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Search Results for: nominations

Flora Purim has earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Female Jazz Performance

Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style.

Airto Moreira, Flora Purim y Carlinhos Noronha
Airto Moreira, Flora Purim y Carlinhos Noronha

She was featured for her part on Chick Corea’s landmark album Back to Eternity.

She has recorded and performed with many artists, including Stanley Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jaco Pastorius, and her husband Airto Moreira.

Flora Purim’s voice has earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Female Jazz Performance and Down Beat magazine’s Best Female Singer award four times.

Her musical partners include Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie and Airto Moreira, with whom she has collaborated on more than 30 albums since moving with him from her native Rio to New York in 1967.

In New York, she and Airto became the center of the period of musical expression and creativity that produced the first commercially successful “Electric Jazz” groups of the 1970s.

Blue Note artist Duke Pearson was the first American musician to invite Flora to sing with him on stage and on record.

She then toured with Gil Evans, about whom she says, “This guy changed my life. He gave us a lot of support to do the craziest things.

This was the beginning for me. Her reputation as an outstanding performer earned her work with Chick Corea and Stan Getz as part of the New Jazz movement that also contained the nurturing influence of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley.

Airto Moreira, Flora Purim e Paulo Rapoport Popó
Airto Moreira, Flora Purim e Paulo Rapoport Popó

Soon after, Flora began to seriously re-educate discriminating musical minds after joining with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Joe Farrell to form Return To Forever in late 1971.

Two classic albums resulted – Return to Forever and Light as a Feather nodal points in the development of jazz fusion.

Flora’s first solo album in the United States, Butterfly Dreams, released in 1973, immediately placed her among the top five jazz singers in Down Beat magazine’s jazz poll.

In the mid-1980s, Flora and Airto resumed their musical collaboration to record two albums for Concord – Humble People and The Magicians – for which she received Grammy nominations.

In 1992 she went further by singing on two Grammy winning albums – Planet Drum with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart (Best World Music Album) and the Dizzy Gillespie United Nations Orchestra (Best Jazz Album).

Flora Purim y Carlinhos Noronha
Flora Purim y Carlinhos Noronha

The launch of the Latin jazz band Fourth World in 1991, featuring Airto, new guitar hero Jose Neto, and keyboard and reeds leader Gary Meek, marked a new era in Flora’s career.

The band was signed to the British jazz label B&W Music, and Flora consciously set out to win over the next wave of listeners.

Flora’s 1995 album Speed of Light, with major writing and performance contributions from Chill Factor and Flora’s daughter Diana Purim Moreira, makes the connection between her experimental beginnings with Chick Corea and Gil Evans and the new “head” music being produced by jazz musicians in the London and New York hip hop scenes.

Flora Purim Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)
Flora Purim Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)

Flora Purim Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)

1- Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)

2-Time’s Lie (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)

3- Sometime Ago (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)

4-San Francisco River (Airto Moreira-Purim Purim)

5-Andei “I Walked” (Hermeto Pascoal)

6-Ina’s Song “Trip to Bahia” (Flora Purim)

7-Conversation (Hermeto Pascoal)

8-Medley: White Wing/Blank Wing (Hermeto Pascoal-Flora Purim).

arrangements:

Hermeto Pascoal (4.5.7.

Egberto Gismonti (4)

Flora Purim (6)

The whole group (1.2.3)

01-David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – electric piano

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Ndugu (Leon Chancler) – drums

Background vocals: Flora, David Amaro, George Duke, Hermeto Pascoal

Instrumental solo: David Amaro (electric guitar)

02-Hermeto Pascoal – flute

David Amaro – acoustic guitar

George Duke – electric piano, ARP sequence,

ensemble synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric and acoustic bass – Alfonso Johnson – electric and acoustic bass

Ndugu – drums

Airto Moreira – percussion

Instrumental solo: Hermeto Pascoal (flute), Nudgu (drums)

03-Hermeto Pascoal – flute

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – electric piano, ARP sequence,

ensemble synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Ndugu – drums

Airto Moreira – percussion

Laudir de Oliveira – congas

Instrumental soloist: Hermeto Pascoal (flute), David Amaro

(electric guitar)

