Artists

Puerto Rican singer and talented sonero Charlie Maldonado

Interview with Charlie Maldonado

José Charlie Maldonado Rodríguez, artistically known only as Charlie Maldonado, is a Puerto Rican singer who has a great talent as a backup singer and sonero, which he has been developing throughout a prominent and very successful career in the world of music.

After having read his biography and being interested in the journey he has been on in salsa, we decided to contact him and arrange a conversation in which we could learn more about him and everything he has done to get here. Next, is a little bit of Charlie’s beginnings and, later on, everything he told us.

Charlie talked to us — Talented Puerto Rican singer Charlie Maldonado, who kindly accepted to talk to us

Beginnings

Charlie was born on October 4, 1964 in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. At a very young age, he was always exposed to boleros and salsa music, as his father belonged to a musical trio that was very popular at the time.

For those years, he listened to Ismael Rivera, Cheo Feliciano, Gilberto Monroig, Danny Rivera, Marco Antonio Muñiz, among others. Charlie said that, with such references at that time, it was impossible not to be enchanted by the music, so his interest in this branch of the arts grew and grew over time.

His interest got to the point where he wanted to learn to play percussion instruments such as the tambourines, the maracas, the drums and, most especially, the bongo (it was the first instrument Charlie learned to play).

Although he does not consider himself as the best bongo player of the world, he is believed to be very capable of playing it efficiently and delighting the listening audience. Most interestingly, he did not achieve this level through formal academic training at an institute, but through constant practice at ”rumbones de esquina” (congregation of people who play music, dance and drink alcohol on a street corner), school activities, family gatherings and Christmas parties.

These informal activities in which he was able to participate gave him the opportunity to develop as an artist from a very young age. In addition, his father and other musicians in the family helped him a lot in this process. The magic you feel when you play music, the family warmth and interaction with the public are not learned in any academy,” said Charlie.

Charlie at rumbones — Charlie Maldonado practiced his skills at ”rumbones de esquina”, school activities, family gatherings and Christmas parties

The Saljaztet

The first opportunity for Charlie to play in a professional group came with The Saljaztet in 1990 thanks to its founder Bobby Concepción, who saw him singing in one of those street parties and believed in his talent and what could be done with it.

Bobby is an industry veteran who has worked with many orchestras such as Orquesta Panamericana and La Orquesta del Maestro Willie Rosario. Being around him taught him a lot and he gained a lot of experience by seeing him in action on stage.

He even taught him some vocal and instrumental techniques to apply in his performances.

Charlie keeps the best memories of this group, its director and his colleagues. He is extremely grateful for everything he learned from them and continues to apply many of these things today.

Osvaldo Núñez, Sammy Marrero, La Selecta and more

”Every human being who comes into our lives has a lot to contribute and teach us. Lord made is different, so all the musicians I’ve worked with have taught me different things” said the artist.

Osvaldo ”Cuchón” Núñez is a brilliant musician who was very dynamic on stage. He was able to play the trumpet, do chorus and lead at the same time. He performed all of these functions excellently, which is why Charlie paid too much attention to what he was doing and copied him.

Raphy Levitt from La Selecta de Puerto Rico was an extremely regimented person who ran the orchestra very well and was excellent for business. He had an almost military discipline and was extremely picky about his musicians and vocalists, to the point that he made them rehearse separately depending on their roles on stage.

Levitt, Marreno, ,Núñez, and Charlie — Levitt, Marrero, and Núñez were very important in his career

In the case of Sammy Marrero, he was always at the height of Levitt’s demands and sometimes exceeded them. In addition to being extremely disciplined, he always lived up to what was required of him on each project and even a little more. He even worked with him when he had his own orchestra, a period in which Charlie learned even more from him.

On this subject, the singer concludes that ”The personalities mentioned have taught me three fundamental things: discipline, perseverance and respect for the public”.

Solo career

The idea of becoming a soloist was always on his mind, but it was not until 2016 that he was able to carry it forward. The previous year, in 2015, the maestro Raphy Levitt unfortunately passed away, at which time Charlie had some songs recorded.

He was already thinking about becoming independent and creating his own musical project, but had not decided to leave the orchestra until the death of Levitt. That is when he got hands on work and finished the record production he had already started.

In 2016, he launched his first solo project entitled ”Dueño de Nada”, whose songs are mostly written by Charlie Ramos. The only cover in the album is precisely ”Dueño de Nada”, which was written by Manuel Alejandro and masterfully played by José Luis Rodríguez ”El Puma” in the 1980’s.

