Interviews

My mother sang tango

One of the Latin genres that is currently on the rise is tango, so it is common to find more and more people linked to it. There are even many who have made tango one of the most important passions of their lives, as in the case of Carlos Álvarez Guevara, with whom we have had the fortune to talk exclusively about this and other interesting topics.

Carlos dancing tango — Carlos dancing with his dance partners in tango classes

Childhood with a tango singer mother

Carlos’ contact with tango began during his early childhood thanks to his mother, who was a tango singer and dancer.

Carlos describes his early live in El Salvador and points out that, back then, there were no cassettes or CD players with which to listen to music, so people had to make do with what they heard on the radio. His mother went to a well-known radio station to take part in singing competitions.

It is then that the boy would listen to his mother rehearse for the competitions with old tango songs, which made him memorize them perfectly and be able to sing them in full. The rest is history.

How Carlos sees tango today

Today Carlos is a tango and salsa dancer, a genre that has also been important in his musical journey. However, he sings the songs he dances to at amateur level.

For many years, he left aside music to devote himself to become a mechanic, a job from which he recently retired after more than 40 years of hard work. It was when he turned 45 that he fully resumed his love for tango and enrolled in dance classes to remember everything he had learned with his mother.

This is why Carlos says that he is much more professional in dancing than in singing, since he dedicated much more time and effort to the former to become an expert in the field. Dancing, of course, is accompanied by singing, but it has less hierarchy in terms of the artist’s priorities.

He has reached such a level of excellence in these disciplines that some friends of his put him in touch with Eduardo Guilarte, director of International Salsa Magazine, so that he could talk to us and his talents would become better known.

Carlos was a mechanic during a great part of his life, but tango is his biggest passion

Time dedicated to mechanics and dance

Regarding the time dedicated to his formal work and dancing, Carlos claims he never had any problems, since he knew how to organize very well in this aspect.

He always devotes his time to dance on weekends, days where he frequented, and still frequents, nightclubs with friends with whom he dances and spends very pleasant moments that clear his mind of everyday life.

In addition to that, he also has a karaoke machine at home with which he also sings and practices his repertoire to delight anyone who wants to hear him on any nightclub stage.

What Carlos has learned from tango

Just as Carlos has been dedicated to singing and dancing tango, he has also invested time in learning about its history to give more depth to the knowledge he has about this genre and he wanted to share with us a little of what he has learned.

He told us that one of the things he was most fascinated to learn is that tango has roots from many places and times around the world, although nowadays it is seen as an Argentine genre. Something that many do not know is that it has its origins in the arrival of Africans in the ”New World”, which played a fundamental role in the emergence of tango in Argentina and Uruguay, which were under Spanish rule.

Both countries were transit ports for slave traffic, so the new inhabitants of these places brought with the their music and customs, which were mixed with the local music and customs to give rise to what is known today as tango.

A very interesting detail he told us is that, when European sailors stopped in these countries and went to bars to look for drinks and some company, so the ladys in these places danced tango to seduce and provoke them. At that time, this kind of music was perceived as the lowest level of society to the point that the Catholic Church demanded its parishioners not to dance tango, but it turns out that the genre was pleasing to the people and nothing could be done about it.

In the end, puritans had no choice but to embrace this wonderful dance and, today, people of all social classes, ages and races enjoy it without any complex.

Carlos with his family — Carlos with his mothers, brothers and dog Mozote

The lyrics and references of tango

Since Carlos has very extensive knowledge of everything about the genre and its lyrics, we wanted to know what he has studied about it.

‘‘Tango can be many things at the same time. It can touch on issues related to the moral conduct of the individuals and, like many Latin genres, it also serves to mock and criticize politicians. It can also be an ode to love, spite and regret for having lost the loved one” Carlos shared with us on the subject.

‘‘This genre can deal with many subjects at the same time, but one of the most recurrent is frustration with failed love and I don’t think that will change in a long time” said Carlos.