04-Hermeto Pascoal – flute, electric piano

Egberto Gismonti – acoustic guitar

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – moog synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Ron Carretero – acoustic bass

Robertinho Silva – drums

Instrumental duet: Hermeto Pascoal (flute) and George Duke

(synthesizer

05-Hermeto Pascoal – flute, electric piano

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – moog synthesizer, clavinet

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Airto Moreira – percussion

Robertinho Silva – drums, berimbauduet

vocal: Flora Purim and Airto Moreira

Instrumental duet: Hermeto Pascoal (flute), George Duke (flute), George Duke

(synthesizer), David Amaro (electric guitar)

06 -Hermeto Pascoal – electric piano

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – moog, ARP Odyssey and ARP Odyssey sequences, ARP synthesizer

ARP, ensemble synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric and acoustic bass – Alfonso Johnson – electric bass and acoustic bass

Robertinho Silva – drums, percussion

Laudir de Oliveira -congas

Instrumental solo: Georrge Duke (ARP synthesizer)

Odyssey)

07-Hermeto Pascoal – electric piano

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – ARP sequences ensemble and moog synthesizer

moog synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – acoustic bass

Airto Moreira – percussion

08-Hermeto Pascoal – electric piano, pipe, harpsichord,

whistling, percussion (seven-up bottles)

Egberto Gismonti – acoustic guitar

Ron Carretero – acoustic bass

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Airto Moreira – percussion, drums, berimbau

Robertinho Silva – percussion, berimbauduet

vocal: Flora Purim and Airto Moreira

Instrumental solo: Hermeto Pascoal (harpsichord and whistle)

Information realized (March 28, 2008)

Sources:

L’Òstia Latin Jazz 

Flora Purim

Also Read: Samuel Quinto Feitosa is a Brazilian virtuoso jazz and classical pianist

Continues in the spanish repertoire “The Colonel has no one to write to him” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

North America / USA / New York

During this month of March, the super theatrical production “The Colonel has no one to write to him” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, continues in the Spanish Repertoire, the only company to present plays entirely in Spanish since 1968, subtitled in English, in New York City.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“The Colonel has no one to write to him” is under the direction of Colombian director Jorge Alí Triana and has a leading cast of wonderful Latin American theater, film and television actors such as: the first Colombian actor, Germán Jaramillo incarnating the Colonel and the first Cuban actress on the New York scene, Zulema Clares, playing the Colonel’s selfless wife. This play is an adaptation by Jorge Alí Triana and his daughter Verónica Triana to the novel published in 1961 by the Nobel Prize for Literature (1982) and world-renowned Colombian writer, Gabriel García Márquez.

The story of this theatrical piece focuses on the life of a retired colonel, who fought in the Colombian Civil War and since then has longed for his retirement pension, delayed for 15 years due to the country’s bureaucracy.

The Colonel has no one to write to him - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Colonel has no one to write to him – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The thoughtful colonel lives with his unconditional wife in a situation of poverty and they only have a fighting rooster, the product of the inheritance of their deceased son, Agustín. The bird becomes, then, a possible salvation from his misery, since he questions whether or not to sell it to be able to eat, while every Friday he waits for the postman, who yells at him: “Nothing for the colonel.” Nobody writes to the colonel.”

According to statements made by director Jorge Alí Triana for the news outlet Efe, the play “The Colonel has no one to write to him”: “It is a play about dignity, about hope. Every transcendental work of art has a great metaphor and here is that of our peoples who have waited their whole lives with great hope that their situation will change”.

While for the actor Germán Jaramillo, the personification of the colonel has been quite a challenge. “Entering a character like the colonel is like entering the universe of Shakespeare… It is a very beautiful fable but it is also the story of power, old age, decrepitude and political struggle. And this character (the Colonel) in García Márquez’s perspective, which is also universal, achieves that greatness”. (Statements to an international media).

The bird and The Colonel has no one to write to him - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The bird and The Colonel has no one to write to him – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The play concentrates the action in the dialogues, maintains the atmosphere of the time and has a dramatic language.