His most recent album is entitled ”Vida Artificial”, which was released in September last year and addresses very interesting and current issues. The single that gives its name to the whole album, ”Vida Artificial”, ”is perfect for today. Phones, tablets and computers are damaging everyone’s mind. There are families who sit at the table, but don’t even talk to each other focus their attention to electronic devices. Technology is important, but we can’t be connected to it all the time. That was the message we wanted to bring with Artificial Life” said Charlie.

Charlie on stage — Charlie Maldonado singing on stage

Future projects

Charlie is about to release a song titled ”Señora Rumba” written by Eduardo Saya. The material has already been recorded and Charlie and his team are working on the video clip, which has a few shots filmed. It is expected to be released this August.

Likewise, he is working on his concerts and private presentations in Puerto Rico, but some opportunities are opening up in Colombia in the future.

También lee: We spoke with Andrea Chaparro from Lulada Club

Founder and owner of Guapacha Productions Gil Tower

Talk with Gil Tower

From this platform, we have had to interview many famous Latinos who have left their countries and Latin culture in general on high, but today is the turn of a very special one. We are talking about the talented Venezuelan musical director and multi-instrumentalist Gilberto Torres, better known as Gil Tower in the artistic environment.

Thanks to a mutual friend, we have managed to make contact with Gil Tower, who from the beginning has been very accessible and willing to share everything related to his work in the music industry and his contribution to the Latin cultural scene, so we are very grateful to him for giving us the opportunity to hear his great story.

Below, we share the topics covered in a conversation that was as enjoyable as it was enlightening.

Gil talked with us — Talented musical director and multi-instrumentalist Gil Tower kindly talked with us

Musical beginnings in his home country

Gil Tower always knew that he wanted to devote himself to the world of music. When he was about five years old, he began watching television programs related to classical music and zarzuela. Several of his aunts were zarzuela teachers and took him to see zarzuela orchestras, which was great for him. In fact, several of those musicians he got to see play on these occasions ended up teaching him when he began preparing to become an artist.

One of the most important institutions in the training of Gil is the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela (El Sistema), where he was trained directly by maestro José Antonio Abreu, a fundamental part in the path which this young musician would take later in his career.

He joined the children’s orchestra, advanced all the way to the youth orchestra and finally reached a more professional level in the national orchestra. At about this time, Gil recalls that ”maestro Abreu always said that we were rich because we had an instrument in hand and could change the world through music. As a child, I didn’t understand what he was getting at. Now I do understand and I think he was absolutely right.

”Abreu was a unique influence on me because he transformed me as a person and musician. He also made me become a leader, as he had always wanted me to be,” he continued.

Learning from the groups he was in

As to the learning acquired in the many groups he worked with, Gil singled out Carlos Rojas, who was a musician and jazz lover. Carlos took the initiative to give a workshop in La Pastora (a very important area of the city of Caracas, Venezuela).

Gil with his flute — Gil Tower with his flute

As a teenager, Gil used to go to La Pastora to learn to improvise with Carlos in salsa, as he liked this genre so much ever since. This is how he started learning about harmonies and taking his first steps as a composer.

When given the chance to play with the group Los Morrillos, he learned a lot about gaitas and other Venezuelan rhythms from the western region of the country. In the case of the group Madera, he learned (and keeps learning) a lot about Afro-Venezuelan music in general.

After that, he met Jesús ”Chucho” García, who is an intellectual, activist and author of several books on Afro-Venezuelanity. Together they formed a group called Cimarrón, with which they represented Venezuela at the International Jazz Plaza Festival in 1989. To date, they are still very good friends and continue to learn about this great musical branch from one another.

Why move to Germany?

His initial plan was to move to the United States to continue his studies in Berkeley, but he was unable to obtain the required visa at the time. However, that would not be the end of his dream.

It turns out that some friends of his from the group Madera went on a Germany tour and stayed to live there. Then, one of them, Felipe ”Mandingo” Rengifo offered him to join them to work in that country and try to be admitted in one of their conservatories. At the time, Gil only had a saving of $1,000, with which he took a gamble.

Although he had to play in the streets and wash bathrooms at the beginning, he achieved his goal of entering a conservatory, an institution that gave him the opportunity to fix his papers to have a legal status in Germany. Having solved this inconvenience, he was able to focus his attention on his musical project Guapacha (name in honor of a great Cuban drummer who lived in the parish of San Agustin del Sur, Caracas).

All this experience was preparing him for when he could finally achieve his goal of going to the United States.

Gil and Guapacha — His project Guapacha was named after a great Cuban drummer who lives in Caracas

Arrival in the United States

While still in Germany, Gil was invited to participate in a jazz festival in the United States, specifically in Montana. He did so well that he amazed many musicians with whom he shared the stage that day and exchanged contact information for future events.

