2024

One of the Latin genres that has been gaining more popularity in California, specifically in the Bay Area, is the Spanish flamenco rumba, so it is no coincidence that every day there are more and more exponents of this genre who have achieved a huge level of fame and respect among both their peers and the public.   

One of them is Raul Vargas, who has given us the honor of talking to us about his career and the projects he is currently working on, so we cordially invite you to read in order to learn more about this talented Spanish singer.   

How Raúl got started in music   

Raul remembers being fascinated by music when he was still very young in his hometown, Madrid. At home, they he used to listen to what his parents played on the radio, but he does not remember anyone in his family being a musician or working it, so he was the first one to have a professional interest in this field.   

He also remembers listening to his mother’s cassettes with which he could enjoy all kinds of artists such as Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Camilo Sesto, Pimpinela and many others. However, as Raul grew older, he began to listen to what he liked just like his brother.   

When he was 16, he began to learn on his own to play the guitar using the songs he liked at the time. At age 17 he wrote his first song and, shortly after he went to live in Eklanda, Sweden, where he started writing many more songs and  take music more seriously, but he still did not see it as his profession.   

It is important to note that, while it is true that music was a very important part of Raul’s life, this was not what he did for a living, but cooking. Thanks to his career as a cook, there were many countries and cities that the young man managed to visit, although he was always accompanied by a guitar or drum he played during his free time.   

Arrival in the United States   

After having visited many places around the world, Raul met a group of Spaniards in Australia, who suggested him to go to a guesthouse for traveling musicians in the Latin Quarter in San Francisco to see what he felt about it. It turned out to be an excellent decision as he met many professional musicians who were able to make a living from their art, which prompted the young cook to do the same and follow the dreams he felt truly passionate about.   

This is how Raul decided that San Francisco should be his final destination, so he decided to remain in that city permanently. From then on, he continued to travel to other places for work and pleasure, but always returned to what he considered his new home.    

Once he settled in the United States, he started playing for several bands and focused all his time and effort on what really filled his soul and spirit: music.   

First groups and bands   

Despite being born in Spain, Raul had never played Spanish music before and preferred rock and pop, but contact with artists from so many countries in San Francisco made him rethink everything he had done so far. Many began asking him why he had never before sung or played flamenco rumba being Spanish, which led him to do more research on the genre from his country and start playing it. 

No much time would pass before the guitarist created his own flamenco rumba band, which he named ”Mala Maña” and was conceived as a circus theater and music group composed of eight people. It had a duration of three years and all these musicians, long time later, became part of the band Makrú. 

Additionally, he was also part of a duo alongside a guy from Guadalajara, Mexico called ”Fulanos”, which also contributed to the artist’s experience in terms of groups. 

Dos Bandoleros 

The duo Dos Bandoleros started about six or seven years ago and its creation is described by Raul as a ”very lucky accident” thanks to which he met who today is his partner in this project. 

It turns out that Raúl and his Makrú bandmates were experimenting with playing in duos and trios to see how things went, which led him and his guitarist to play at a French wine bar on Monday nights. One of these days, they were approached by a young man named Alberto Gutierrez, known artistically as Muchacho Mandanga, who introduced himself and also started playing at the bar along with another Spanish percussionist.  

Weeks passed before both Raul and Muchacho could not take their partners to play due to personal problems, so the venue manager proposed the to join them that day. The chemistry between them was so great that they continued playing together and never apart again.   

At the beginning, they only played flamenco rumba, which was what got closer to each together in the first place. Later on, they started playing cumbia, Latin rock, salsa, Cuban son and many more. 

Read also: Guatemalan group Malacates Trébol Shop enchants with its Latin rock and ska 

We are so pleased to have spoken with Mexican singer-songwriter and percussionist Gabriel González, who gladly embraced the opportunity to share with us a little of his personal story with music and the beginning of his band Gabrielito Y La Verdad. This project has brought him great joy and personal satisfaction since its foundation, as well as the possibility of meeting some of the today’s largest artists and being on stages where Gabriel never imagined playing.   