 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Writter):

 

Gabriel García Márquez was born in Aracataca (Colombia) on March 6, 1927. He studied law at the National University of Colombia, but abandoned it to devote himself to journalism and literature.

In 1955, he published “The Leaf Storm”, his first novel. In 1961, he settled in Mexico City. That same year he published “The colonel has no one to write to him” and the following year “Big Mama’s funerals”. In 1967, he had “One Hundred Years of Solitude” published in Buenos Aires, the work that consecrated him worldwide. In 1972, he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize and in 1982, the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Other of his great works are: “The Autumn of the Patriarch” (1975), “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” (1981), “Love in the Time of Cholera” (1985) and “News of a Kidnapping” (1996) . His memoirs were published in 2002 under the title “Living to tell the story.” On Thursday, April 17, 2014, at the age of 87, he died in Mexico City, being one of the most recognized, admired and influential authors of Latin American literature and culture.

 

JORGE ALI TRIANA (DIRECTOR):

Jorge Alí Triana was born in Colombia and is considered one of the most distinguished film and theater directors in Latin America. He studied film and theater at the Higher Academy of Arts in Prague. He is the founder of the Popular Theater of Bogotá. His films have been presented at the most important film festivals in the world such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, London and Mar del Plata.

His theatrical credits include “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, “The Goat Party”, “Don Quixote”, “Blind Date”, among many others, for Repertoire Español. Triana has collaborated with Gabriel García Márquez in several film and theater projects, among them: “Time to die” and “Oedipus Alcalde”, the latter selected to be presented at the Cannes Festival in 1996.

Some of the recognitions that he has in his have are: 3 ACE Awards for Best Director; a Tucán Award for best film for “Time to die”, the Ombú de Oro and Ombú de Plata awards at the Mar del Plata Festival, both for his film “Bolívar Soy Yo!”, among others. Triana directs in Repertorio since 1992 and currently presides over her own production company “Dramax”, where she makes the TV series “Comando Elite” for the RCN – Colombia network.

Jorge Alí Triana
Jorge Alí Triana

GERMAN JARAMILLO (ACTOR):

Germán Jaramillo was born in Manizales, Colombia. His performances as an actor earned him awards as the best actor of the year in Colombia on several occasions. He starred in the film “La virgen de los sicarios” (2000), with which he obtained international nominations and awards.

He is also known for his performances in “Paraíso Travel” (2008) and the famous series “Narcos” (2015). Jaramillo is co-founder of ID Studio Theater in New York, of which he is the Artistic Director. He is also co-founder of the Teatro Libre de Bogotá (1973) and its Actors Training School (1988), where he worked as a resident actor, producer and director for almost 30 years with more than 40 productions. His credits in Repertoire Español include: “Blind Date”, “Bad Grass Never Dies”, “Aunt Julia and the Writer” and “Burundanga”.

German Jaramillo and Zulema Clares
German Jaramillo and Zulema Clares

ZULEMA CLARES (ACTRESS):

Born in Cuba and graduated from the National School of Art in Havana in the careers of Choral Direction and Theater Direction. She has worked in theater, film and television as an actress, playwright and director. She was the founder of the Argos Teatro de Cuba group in 1996 and soon after became one of the most acclaimed actresses on the Cuban scene for her performances in classics by Strindberg, Brecht and Calderón de La Barca, among others. She worked as an acting and directing teacher at the National School of Theater in Cuba.

His film credits include the leading roles in “The Nights of Constantinople”, “Three Times Two” (Silver Zenith, debut film, Montreal 2004) and “Long Distance”. He currently resides in New York and is part of the Spanish Repertory company of actors. His credits with the company include “La fiesta del chivo”, “La casa de Bernarda Alba”, “En el nombre de Salomé”, among many others.

 

Functions:

▪ Friday, March 02: 8:00 pm

▪ Saturday, March 03: 8:00 pm

▪ Sunday, March 04: 3:00pm

▪ Thursday, March 08: 7:00 pm

▪ Saturday, March 10: 3:00pm

▪ Friday, March 16: 11:00am and 8:00pm

▪ Thursday, March 22: 7:00pm

General Admission

▪ $30.00

logo repertorio - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
logo repertorio – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Address: Spanish Repertoire. 138 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016

 

“The colonel has no one to write to him.” An adaptation of the novel by Gabriel García Márquez as part of the 50th Anniversary of Spanish Repertory.