Regarding the issue of the greatest artists who have inspired him to dance and sing tango, he mentioned Carlos di Sarli, Carlos Gardel, Oswaldo Pugliese and Enrique Rodríguez.

What Carlos feels at singing and dancing tango

Carlos describes listening to any tango song as ”listening to your own national anthem in a foreign country”. For him, listening to any piece sung by his parents in the past is a source of pride and takes him back to the most beautiful moments of his childhood.

Carlos pointed out that ”when you are driven by loving emotions and some thoughts are trapped, you can express them through singing and dancing, which is what I always do”.

The artist pointed out that he loves this world and it is one of the things that fills him the most in life, so he is grateful to be able to talk about it in International Salsa Magazine and express what it makes him feel to the world.

Nanette Hernández promotes the bomba and plena in New Jersey

We know that the most of our Latin countries have historically become known for genres such as salsa, merengue, bachata and more recently reggaeton and trap. However, the popularity of the aforementioned genres made us leave aside other more local rhythms that also deserve exposure.

On this occasion, we wanted to talk about the bomba and plena, so we resolved to interview Nanette Hernandez, who is one of its main proponents here in the United States, more specifically in New Jersey.

This is Nanette Hernández, who is a great promoter of the bomba and plena

How Nanette became interested in the bomba and the plena

Nanette began by telling us that her interest in music was born thanks to her parents, who are Puerto Rican and moved to the United States, Pennsylvania, during the 1950s to continue their life in this new country. However, his home was built based on Puerto Rican culture and, of course, that included language and music. Her father had an ensemble that played jibaro music and Nanette grew up watching this, so this musical environment was always very familiar to her.

As she grew up, Nanette also became very interested in dancing and discovered that she really liked salsa when she was just a teenager. She remembers listening to Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, El Combo de Puerto Rico and many of the most popular groups and musicians of the time, who also inspired her to keep dancing. She felt that she was encouraged just by dancing, so she continued to do so over the years, but not professionally.

After marrying Juan Cartagena and seeing that she and her husband shared a taste for Latin music, they began to frequent places where Puerto Rican music groups performed. That is how they were in a show of the dance and drum ensemble ”Los Pleneros de la 21”. They were so fascinated by what they saw and heard that both Nanette and Juan began to study the plena and bomba because they wanted to know everything about these rhythms. Their interest was such that they were even in contact and consistently et with the Cepeda family, which is a cultural institution with many years of experience in everything to do with the bomba and plena.

She also mentions that Roberto Cepeda, part of the aforementioned family, was very important in her decision to devote herself to promoting the bomba and plena and feels that he saw something in her that even herself was not able to see, so she decided to search for expert teachers in these genres to become more professional in the dancing and instrumental part in order to be able to teach them to others.

Differences between the bomba and plena

When we asked Nanette about the differences between the bomba and plena, she made it very clear that people often think that they are almost the same, but they are not. They are extremely different and have many differences from each other.

In the case of the bomba, it has re than 400 years of existence and originated in Africa. The genre arrived in America along with the slaves who were brought to the New Continent and the new inhabitants of these lands brought their improvised instruments with them such as the so-called ”barrels”, which have a great resemblance to drums. They are often accompanied by maracas.

In the case of the plena, this rhythm uses the pandero, the güiro and other smaller hand instruments with which they make a completely different sound from the bomba. To complement what Nanette told us, we can also say that the plena is believed to originate in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and its lyrics are very focused on comedy, activism and denunciation. In addition, it is also seen as a very peculiar mix between African and European music.

Another difference between the bomba and plena is that, in the bomba, it is the dancer who leads and guides the musicians, while in plena the opposite happens. These genres are very different from each other, but that does not change the fact that both complement each other perfectly well in any show or class.

Nanette next to her husband Juan Cartagena, Segunda Quimbamba's founder — Nanette next to her husband Juan Cartagena, Segunda Quimbamba’s founder

How Segunda Quimbamba came about

Segunda Quimbamba is a project initiated in 1989 by Juan Cartagena, Nanette’s husband, which was born as a result of the couple’s interest in promoting two of the most important ancestral rhythms from Puerto Rico and preserving the most important musical traditions on the Island of Enchantent, such as the ”parrandas”. A few years later, they began introducing the bomba and plena until they became the center of the project.