Later, he managed to play in San Diego and Boston, where he had the opportunity to share the stage with the Boston Power Orchestra and meet Danilo Pérez, Dizzy Gillespie’s pianist. The latter, in turn, recommended him to maestro Tito Puente, whom he met shortly thereafter.

This was how the artist managed to build a very respectable reputation in the industry through his talent. This is how he ended up playing with ”half the world” and building a great prestige as a musician and composer.

In addition to singing and playing multiple instruments, Gil has also taught low-income youth in order to spread the knowledge he has gained throughout his career. He even created an orchestra composed of children whose parents have no resources or documents in order to help them learn music and provide them with better work-study opportunities in the future. Some have even got into college and obtained scholarships thanks to this knowledge.

Parallel to these activities, he began composing and making arrangements for other artists who began to require his services.

Guapacha Productions

On the subject of Guapacha Productions, Gil says that the idea came when he began researching on the music industry, licensing, distribution and other things.

The musician saw an opportunity to achieve his dreams during the pandemic, which is when he noticed that many artists had no idea how to register a composition and how other necessary licenses to collect their royalties from their music works.

Gil, Guapacha, and major labels — Guapacha was created for the purpose of becoming independent from major labels

Noticing the ignorance of many young talents about the industry, he created the company Guapacha Productions, which is responsible for the musical production and arrangements for artists signed to this label.

When asked how the economic issue was handled for artists who do not have the resources to launch their career as it should be, he explained that there are three types of music distributors: major labels, labels created by the artists themselves and independent companies like Guapacha Productions. We are a group of independent artists who created our own label and we are trying to have our own distribution, so we would not be obliged to negotiate with any big distribution company” explained Gil.

Along with that, it is Guapacha Productions that will make agreements with Spotify, iTunes and other digital platforms to distribute the music of its artists without intermediaries.

The company has been so successful in these efforts that its name will soon be part of the Latin Grammys, which means that the talents signed to the label will have the chance to stand out and be finalists in the various categories.

Cheo Valenzuela’s ”Salsa Buena” Tour

With respect to the important issue of Cheo Valenzuela’s ”Salsa Buena” tour (artist signed to Guapacha Productions) in Europe, there are negotiations with some event producers in France, Spain and England so that Cheo Valenzuela can perform at various venues in those countries. There are also talks of taking the artist to Central America and the United States, specifically to San Francisco, where Gil lives.

In addition to that, Valenzuela is working on an EP with five songs by other artists and another one with five compositions created by himself. Being already a singer with a long-standing career, this last work would also become him a consacrated composer before the world. Once all this material has been released, his name is going to be considered for a Grammy nomination, which Gil has a lot of faith that he will win due to his great talent.

At the time of doing this interview, Valenzuela is taking a few days off due to the death of his mother, so we send our condolences and solidarity to him and his family at such a difficult time.

The void left by Felix ”Pupi” Legarreta

Pupi’s life

Cuba has given the world a large number of artists who have left the name of the country very high, so it is always a good moment to talk about them. Such is the case of arranger, composer, singer and musician Felix ”Pupi” Legarreta, who sadly left this world last month.

Given that this great exponent of Cuban music and the charanga genre is no longer with us, we think it is a great opportunity to remember a little of his career and all the way to becoming the great artist he was.

Pupi playing the violin — Pupi Legarreta playing the violin on stage

Pupi’s childhood

Felix Legarreta was born in 1940 in the city of Cienfuegos, Cuba, and from the very early age, his father nicknamed him ”pupi”, as he would be called for the rest of his artistic life. ‘’Puppy in Spanish means ”cachorro” (a very young dog), so this pronunciation was very interesting to Americans.

Around this same time, Pupi was not really interested in music as a profession, as his thing was carpentry at the time. However, he began being affected by severe asthma attacks due to the dust used in his daily work, so it was recommended to his father to take him away and make him dedicate himself to something else that would not damage his health.

This is how the young boy decided to become a barber and met a friend with whom he started taking music lessons, which could be considered as the first contact he would have with music.

The first instrument Pupi played was the violin. He admits it was not easy to learn how to play it, but with effort and dedication, he managed to become really good at music. However, he was faced with another challenge that would complicate the realization of his new dream: lack of money.

Like the majority of families in Cuba at that time, Pupi’s was also going through a complex economic situation, so buying everything he needed for his musical training was very difficult. However, it did not stop his father from getting down to work and raising the money necessary to buy his son his first violin.

In a 2010 interview, Pupi revealed that it took his father more than two years to raise 60 pesos to buy a used violin at a pawn shop, as it was the only way he could afford the instrument for the young boy.

Pupi playing a flute — Pupi Legarreta playing a flute in a studio

Formal beginnings in music

When he decided to travel to Havana, he was given the opportunity to play Orquesta Sensación, with which he earned about eight pesos a month to cover some of his basic expenses. It was very difficult for him to live with that little, but music helped him to support himself.

However, little by little he worked his way up and earned the respect of his fellow musicians, who consider him for their own projects.

In 1959, music also allowed him to travel to the United States, specifically to the state of California, but it would not be too long before he decided to try his luck in New York. Once there, he collaborated with artists such as Mongo Santamaría, Charlie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco, Machito, Tito Puente and many more.

Fania All Stars

In 1964, he started collaborating with the Fania All Stars, which had more than 24 instruments, including trumpets, pianos, basses, singers and more. Pupi was so shocked that he could not refuse to work with the world-famous orchestra, as this number of musicians was something he had never seen before.

In total, he recorded between five to seven albums with La Fania on which Pupi was taken into account when issuing opinions about his work. If the artist considered something was not quite right and wanted to change it, the orchestra did whatever was necessary to satisfy him with the results of the recordings.

The only criticism that the Cuban issued towards the orchestra is regarding the excessive focus on the Puerto Rican market, in fact, the vast majority of musicians were Puerto Rican. This caused them to neglect other markets that may be useful for Fania. However, this does not exclude all the positive things that came for those involved during the time this union lasted.

When his time in the orchestra ended, he was working for an electricity company in New Jersey, but his family was in Philadelphia, so he decided to move permanently to this city, where he remained till the day he died.

Album cover for Pupi — Album cover for ”Pupi Legarreta Y Su Charanga”

Death

In the afternoon of July 3, 2023, Félix ”Pupi” Legarreta’s relatives issued a statement giving the deplorable news of the artist’s death the day before at the age of 83.

His daughter Frances Legarreta posted the following on her social networks on the already mentioned day: “I announce with great sadness the death of my father, Pupi Legarreta, on July 2, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife Frances, his son Michael, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and his daughter Otie in Puerto Rico”.

In addition to the above, he revealed that his father expressed his desire to be cremated and not to be veiled in a memorial service. She also asked that her entire family’s privacy to be respected in view of the pain that its members were going through.

Redames (Randy) Plaza

Latino America / Puerto Rico / Carolina

Redames Randy Plaza. Salsa Legacy

“It is salsa from yesterday and today for the dancer and the romantic salsero”.

Randy Plaza, a native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, is the producer, composer, publisher and independent label of Legacía de la Salsa. Created in 2007, LS arises under a constant concern of seeing and feeling how the salsa genre has been musically devalued over the years.

Legacy of Salsa is an invention, a concept, a movement, an experiment, which tries firstly to raise the musical quality of salsa to another level, to keep the tradition alive, to demonstrate that if we work together and without interest, everything can be achieved. and proclaim to everyone that the sauce is not over.

That it is not in extinction, that it has not gone out of fashion, nor has it lost its style.

“That all these are tales of the boring.”

Legacy of Salsa is the legacy and teaching received from the great masters of salsa, who have captivated us in various ways and to whom we owe everything that was the development and fusion of this genre to the point of establishing it as a root in the heart of every Latino.

“It is salsa from yesterday and today for the dancer and the romantic salsero”.

Legacy of Salsa manages to incorporate the feeling of some of the greatest salsa institutions in this project, whether it be for the musical sound, for the style, for the arrangements, for the romantic, the singers, etc.

In this way we can recover a little of what has been lost today, please the entire salsa market, and fill that empty space; orphan of style and rhythm, and musically instructing and educating the disoriented and those who got lost along the way.

“The essence of yesterday in today’s day, traditional sauce without monotony and without fillers. For you salsero, cocolo, rumbero, with flavor and feeling”.

The unexpected, unfortunate and tragic death of Humberto Gómez leaves a huge void in the formation of Legacía de la Salsa.

A week before leaving Tito Gómez was already part of this musical concept.

Due to such loss, it was decided to cancel the first Legacía de la Salsa concert in New York City on July 21, 2007, where he would have participated as a guest star.

At that moment we entered the recording studio insecure and with the enormous concern of wanting to do the best possible on his behalf, never forgetting the person he was and will continue to be for us and without leaving aside his musical legacy.

Randy Plaza - Legacia de la Salsa — Randy Plaza – Legacia de la Salsa

https://www.legaciadelasalsa.com/

Adrian Suarez Composer, arranger, trombonist and percussionist

Trombonist Adrian Suarez’s musical career began when he was very young at a music school.

“From the age of five they put us to study theory and solfège, and four years later I managed to get my hands on an instrument.”

However, once he was able to play an instrument, he took a break to dedicate himself to baseball. “It was at the age of 14 that an uncle took me to some Latin percussion lessons and soon after that I started with the trombone.”

On April 23, 1969, in Caracas, Venezuela, Adrian Suarez was born.

Excellent composer, arranger, trombonist, percussionist and researcher.

Bachelor of Arts (UCV-1994), he studied music, trombone and composition at the Escuela Superior José Ángel Lamas.

He also studied Afro-Caribbean percussion and Afro-Venezuelan percussion (1985-1990). He was a researcher and advisor for the foundation of ethnomusicology and folklore, fundef, between 1993 and 1995.

Adrian Suarez Composer, arranger, trombonist and percussionist

He studied composition at the Cátedra Latinoamericana de Composición Antonio Estévez, with maestro Juan Carlos Núñez from 1994 to 1996. In Germany he obtained a master’s degree in composition.

As a professional, he has collaborated with the Papel Musical Magazine (1992); he has been a researcher and advisor for the Foundation of Ethnomusicology and Folklore (FUNDEF) under the direction of Dr. Isabel Aretz; and he has worked as a documentary advisor for visual arts exhibitions.

He studied composition with Helmut Lachenmann and Marco Stroppa. In 2001 he received his master’s degree in composition from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, Germany.

Since 1999 he has been a founding member of the international group of composers Aspect, based in Germany, and since 1991 of the Musikós Association in Caracas. He participated in the Latin American Composition Chair Antonio Estévez, under the direction of Juan Carlos Núñez (1994-1996).

He has received numerous awards, including the Unique Prize of the Manuel Enrique Pérez Díaz National Composition Competition (CONAC, Caracas, 1998) for his work “Soledades”, “Hommâge à Octavio Paz”, for two guitars and harp, the Municipal Music Prize (Caracas, 2002 and 2017), the National Culture Prize (2010) as well as the Prize of the Ibero-American Composition Competition for Symphonic Band Ibermúsicas-Oaxaca (2016).

El 23 de abril de 1969, en Caracas, Venezuela, nació Adrian Suarez

He has worked as author and director of musical-dramaturgical shows in Venezuela, including titles such as: “Lamas siempre” (1995), “Proyecto Música e Hipótesis Aleatorias” (1997), “Atavismos del Sol y de la luna” (2000), “Maithuna” (2009), “Watunna” (2010), “Meñé Ruwa, los dueños del canto” (2011) the first musical theater play in the continent for instrumental ensemble and two shamans and “La salsa es trombón” (2012, 2015, 2017).

He led a band integrated by a group of the best musicians of the salsa scene nationwide: Tuky Torres, on piano; Carlos Rodríguez, bass; Víctor Cardona, on timbal and bongo; Freddy Rivas, congas; Johan Muñoz, trombone; Eliel Rivero, trombone. Special guests included soneros Edgar Dolor Quijada, Reinaldo Torcat, as well as a group of batá drummers.

Creator of the Ensemble Lux Aeterna, dedicated to the interpretation of spiritual and sacred works of all times. He is also founder of the Akoustikos New Music Festival in 2009.

As a trombonist, he has cultivated popular music from all over the continent, with special emphasis on Venezuelan and Caribbean music. His work as a researcher, composer and performer has allowed him to take his work and music to several countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

La carrera musical de Suárez inició desde cuando era muy joven en una escuela de música

“It won’t be a master class in history,” says Venezuelan musician and composer Adrián Suárez with a chuckle; in reality it is a musical show, with hints of theater and dance, that will show the public the evolution of the trombone, and its relationship with the salsa genre from prehistoric times to contemporary times.

Adrián Suárez brings sacred sounds and turns them into music.

Suárez won the Second Iberoamerican Composition Contest for Symphonic Band Ibermúsicas, in the Mexican city of Oaxaca, with his work Aerofanía, retumbos místicos para banda sinfónica.

Salsa is trombone, Suárez assures, “It is a beautiful show that is not only educational, but also seeks to inspire the audience through the values and feelings it promotes”.

The artist and researcher’s expectation is that his audience will be completely involved with the sound and ambience: “To completely move the energy, since it is not only music to dance to, it is to sit down and listen to it carefully”.

Víctor Porfirio Baloa Díaz, more commonly known as Porfi Baloa

Adrián Suárez