Do not miss it!!!

The bird and The Colonel has no one to write to him - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The bird and The Colonel has no one to write to him – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

For more information visit: https://repertorio.nyc or follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/repertorionyc/

Mulatu Astatke, the first African to earn a PhD from Berklee College of Music

Mulatu Astatke (or Astatqé) (Jimma, Ethiopia, December 19, 1943) is an Ethiopian musician, composer and arranger. He is considered the father of Ethio-Jazz.

His musical training took place at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, where he studied clarinet, piano and harmony, New York and Boston, where he was the first African student and also the first African to earn a PhD from Berklee College of Music; there he was trained in vibraphone and percussion.

Mulatu Astatke, the first African to earn a PhD from Berklee College of Music
Mulatu Astatke, the first African to earn a PhD from Berklee College of Music

Later he combined the influence of jazz and Latin music with traditional Ethiopian music.

My desire to start making Ethio-jazz began in London while I was studying there in the 1950s; then I knew I wanted to be different with my music. I looked for musicians from different African backgrounds and saw that they were successful and promoted the culture of their country.

However, there was very little from East Africa and Ethiopia, so I decided at that point that I would create something unique based on the rich heritage of our music and show how much we have contributed to the world of music in general.

That journey began to take shape at Berklee College in Bastan. I was the first African musician to study there and that period was very important for me.

I learned the technical aspects of many different musical forms and my teachers gave me the confidence to move in my own direction, teaching me that it was okay to be different in my music and try something completely new.

Mulatu Astatke.
Mulatu Astatke.

Ethiopian cultural music is based on four modes  tezeta, bati, anchihoy and Ambassel  and within my music, I knew that those modes could not be played.

They had to remain at the center of my music or the whole character of the sound would change and become distorted. I began to add beautiful colors with chords, voicings, bass lines and rhythm sections, writing progressions that fit together well. It’s very difficult to write 12-note music around the Ethiopian modes without destroying them.

In the mid-’60s I returned to Addis, but I kept going back and forth to the United States.

At that time, no one was fusing Ethiopian music with jazz.

In my country there was the First National Theater Orchestra, and both the police and the army had their own orchestras.

There were also bands like the Echoes and the Ras Band.

Musicians at that time based their melodies strictly on the four Ethiopian modes, using techniques like the “canon,” with melodic lines echoing each other.

With Ethiopian jazz, I consciously wanted to expand and explore the modes in different ways.

Mulatu Astatke (or Astatqé) (Jimma, Ethiopia, December 19, 1943) is an Ethiopian musician, composer and arranger. He is considered the father of Ethio-Jazz.
Mulatu Astatke (or Astatqé) (Jimma, Ethiopia, December 19, 1943) is an Ethiopian musician, composer and arranger. He is considered the father of Ethio-Jazz.

I formed a group called The Ethiopian Quintet in New York, made up of a mix of Ethiopian, Latino, and African-American musicians (there weren’t many Ethiopian musicians in the United States at that time).

The band included trumpeter and pianist Rudy Houston, who later played with Yambu, and Felix Torres, who played with Sonora Ponceña.

I have always felt a deep connection between Latin and African music; I traveled to Cuba to find out where the first American landed, I heard their musicians play and dance and although they sang in Spanish, the tempo, rhythm and feeling were very similar to aspects of African music.

So, with the Ethiopian Quintet, I wanted to show the African contribution to Latin music and it was my first opportunity to experiment and start developing my vision of Ethio-Jazz with this band.

With the American and Puerto Rican musicians in the group we created a different atmosphere and arrangements.

It was a great opportunity for me and they loved what I was writing and the direction I was trying to take.

We did quite a few concerts, some Spanish weddings, events upstate New York and in Manhattan.

We played at the Village Gate with Dave Pike, a great friend of mine at the time, one of the world’s greatest vibraphone players. He played a lot with Herbie Mann and I remember sitting in to watch one of his recording sessions.

I saw a lot of other great musicians in concert, from Coltrane to Bud Powell and Bill Evans. On the New York live circuit I met a producer called Gil Snapper.

His musical training was at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London,
His musical training was at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London,

Gil was a very nice and interesting guy and worked with musicians of many different styles.

He picked up on my music very quickly; we got on well and he invited me to record with The Ethiopian Quintet, so our first albums with him were ‘Afro Latin Soul’ Volumes 1 and 2, both recorded during 1966.

On the first volume, I performed an adaptation of an old Ethiopian warrior song, ‘I Faram Gami I Faram’.

I would have liked to have an Ethiopian singer for the song, but it was sung in Latin and the lyrics were translated to the singer so he could sing it in Spanish.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be a nice combination. The album included other compositions that were important steps for me: ‘Mascaram Setaba’ (Summer is Coming), ‘Shagu’ and ‘Almaz’. On the second volume, Rudy Houston suggested a piece of music that we called ‘The Panther’, in reference to the animal, but also in recognition of the Black Panthers, who were very active in the civil rights struggle in the United States at that time.

On this album, one of my favorites is my composition ‘Girl From Addis Ababa’, which worked very well as a fusion of Ethiopian modes and R&R rhythms, an indicator of the more refined Ethiopian jazz sound of my later album for Worthy, ‘Mulatu Of Ethiopia’ (1972). It also included my new arrangement of the 1950s tune ‘Lover’s Mambo’.

Both albums include nice arrangements also by Oscar Garcia, Rudy Houston and Gil Snapper as well.

I feel proud of the recording when I listen to it again. It was an important moment in my career and it was a very interesting and progressive time to be in New York in the mid-60s.

I was there at the same time as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and Fela Kuti and, each in their own way, we tried to do our part to put Africa on the map of contemporary jazz.

Mulatu Astatke & His Ethiopian Quintet - Afro-Latin Soul (1966, R-2018)
Mulatu Astatke & His Ethiopian Quintet – Afro-Latin Soul (1966, R-2018)

Mulatu Astatke, April 2018

Mulatu Astatke & His Ethiopian Quintet – Afro-Latin Soul (1966, R-2018)

Tracks: Afro Latin Soul: 01. I Faram Gami I Faram (Mulatu Astatke)

02. Mascaram Setaba (Mulatu Astatke)

03. Shagu (Mulatu Astatke)

04. One For Buzayhew (Mulatu Astatke) ke)

05. Alone In The Crowd (Gil Snapper)

06. Almaz (Mulatu Astatke)

07. Mulatu’s Hideaway (Mulatu Astatke)

08. Askum (Rudy Houston)

09. A Kiss Before Dawn (Gil Snapper & Weiss)

10. Playboy Cha Cha (Oscar Garcia) Afro Latin Soul Vol. 2:

11. The Panther (Boogaloo) (Rudy Houston)

Konjit (Pretty) (Oscar Garcia)

Soul Power (Rudy Houston)

Lover’s Mambo (Traditional, Arr. Mulatu Astatke)

Love Mood For Two (Rudy Houston)

Jijiger (Rudy Houston)

Girl From Addis Ababa (Mulatu Astatke)

Karayu (Oscar Garcia)

Raina (Rudy Houston)

Musicians:

Mulatu Astatke (Vibraphone, Piano, Drums)

Rudy Houston (Piano, Trumpet)

Robert Cuadrado (Bass)

Felix Torres / John Perez (Congas / Bongos on Vol. 1)

Pete Iglesias (Congas on Vol. 2)

Tony Pearson (Timbales)

Information provided (October 5, 2024)

Also Read: Flora Purim has earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Female Jazz Performance

Isidro Infante is one of the most successful producers and arrangers in the history of Salsa

Born August 12, 1952, San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a professional pianist, arranger, composer and music producer, working in genres such as Classical Music, Rock, Pop Rock, Latin Ballad, Rock in Spanish, Salsa, Latin Jazz etc.

Isidro Infante is one of the most successful producers and arrangers in the history of Salsa
Isidro Infante is one of the most successful producers and arrangers in the history of Salsa

In addition, he has 5 awards and 47 Grammy nominations and several Billboard projects, Lo Nuestro Awards and Ace & Paoli Awards.

His parents were Dr. Isidoro Infante and Carmen Santiago.

From a young age Isidro was influenced by listening to his father play the violin, getting involved with music at age 14 when he participated in a band that played songs by Santana and Chicago.

At the age of 15 he formed his band “Carpe Diem” (Live Life), a Rock/Salsa group that played Rock’n’Roll, Pop, Salsa and included Tommy Villarini on trumpet, Cuto Soto on trombone and guitarist Manolo Sastre.

With this band Isidro wrote his first arrangement “Tiempo De Ti”.

Two years later, Infante was in charge of the background music for Myrta Silva’s television show.

After taking private piano lessons with the famous pianist Carmen Socorro Duclerc, he studied at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and at the University of Puerto Rico, obtaining bachelor’s degrees in music and chemistry.

Although he was inclined towards medicine because it was his father’s profession, he decided to delve into music and graduated in composition and arrangements at Temple University in Philadelphia in the late 1970s.

In 1995, Isidro Infante and ‘La Élite’ signed a contract with RMM Records as an exclusive artist. Isidro also signed as A&R director for RMM records.

With him he gained experience, quality and evident success in his productions for the label. His work with La India earned him double platinum sales and a Grammy nomination for their album “Sobre El Fuego.”

Within just four years of its founding, La Élite became a dominant force in the Salsa music industry. The band’s first release earned a gold record as well as awards from AS, Paoli and Diplo.

Isidro Infante He also has 5 Grammy awards and 47 nominations and several Billboard projects, Lo Nuestro Awards and Ace & Paoli Awards.
Isidro Infante He also has 5 Grammy awards and 47 nominations and several Billboard projects, Lo Nuestro Awards and Ace & Paoli Awards.

The hit songs “Que Tengo de Ti,” “Nave de Papel,” “Ganas” and “Has Quedado Retratada” all topped the Tropical Salsa charts.

On Isidro Infante y La Élite II, the group’s second production, Isidro added vocalist Maggie Ramos. This helped him create an album with an exceptional variety of music.

Songs like “Quítame ese Hombre” and “Santo Militar y Montuno” made Isidro Infante a favorite of many.

Along with Louie Ramírez, Infante was credited as one of the creators and pioneers in the Salsa movement. Romantic Salsa.

In 1998, his production “Licencia Para Engañar” was released, which was the result of his creativity and flexibility as a musician. In his orchestra, Isidro Infante y La Élite, Jennifer Jiménez and Guillermo Duval participate as vocalists.

In his first album “Secretos”, Kevin Ceballo made his debut as a soloist in “Licencia Para Engañar”, produced by Isidro Infante.

His work as a producer earned his album “India’s Sola” a Grammy nomination. Venezuelan Oscar D’León also received a nomination for “La Fórmula Original” which Isidro also produced.

Isidro’s commitment to everything related to the Latin community prompted him to produce the event “Canto Para La Guaira”.

The concert was held with the purpose of raising funds for the victims of the disaster that affected thousands in Venezuela and thus “Poliedro de Caracas” has been filled to full capacity.

Among the RMM artists who performed were Kevin Ceballo, Ray Sepúlveda, Cheo Feliciano, Tito Nieves, Roberto Avellanet, Michael Stuart and Tony Vega.

In 1981, Ramírez and Infante were approached with the idea of ​​producing an album of famous ballads with Salsa arrangements.

Both found the project interesting and ambitious, so they accepted the challenge. Isidro added his experience in the field of ballads, acquired through his work with José Luis Rodríguez, Camilo Sesto and Yolandita Monge, to Ramírez’s knowledge of Latin jazz.

The result was “Noche Caliente”, the first album in the genre to sell over a million copies.

Memories at El Corso Night Club in New York City with my friend and mentor, Master Louie Ramirez, producer, arranger, vibraphonist, timpanist, marimba player
Memories at El Corso Night Club in New York City with my friend and mentor, Master Louie Ramirez, producer, arranger, vibraphonist, timpanist, marimba player

Isidro Infante is one of the most sought-after arrangers in Salsa.

Venturing into a genre other than salsa, he also participated in Willennium, Will Smith’s most recent recording where Isidro played piano and keyboards.

Isidro Infante was working with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert, Gloria Estefan, Dizzy Gillespie, Dionne Warwick, Patty La Belle, Will Smith, Wyclef Jean, Clark Terry, Jon Anderson & Yes, Vangellis, Sheila E., Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Machito, Marc Anthony, La India, Fania All-Stars, Oscar D’Leon, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Larry Harlow, Roberto Roena, Johnny Pacheco, Pete El Conde Rodriguez, Louie Ramirez, Ray De La Paz, Jose Alberto “El Canario”, Adalberto Santiago, Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodriguez, Paquito Guzman, Marvin Santiago, Domingo Quinones, Camilo Azuquita, Kako, Rafael Cortijo, Ismael Rivera, Manny Manuel, Raul Marrero, Vitin Aviles, Papaito, Tony Vega, Puerto Rico All Stars, Ralphy Leavitt & La Selecta, The Latin Corporation, Jose Mangual Jr,Jr. Gonzalez, Ramon Rodriguez,Orquesta La Terrifica, German Olivera, Wichy Camacho, Johnny Ventura, Sergio Vargas, Cuco Valoy, Ramon Orlando, Los Hermanos Rosario, Los Niches, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Little Louie Vega, Robert Avellanet, Michael Stuart, Yanko, Kevin Ceballo Danny Rivera, Sophy, Mirta Silva, Ivy Queen, Tego Calderon, Mickey Perfecto, TNT and many more.

Among his compositions are “Viejo Pachanguero”, “Vicio de Quererte”, “Esa Niña” etc.

With more than 2,500 arrangements in his resume, Isidro is one of the most successful producers and arrangers in the history of Salsa.

Isidro Infante has been working for major record labels such as Sony BMG (Epic, Sony Discos, Sony International, etc.), Universal EMI Capitol TH Records Salsa International Velvet (Venezuela), Co Discos (Colombia), J&N Records, Univision Poligram, Luna Records Fonovisa, Sono Tone, Caiman Records, Faisán Records, GB Records, Ibero- Records, Salsoul Records and many more.

Isidro Infante produced the Special for Banco Popular 2010: Truibuto Al Gran Combo on CD & DVD which achieved platinum sales.

The project included the participation of El Gran Combo, Ismael Miranda, La India, José Alberto, Isaac Delgado, Michael Stuart, Domingo Quiñones, NG2, Luisito Carrión, Sammy García and El Sabor de Puerto Rico.

He was sharing the Fania All-Stars as musical director with maestro Johnny Pacheco in several concerts throughout Latin America and was involved in musical projects with the Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel.

In 2010, Isidro Infante and Iván Joy established the new company Artist System Inc. which is in collaboration with Diamond Music and has gained important positions in the market of digital production and promotion and also has a lot of experience in the creation and management of digital content.

Con India y La Cantante cubana, Laritza Bacallao
Con India y La Cantante cubana, Laritza Bacallao

The company is working with such artists as Isidro Infante, Lucecita Benítez “La Voz Nacional De Puerto Rico”, Lunna, Lourdes Robles, Conjunto Canayón, Сorporación Latina, Manolo Lezcano, Lou Briel, Jowell & Randy, Arcángel, Tego Calderón, Jadiel, Endo, Guelo Star, Kastrofobia, Los Metalicoz and many more.

Awards

5-time Grammy winner

47 Grammy nominations and several Billboard projects

Premios Lo Nuestro and Ace & Paoli Awards.

Also Read: Ezequiel Lino Frías Gómez was an excellent musician, pianist, arranger and composer.

Source and Collaboration: Marino de Jesus (1588) from Salsa History of the Dominican Republic

Toñito Laya

Latinoamerica / Venezuela / Caracas

On this occasion we have the privilege of meeting the new Venezuelan talent Toñito Laya (singer), son of Maestro Antonio “20 DEDOS” Laya, who was one of the most significant conga players in the Venezuelan salsa movement in the 1980s, director of the “ Banbankere Orchestra” of Petare with two musical productions; giving him more than enough reason to grow in Latin music, such as “el Son”, “la Rumba“, “la Guaracha”, “el Danzón”, “Boogaloo”, “la Timba” and “la Salsa” being This is the beginning of his artistic and musical career.