In 1997, Nanette and Juan founded the Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center, which is a non-profit arts organization that seeks to promote the bomba and plena in New Jersey and the rest of the United States so that those interested can learn more about Puerto Rican music and culture in general. The organization also seeks to offer music and dance workshops at solidarity prices and even for free at times.

Nanette and Juan have been invited to participate in numerous events and have been recognized for the role they have played in promoting Latin music, especially that of Puerto Rico. For example, in 2023, The New Jersey State Council of The Arts recognized the couple with the New Jersey Heritage Fellowship Award in honor of what they have accomplished with this wonderful and ambitious musical project.

International Salsa Magazine presents the Dj, Jeferson Flores, triumphing in Europe

Currently, they are known through the abbreviation “Dj” or the term “deejay” respectively, and in previous times, they were called “disc jockey”, to those people, which select and mix recorded music and thus be heard by a certain audience, thus issuing its sound in locations such as: discos, mini clubs, clubs, dances, events, concerts, bars, restaurants and rumbas, demonstrating their versatility, knowledge and bringing joy to their followers, listeners and dancers.

In this issue of International Salsa Magazine, we present a Venezuelan musician, selector or dj, who is currently triumphing outside our borders and extolling the name of our country.

We refer to Jeferson Flores, born in Caracas in 1992, and from a very young age he was inclined to music, because his father, also worked as a professional dj of salsa music rhythm and this somehow influenced Flores to learn the trade and legacy acquired thanks to his father.

Beginning with only 15 years of age to musicalize, using in first place the formats of compact discs “cds” and “cuatromil quinientos”, in the Caracas saraos known as “Picoteros” and in the remembered “Minitecas”, and in second place demonstrates his skill in the “plates”, when using the formats of discs in acetates or vinyl, selecting salsa for the dancer and he also commented us that with the passing of the years and until the present time, he stands out and characterizes himself for being a professional salsa dj; he stands out and is characterized for being a “dj crossover”, that is to say, what it means in the Spanish language, dedicated to “mix” with the use of “controllers” his excellent musical repertoire. International Trajectory.

The performance abroad of our guest of this month in International Salsa Magazine, has been quite extensive and successful, beginning to work in Colombia, where he worked as a “resident dj” for five years in a prestigious nightclub in Bogota, then began his period, musicalizing in Ecuador, Poland, Germany and is currently based and makes professional life in Barcelona, Spain, being described by specialists as one of the “Dj Crossover” more complete and versatile, placing Latin music in their dances. And as a result of his excellent performance in the Iberian country, he was the winner last year of the “Latino de Oro” award, in the categories: Salsa Dj and Dj Crossover, respectively, and by the way, in this year’s edition 2024, he has been nominated again in both categories for this award, considered one of the most important of the music in the European continent.

As for his most recent performances as a “musical selector”, last Saturday, June 28, he was mixing salsa at a location in the city of Marbella, Spain, in an event called “Venezuelan Night”, and next Saturday, July 6, he travels to Madrid to make the rumberos of the “mother country” enjoy, integrating the line-up of the Dj show, the “Fiesta Blanca”, alternating in this opportunity with the musicalizers: Reni Herrera, Ditxon Mercado, Dj Argenis and Dj “El Negrito Caliente”.

Finally – he told us – Jeferson that his work in Spain has been very well liked and he is one of the most requested Djs in the rumbas every weekend. His social networks and contacts are, instagram: jefersonfloresoficial2, facebook: Yeferson Flores, Tik tok: @jefersonflores457, Youtube: jefferson flores.

Email: [email protected], Booking: +34691292564. From International Salsa Magazine in Palo Alto, CA www.salsagoogle.com, we wish Dj Jeferson Flores, the best of success and continue to succeed in Europe for the pride of Venezuelans, always putting good salsa for the dancer …! