Artists

It is a pleasure to welcome Erim Kardes and Gustavo del Pino from Los Calicubanos to ISM

We are very happy to share a little with musical director, Erim Kardes, and pianist, Gustavo Del Pino, of the band Los Calicubanos, from whom we had the pleasure to hear a bit about their individual careers and the foundation of their current group.

The interview, conducted in both English and Spanish, touched on some very interesting topics about music in general, and we hope all who read it will enjoy it.

Erim and the rest of the band — From left to right Jim Miranda on Congas, Arturo Ramirez on Timbales, Erim Kardes on bass, Mark Trejo on Trumpet, Andy Garcia on Trombone, Gustavo Del Pino on piano, Marisol Echegoyen on Vocals, Luis Jimenez on vocals

Erim and Gustavo’s beginnings in music

The first to take the floor was Gustavo, who told us that he started playing piano at the age of six. His father played the saxophone and his mother played the piano, but they saw music only as a hobby and were not professional musicians. Throughout his childhood in Peru, he listened to a lot of Latin music at family gatherings, so six years later, at about age 12, he was already performing in front of crowds. Among his family’s most loved artists were El Gran Combo from Puerto Rico, Héctor Lavoe, and Rubén Blades.

After that, he studied classical music in a conservatory, and when he finally moved to the United States and met Erim and the rest of his bandmates, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

In Erim’s case, he said he started playing the guitar when he was 14 years old in Turkey, the country where he grew up. Like Gustavo, no one in his family was a musician, but that did not stop them from listening to Turkish music all the time, and it was from there that he started to like it beyond entertainment.

By the age of 20, he became interested in Latin music and began experimenting with it. He was in graduate school studying engineering in Los Angeles, where he had been living for some time, and taking some jazz courses at the University of California. One of his professors was the one who finally introduced him to Latin music, and he liked it so much that he never separated from it again. One of his most important teachers was legendary bassist from the band Weather Report, Alphonso Johnson.

Erim and the band — From left to right: ERNESTO VALENZUELA on Congas, Joseph Dubois on Trumpet, Andy Garcia on Trombone, Marisol Echegoyen on Vocals, Arturo Ramirez on Timbales, Erim Kardes on bass, Gustavo Del Pino on Piano, Luis Jimenez on Vocals

Professional start for both

Coming back to Gustavo, he told us that when he completed his studies at Berklee, he began to get his first jobs as a professional musician. He started making small tours with some of the classmates alongside whom studied there and was involved in the recording of a few albums, but as a session musician. He did not yet have a formal band to be part of, but he did play with some Argentine, Colombian, and Peruvian artists and musicians. Some of them were Colombian singer Alejandra Jimenez “Alea” and the Peruvian band Perú Meztizo.

On the other hand, Erim told us that he first played bass in rock bands in college. He also played funk and jazz in Los Angeles for some time.

Foundation of Los Calicubanos

Erim created the idea of Los Calicubanos and eventually founded the band. The group, as it is known now, was officially launched in August 2025, i.e. that this month would be its first anniversary. Once he knew what he wanted, he placed online ads looking for a pianist to join him, which is when Gustavo contacted him and was tested until finally staying with the job.

At that same time, he met percussionist Arturo Ramírez, so the three of them got together in June 2025, and officially launched Los Calicubanos in August of the same year. They were later joined by conga player Jim Miranda, singer Luis Jiménez, singer Marisol Echegoyen, trombonist Andy García, trumpeter Mark Trejo, and trumpeter Joseph Dubois.

Musical director Erim Kardes — This is music director for Los Calicubanos Erim Kardes

Erim has been in California for the last 25 years and also traveled twice to Cuba, which led him to discover rhythms that fascinated him and changed his perspective on music completely. Therefore, he decided to combine “California” with “Cuba” because of the mix he wanted to make as a result of the music he discovered in both places.

Upcoming events

Los Calicubanos do not have any tours scheduled at this time, but they do have many important performances, such as the LA Jazz Festival, concerts at restaurants, and a few private events.

As for new releases, they are currently writing completely original music and making new arrangements, but they want to have a fair amount of material ready before entering the studio to record.

Hector Rivera ‘‘Riverita’’ tells the story of how he created Riverita Y Su Orquesta Noche Caliente

After several attempts, we finally managed to meet with bandleader and saxophonist Héctor Rivera, known in the industry as Riverita, and ask him all kinds of questions about his artistic career and his current group, Riverita y Su Orquesta Noche Caliente.

Here are some of the most important issues we touch with the artist during our pleasant conversation:

Riverita’s inspiration to become a musician

Despite not having musicians in his family, Riverita remembers growing up in an environment where music was always very present. He was born in New York, but spent long periods living with his grandparents in Puerto Rico while his parents settled down and eventually moved to the “Island of Enchantment” to give their son greater stability.

At his grandparents’ house, he used to listen to great artists of the time performing their unforgettable hits on the radio and one of them was Mon Rivera Y Su Orquesta performing “Karakatis-ki,” a song he never forgot, along with so many other musical pieces that gradually got him interested in this world. When his parents returned to Puerto Rico and he returned to live with them, he started listening to Cheo Feliciano, Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez, Felipe Rodríguez, and many others.

All these rhythms led the boy to play a sort of percussion on the table, a biscuit tin, or anything else that served as an instrument for him at the time.

His passion for music grew to the point that he began studying music education at the Escuela Libre de Música in Ponce and, subsequently at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico in San Germán, where he studied for only about two years. Although he did not complete his studies, this helped him to understand even more the profession and apply what he learned during those years.

Danny, Riverita, and Jose — Riverita with two maracas

Being in Puerto Rico, he played with a merengue orchestra whose name he does not remember, but with which he learned to play alto saxophone professionally. After that, he moved to the United States permanently.

Year 2013

As he moved to Virginia, he took a long break from music until 2013, which is when his cousin, Michael Valladares, asked Riverita to found an orchestra, which was not in his plans. However, he accepted the challenge and carried forward the project.

Back then, the artist worked as a mailman at a post office, making it difficult for him to reconcile his previous professional activities with the direction of an orchestra. Still, he did not allow that to discourage him and chose to give priority to this new ensemble.

It all started when Michael was looking for an orchestra to perform at a gala event to celebrate 500 years of the city of Melbourne, Florida, so he contacted Riverita and proposed him to create an orchestra in which he would serve as musical director for the sole purpose of performing there. That was when the saxophonist set about finding musicians and producing a repertoire, which was not easy, since he did not know any professional musicians and did not have any arrangements he could use.

He was so distressed that he spent sleepless nights thinking about how to proceed to complete the mission entrusted to him. With three months to go, he had no time to spare. That is when he managed to make contact with a group of musicians of different nationalities, of whom only the singer, José Reyes, continues to work with him.

Finally, he relaunched the project with a new group of musicians—since the previous ones had left and called it Orquesta Noche Caliente, a name that it still bears today.

Among the most frequently recurring members, we can mention singer José Reyes, singer Danny Rivera Jr., pianist Kevin Figueroa, and trombonist Derick Harris.

To date, they have recorded three CDs and 26 songs. Some of them are “Noche Caliente,” “En Tiempos de Bolero,” and “Mi Linda Música.” They are also preparing their Christmas song several months in advance and will name it “Rabito de Lechón.”

We’ve talked with Elizabeth Meeker Howard, one of the members of Las Sabrosas Latin Orchestra

On other occasions, we talked to all-female musical groups to promote the tremendous female talent we have in Latin music. The amazing artist we talked to this time is no exception.

We are very happy to chat with trumpeter Elizabeth Meeker Howard, who told us about her fascinating project, Sabrosas Latin Orchestra, and some other aspects of her career worth mentioning.

Elizabeth posing for the camera — Trumpeter and music teacher Elizabeth Meeker Howard posing for the picture

How Elizabeth started her career

The artist began her story telling us that some members of her family are involved into arts as is the case of her grandmother, who was a professional musician. Similarly, her parents instilled in her a love for music, so the young girl developed an appreciation about this world from an early age to the point that she joined the school band in fourth grade. She and her classmates were given the opportunity to choose their own instrument, so she chose the drums, but she soon discovered that it was not what she wanted to play.

When she was about nine years old, she began playing the trumpet and a little piano, but she would never use the latter professionally.

In adulthood, she began studying classical music, specifically, classical trumpet, at Yale University, but she knew she wanted to do something that would appeal much more to the public and make people dance and have fun, which is when salsa came into play. During her academic training, she experimented with other genres such as pop and its derivatives, but that was not what she was looking for her professional future. Today, she plays salsa, funk, rock, and even mariachi quite skillfully.

She also earned her bachelor of music in the área of classical trumpet from Boston University, and later earned a master’s degree in the same subject from Yale.

The members of Sabrosas Latin orchestra and Manny Cepeda — The members of Sabrosas Latin Orchestra with composer, percussionist, and singer Manny Cepeda

Beginning of her professional career

Elizabeth’s professional career as a musician began in high school, as she was hired for various small events. In college, she played with various bands and on projects of others, but she was not a regular member of any of them, and that situation continued even after she graduated from college. At that time, she was already working with salsa orchestras.