Starting in the 90s, he (Toñito Laya) entered the Bigott Foundation where he had the opportunity not only to learn the various rhythms in Afro-Venezuelan percussion, but also developed as a dancer in one of the most important groups in Venezuela when it comes to popular traditions. “Vasallos del Sol”, eventually becoming “Vasallos de Venezuela” in 2016, where he had 16 concerts, productions, albums and national and international tours; Colombia, Mexico, United States, South Korea and Japan, among others.

Toñito Laya flyer
Toñito Laya flyer

In 2006, a project called “Comprehensive School of Latin Tradition Dance 100% Tumbao” began, where many dancers were trained in the Cuban Salsa Casino genre, combining this training with Venezuelan traditions, making them understand that traditions come first. Venezuelans. Then they participated in the most important events and competitions in Venezuela, they even became Latin American Champions of “CUBAMEMUCHO 2009” in the city of Caracas-Venezuela, thus managing to represent the country in the grand final to be held in the city of Munich-Germany, 2010.

He also tells us that in 2009, they were invited to participate in a new project but this time not to dance, but to “sing” in a group that by then had no name but a particular genre such as “Son Cubano” . From that moment Toñito began his musical career to develop in a somewhat unexpected way, he was a founder and assumed the commitment of being in charge of this group as one of its leading singers for more than 7 years, where the themes arose: To me that, La Ruñidera, Bilongo, El Jamaiquino, I hear a drum, among others; They were part of his first musical repertoire.

With two record productions together with the already structured band “La Séptima Bohemia” he consolidated his musical career as a singer, going through a training process with different teachers and vocal coaches such as: Ronald González, Fanny Olano, Gustavo Gerardo and Marcial Istúriz, among others. others, who would help him develop in the middle of music.

National tours, award nominations and concerts allowed him to share the stage alongside large-scale national and international groups such as: Francisco Pacheco, Canelita Medina, Alexander Abre y su Habana de Primera, Manolito y su Trabuco, El Septeto Santiaguero, José Alberto “El Canario” to mention a few. Toñito records for the year 2012, the song “She takes me”, a song that in turn would be the title of the second album becoming an icon of parties, dances and social events not only in Venezuela but in many salsa and salsa dancing countries. casino in the world.

In the year 2016 Toñito Laya arrives in Aztec land to embark on a new path, he begins by residing in the city of Cancun-Mexico to sing in some local groups and participate in various projects such as: Los Panas.com, La Formula Perfecta, Grupo Swing Latin among others.

This new stage as an artist prompts him to consider a new musical challenge but this time as a solo singer with a well-defined and focused vision, his pleasant experience as a dancer motivates him to dedicate his first promotional single “ABRE QUE VOY”, this being the complement of an orchestra, for the musicians and their singers “EL BAILADOR”.

“ABRE QUE VOY” is the result of the work of talented and renowned Venezuelan musicians who give an important plus to this Musical production of “Maurice Melo”, this first single is created, performed by Toñito Laya, in the company of the Venezuelan talent of the following musicians:

  • Piano and arrangement: Joel Uriola.
  • Bass: Jesús Torres “Mandinga”
  • Percussion: Yomar Méndez “Caballo”
  • Trombone: Jhonal Rivero.
  • Trumpet: Edward Platter.
  • Baritone sax: Michel Peña.
  • Choirs: William “Wywy” Buznego, Carlos Guzmán and Ramfis Fajardo.
  • Recorded in the studio: A Tempo Records by Heyzer Cabrera.
  • Mixing and Mastering: Heyzer Cabrera. Caracas – Venezuela 2018

If you want to meet or contact Toñito, you can follow him through:

  • Correo: [email protected]
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonito.laya
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUkjU7SFnPc_W-XJDlMMzRg
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonitolaya/
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/negrolaya

 

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International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.