Gabriel’s beginnings in music   

Gabriel’s first contacts with music occurred when he was just a seven year old boy in East of Los Angeles. That city had a place called ”El Mercadito” where there were amateur contests the boy always took advantage of to practice his singing and this start his career as a vocalist.   

Being in his native Mexico, he became interested in regional Mexican music, ranchera, guatango, boleros, son and many others. When he moved to the United States with his family, he also began to know son jarocho, son jalicience and son montuno.    

The first group he played and toured with was the Los Angeles Chicano rock band Quetzal, which is the one that gave him his first job opportunity and with which he would stay for some time until his interests shifted definitively.   

As he left Quetzal, Gabriel resumed his interest in son montuno and thereafter in salsa as well. From then on, he became so good at these genres that he played with most of the salsa orchestras in Los Angeles and its nightclubs, which attracted the interest of many promoters who invited him to new places. In fact, he himself says that sometimes he would be called to play at venues without knowing which band he would be playing with that night.   

Salsa orchestras in which Gabriel participated   

In California, there were many salsa orchestras in which Gabriel participated and one of the most important was Johnny Polanco Y Su Conjunto Amistad. The artist sang with the late Polanco on a few occasions over several years, as they respected each other professionally and never missed any opportunity to show it on stage.   

The singer-songwriter also played with the Orquesta de Ángel Lebrón Y Su Sabor Latino on many occasions. The conguero and orchestra leader also relied heavily on the Mexican and what he had to offer, so he did not hesitate to call him whenever he needed him.   

Gabrielito Y La Verdad 

Gabriel had already gained so much popularity that, one night, he was invited to a concert whose flyer announced him as ”Gabrielito Y Su Orquesta”, meaning that he had already his own importance outside of being a simple element of support for groups and artists better known than him. The best thing about this is that the event was a complete success, leading the musician to think about creating his own orchestra, which he later named ”Gabrielito Y La Verdad”.   

From that moment Gabriel founded Gabrielito Y La Verdad, it has been ten years, in which he has dedicated himself to tour all over California and considers that his journey has been very successful and filled with gratification.    

In view of the success and fans amassed by the orchestra during this time, Gabriel decided it was time to make original music and write his own songs, while acknowledging that his thing is singing and playing percussion because that is at what he excels.   

Gabriel’s contact with other artists   

Gabriel and his orchestra have also had the opportunity to share with great music luminaries, from whom he has been able to learn many things and apply them to his own career. Among the artists and groups he has shared the stage with are Juan Gabriel, Los Van Van, Cubanismo, Los Cuban All Stars, Silk Sonic and Bruno Mars. 

In every case, Gabriel was impressed with the discipline and professionalism of each of the above-mentioned artists or orchestras, but at the same time, how humble and pleasant they were off the stage. 

In Bruno Mars’ case, he attended one of Gabriel’s shows along with the rest of his musicians without any of them noticing that the singer-songwriter was listening to them play with great interest. The artist was so fascinated with the orchestra that he invited it to open for him at a private party he would soon have in Las Vegas, an experience that was a great honor for the Mexican and the rest of the group.  

From this anecdote Gabriel learned that he must always give his best in his work, since he does not know who may be watching him. 

Read also: Omar Ledezma Jr. and Pacific Mambo on tour in Europe 

There is no doubt that The Bay Area has many talents, so there are always groups and people to talk about. Today it was the turn of the talented American percussionist of Nicaraguan origin Leo Rosales, with whom we had the pleasure of chatting about his life and projects with both the group Malo and his current band Momotombo SF.   

This Latin rock legend has so much to tell and we are happy to hear him and make known his success and great struggles in the world of music.   

Leo’s beginnings in music 

Leo’s interest in music began at home with his parents, who, as we have already said, come from Central America, which greatly the young man and the steps he would take a few years later.   

