The challenge with recommending new Cuban recordings is that there is so much wonderful new music there that is not yet available for sale outside of Cuba.That being said, here are five recordings that ARE available at the usual places (Amazon, Itunes, and other places) and have something distinctive about the project in addition to musical merit.
I. El Viaje by Harold López-Nussa (Mack Avenue 2016)
This wonderful Cuban Jazz recording mixes Cuban, African, Jazz and Funk elements. It was recorded at Estudios Ojalá (Silvio Rodríguez’s new studio post-Abdala) for Mack Avenue, a recognized US Jazz label based in Michigan. Harold is already an internationally-recognized Cuban Jazz star, and this album, if successful in the marketplace as well as musically, could help lead the way for more US-based Jazz labels to record artists in Cuba as opposed to Cuban artists moving to the US for more recording opportunities.
II. 
Heaven by Sweet Lizzy Project (Via Blanca S. A. 2015)
Winner of the Pop category in Cubadisco 2016, this is for fans of North American style Pop music who might be curious about the current Cuban take on the genre. Of interest in part because this group recorded its material in Estudios Areito in English (the language in which it regularly performs), a recent language trend which is now on the increase in Cuba.
III. No Quiero Llanto – Tributo a Los Compadres by Septeto Santiaguero & Jose Alberto “El Canario” (EGREM 2015)
An excellent choice for traditionalists, this 2-CD set won a Cubadisco award for Traditional Son and Best Traditional Tropical Album in the Latin GRAMMY awards in 2015. One of the most interesting things about Septeto Santiaguero is that it has been able to successfully collaborate with multiple artists in Puerto Rico, the continental US and other countries while still maintaining an authentically Cuban sound, something which many other groups often fail to achieve whenever they try.
IV. La Fantasia (Homenaje a Juan Formell) by Formell y Los Van Van (EGREM 2014)
Although it is technically a 2014 project in Cuba, it belongs on this list for three reasons: (a) the physical CD can now be purchased at Amazon.com, Target.com and some other places (b) it was just nominated in the Best Tropical Latin Album category of the GRAMMY® awards (it won a Special Award in Cubadisco 2015), and (c) it is historically important because the late, great, JuanFormell passed away before the album was completed but sings on the title track. OK, there’s a fourth reason. This really is one of their best albums in years. Even if you are not a fan of Timba and Songo, there are things to love about it.
V. Feeling Marta by Gema Corredera (GC Music 2015)
This one’s for the romantics and is great after-midnight listening. Gema, who has one of my favorite voices among living female singers, interprets some of the Marta Valdés songbook with the aid of Roberto Carcassés, Carlos Rios, Yissy García and Oliver Valdés. Marta was a crucial member of the Feeling movement in Cuba, and to make the material work, you do indeed need to put feeling into it, as Gema does. This recording received a Cubadisco award in the Trova category this year.
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