player for the all-female Orquesta Anacaona and then with El Trio Garcia. Later in 1943 she joined her foster brother, the legendary Machito, in New York City, and became the first woman to front a major tropical orchestra. For 32 years Graciela sang and played claves for Machito and his Afro-Cubans. Machito, who had left Havana for New York in 1937, formed the Afro-Cubans in 1940 and tapped his brother-in-law, renowned trumpeter Mario Bauzá, known as the 'founding father of Latin jazz,' as musical director. One of the first bands to fuse Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz improvisation, the Afro-Cubans was a pivotal group in the globalization of mambo and Latin jazz. Throughout Afro-Cuban jazz's golden age, the band was a mainstay at the Palladium, Town Hall, the Apollo, the 52nd Street jazz clubs, the Concord Hotel in the Catskills and the Crescendo nightclub in Hollywood, among other places.

Graciela's signature alto made records such as 'Que Me Falta,' 'Vive Como Yo,' 'Ay José,' and 'Si Si No No' all the more memorable. She left the Afro-Cubans in 1975 but reunited with Bauzá in his own band, first in 1976 on 'La Botanica' and then again during the 1990s.

Graciela was never married and had no immediate surviving family members. According to friend and assistant Mappy Torres, the Grammy-nominated singer had her claves in hand when she died.

Lollapalooza, the three day music festival (August 6-8) that takes place in Chicago's Grant Park, has announced the headliners for this year's fête--a 124 artist lineup that will include Venezuelan acid-funk troupe Los Amigos Invisibles. The six friends from Caracas, whose most recent full-length 'Commercial' (Nacional Records) won a Latin Grammy last year for Best Alternative Album, will be hitting the summer festival circuit starting in June with a performance in Bonnaroo's Latino Alternativo tent.

Earlier this year, Los Amigos Invisibles embarked on a wold tour which included Australia and New Zealand. From April to May the group will be hop-scotching between the U.S., Spain, Mexico--for the Vive Latino Festival which will also feature live performances by Calle 13 and Julieta Venegas--back to the U.S. for two dates in New York's SOB's, their native Venezuela and finally Argentina. All in all 2010 is turning out to be the year Los Amigos conquered the globe with their infectious blend of acid jazz, pop, Latin rhythms, and funk. Go here to see the full Lollapalooza 2010 lineup.