Once in San Diego, he learned everything he knows today about salsa, as this genre unfortunately is not taught in conservatories, as it happens with classical music and jazz. He added that “the only way to know salsa as a musician is to play in salsa bands. That’s how I learned: joining these groups.”

She does not deny that classical music offers a solid musical training to anyone who wants to study it, learn how to read music, transcribe it, and play the trumpet. If someone gives her a score, she is perfectly capable of playing that music, but it is also important for her to learn how to play that specific style. In the case of salsa, the artist says that it has some nuances that cannot be read in a score, so the attention should be paid to many details such as the joints between notes and the quality if the sound, which are only learned by listening to records and playing with musicians who are good at that style.

Elizabeth and the rest of the orchestra — From top to bottom: Elizabeth Meeker Howard, April Leslie, Shirley Coggon, Monica Saenz, Tomo Vida, Justine Dolorfino-Thieman, Mariela Contreras, Alyssa Keene, Monette Moreno, and Janet Thornton Realtor

Las Sabrosas Latin Orchestra

One of the things that spurred the creation of Las Sabrosas Latin Orchestra was the small number of women playing salsa, especially together, so she and other like-minded female artists began meeting up to rehearse and see how they sounded. At first, they were not sure enough how large or small the group would be, but eventually the girls who were already involved invited others to join, which resulted in a large salsa orchestra. Their official debut was scheduled for shortly before the pandemic, so it all got delayed a bit, but once the restrictions of that time fell, they were more than ready to start playing.

Something Elizabeth wanted to emphasize is that people have always been very supportive of them and showed much interest in the project due to the novelty of what they offered and the quality of their performance, which remains even today.

Music teaching

Besides being part of an orchestra, Elizabeth also teaches music at the university level and has led numerous student bands and ensembles, which has given her the experience needed to serve as musical director for various projects. Thanks to what she learned, she knows what can make a group succeed or fail.

Teaching and her work with Sabrosas complement each other perfectly, and one helps her be better every day at the other, which is why she speaks about both activities as a whole in her career.

Alexander Masucci endorses The Salsa Museum and our work

We have been blessed to be supported by great artists over recent years, but on this very special occasion, we have won the support of music executive, producer, composer, and promoter Alex Masucci, the brother of legendary lawyer, businessman, and co-founder of the Fania All-Stars, Jerry Masucci.

Now, we will talk a little about the story of this great Latin music figure for everyone to know him beyond his family ties.

Producer Alexander Masucci — Music executive and producer Alexander Masucci

Who is Alex Masucci, and how were his beginnings?

Alex Masucci was born on November 11, 1949, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, along with his parents, Urbano and Elvira Masucci, and his brother, the renowned music executive Gerald Masucci, better known to all as Jerry Masucci. He worked part-time for Fania Records still in his teens, attended the University of the Americas in Mexico City and graduated in business administration. Years later, along with Ray Aviles, he founded A&R Film Distributors in the early 1970s, the same year they distributed of “Our Latin Thing.”

Participation in Fania Concerts

Continuing with his activities with the Fania All-Stars, he also supported the production of several of their most important live concerts, among which we can mention the one at Yankee Stadium on August 24, 1973, which received more than 45,000 people. Another of the great events in which Masucci participated was a Celia Cruz concert together with the Fania All Stars at the Stade du Hain in Kinshasa, Zaire, which received about 80,000 people who were able to enjoy “La Guarachera de Cuba” and her companions of that night.

Subsequently, he produced a few performances on big stages such as Madison Square Garden and throughout the United States.

Alex Masucci and William Stewart — Alex Masucci and former drummer of the internationally renowned Third World band William Stewart

Island Records and Boardwalk

Alex also had a very fruitful journey at Island Records, where he was called upon by its founder Chris Blackwell to be part of the special projects division, a time during which he managed to sign and produce successful albums by Invisible Man’s Band, Third World Band, and Bob Marley himself. In fact, the Jamaican artist managed to get his music heard on American urban radio.

As for Boardwalk Records, he was also able to work with the aforementioned record label thanks to music entrepreneur and filmmaker Neil Bogart, who urged Alex to join the company and deal with great artists of the stature of Ringo Starr and Joan Jett.