It turns out that his father was a radio host at the station Radio Mundial and his uncle was a musician in the 1940s in Nicaragua, where both developed their careers linked to music for a long time. However, they decided that the Central American country did not offer them the opportunities they were seeking and decided to move to San Francisco and build their families there. 

It was in San Francisco where Leo was born, his father decided to return to his job as a radio host at the station Coffee and his uncle met important musicians who helped him adapt to the musical environment in that place. All this coupled with the numerous family parties held at Leo’s house with Latin music aroused an enormous interest in the child for this world. 

Tradictional music, salsa and Latin jazz inspired him to listen to all kinds of genres and bands, but not only in Spanish. He also became a big fan of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, among others. 

He loved what he heard so much he even decided to learn to play the drums on his own by ear. Then, he started using cooking pots and sticks to rehearse at home in an improvised way until he had the opportunity to use professional instruments.  

Leo’s start in music professionally 

Leo was so hell-bent on making a name for himself in music that he got yogether with some friends and colleagues with the same interests to create an improvised group with which he gradually managed to play at parties and small street festivals. 

They also began to perform in larger events and to meet more and more important people in the industry. Also Leo and the other young people began to make friends with other groups, which led to new job opportunities for several of them.   

Around the same time they met the world famous businessman and concert promoter Bill Graham, who stated taking musicians to all over to San Francisco. This gave Leo the opportunity to play at the Fillmore West as well as other famous bands such as Chicago, Cold Blood, The Doors, The Gratful Dead, among others.   

There was a night when a friend invited him to see a band play that would completely change the vision Leo Rosales had of music because they did not just play rock, but also conga, timbales and other Latino-oriented instruments. That group turned out to be Carlos Santana’s band in 1968. 

Leo was so impressed with the group that the way he conceived music changed completely and he decided that this was the same direction he wanted to pursue. That is how he started playing Santana’s songs in various nightclubs, which led him to meet his brother Jorge Santana. 

Grupo Malo 

By the time Leo met Jorge, he was leading the group Malo. It all happened when the young man was about 17 or 18 years old and the same friend who took him to see Carlos invited him to see Jorge play with his band. At the request of the friend’s brother, Leo was given the opportunity to play the timbales, which he learned to play in the rock genre thanks to having listened to Santana for so long. 

After having played in several places with the group Malo and thanks to his high level as a musician, he was invited by one of the founders of the group, Arcelio García, to rehearse with the rest of the members. After rehearsing with them for a while, Leo became a permanent member of Malo and, shortly thereafter, he began touring the United States with them.  

All these performances helped the artist to become much more professional in his trade and to meet many other prestigious musicians.  

Momotombo SF  

After being in the group Malo for a long time, the priorities of some of its members changed. While Arcelio and Jorge continued with the Malo project, Leo and one of the ex-guitarists, Gabriel Manzo wanted to continue playing the same music, but did not want to continue using the group’s name out of respect for those who were still there and in order to avoid legal problems.  

That is when Leo talked to Arcelio and Jorge to ask for their opinion about it and they agreed that there was no problem with the birth of a new group, but it needed its nae changed. For this reason, the percussionist and his bandmates used one of Malo’s songs called Momotombo to refer to the new band they created. 

`‘Momotombo” is a song written by composer Pablo Tellez that pays homage to the Nicaraguan volcano near the town of the same name. Then, they began to refer to themselves as ”Momotombo with former members of Malo & Santana” to make it clear where its members come from. This was more than five years ago. 

”What we want is to keep alive the essence of Malo and Santana’s music with the same love with which we did it years ago, while respecting the original founders and those who were still there. On the contrary, we want to honor them and make it clear where we come from” said Leo, who evidently has full respect to Malo and its founders, who gave him the opportunity of his lifetime. 

Read also: The Bolivian charango with Spanish roots