Masucci and Cruz — Alex Masucci next to Johnny Cruz

Return to Latin Music and Newer Projects

After the very pleasant experience of having worked together in previous years, Blackwell contacted Alex again and proposed once more that they join in a new project that he would name Island Miami, to which Alex gladly said yes. Sometime later, Blackwell left Island, which led him and Alex to partner their recently created company Palm Pictures with Masucci Entertainment. Thanks to this alliance, they managed to sign the Cuban orchestra Carlos Manuel Y Su Clan.

Currently, the executive founded his own company Haz-Mat Entertainment, with which he created music and film projects, among which we can include the documentary on the history of Fania Records.

Enjoy the Tempo Latino 31st edition with the best of Latin music in Europe

That has been a very long year waiting a new edition of the biggest Latin music event in Europe! This July, fans of our music will finally be able to enjoy the 31st edition of Tempo Latino, which is one of the largest international festivals of Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin music. During the four days of the festival, the audience can enjoy the best of salsa, Latin jazz, mambo, timba, and fused rhythms every year.

This festival is usually held in the small village of Vic-Fezensac in southwestern France, since 1994, which is when its first edition took place. Nowadays, the event is typically held during the last days of July and the first days of August.

A little of the history of Tempo Latino

As mentioned previously, the festival began, and is still held, in Vic-Fezensac, a small village of around 3,700 inhabitants located in the Gers, which is well known for its bullfighting tradition. This association was founded in 1993 by music lover and Latin music DJ Eric Duffau, an artist who sought a different alternative to traditional commercial communities and aimed to bring traditional musical roots to the heart of Europe.

The first edition, which took place in the summer of 1994, aimed to transform the small French village into the mecca of salsa, Cuban son, and Afro-Latin jazz for four days a year.

An initiative that began as a small project has grown into one of the biggest salsa festivals of the world, which already enjoys the support of 500 local volunteers who organize into neighborhoods and homes. To this day, Tempo Latino has achieved a perfect balance between an ambitious production and a local and friendly atmosphere. It should also be stressed that it has been held on a regular basis since 1994, except for 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evolution and golden age

The festival expanded so much thanks to its authenticity and freshness that it has come to be known as “The One” and has established itself as a mandatory stop for the greatest Latin music glories, including Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Tito Puente, Los Van Van, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, La Sonora Ponceña, Oscar D’León, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda, Johnny Pacheco, and many others.

Similarly, since its foundation, the festival has also served as a springboard for new musical talent, including solo artists and groups performing salsa brava, Latin hip-hop, Afro-Cuban funk, and other genres from places such as Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and New York.

Activities beyond the concerts

Tempo Latino has come to a point where it is no limited only to stage performances, which are still the main attractions for attendees. They also offer dance workshops, which are designed for both amateurs and professional dancers interested in learning more about the roots and evolution of Latin rhythms.

Similarly, the festival also offers music and percussion workshops, introducing both amateur and professional musicians to important topics such as the clave, rhythm, and a bit of the history of Latin and Afro-Cuban music. In the case of percussion workshops, instructors teach students how to play the congas, timbales, bongos, and campana. As for wind instruments and musical combos, classes are given in trombone, trumpet, and saxophone.

We also cannot fail to mention the international market, where attendees can buy all sorts of things from our countries, such as instruments, clothing, traditional cuisine, handicrafts, souvenirs, and more.

Orquesta Akokan, which is going to perform in this edition

Stages and structuring of the festival

Another of the great attractions of Tempo Latino is its “geo-rhythmic” network of locations, where you can find both concerts and peripheral activities that can be enjoyed simultaneously. Below are some of those that will be available for the 2026 edition:

Tempo Arena: This stage is located in the Vic-Fezensac bullring, known for its open acoustics and intense energy every night of the festival. Among the top artists that will perform there are Maïté Hontelé Y La Novia, Orquesta Akokán (Friday, July 31), Matt Bianco, Rogê (Saturday, August 1), Alfredo Rodríguez, and Tony Succar (Sunday, August 2).
La Conga (Tempo Social Club): This other stage is also very popular because it has a beachy vibe with real sand and operates from early morning until late into the night. As for the artists who will be performing, we can mention the queen of Argentine electronic cumbia, La Yegros, DJ Çarava, and DJ Lafuriosa.
Camp Tempo: This open-air format is packed every year with new musical proposals, alternative fusions, brass bands, and street groups that give life to the village during the day. In the 2026 edition, some of the alternative bands will include Chicos y Méndez, Chicharrón, Pixvae, and Aguanomas.
Saint-Pierre Church: This venue is solely and exclusively reserved to small, intimate acoustic concerts where, as a general rule, only pianists and Latin jazz artists perform in the festival’s most solemn format.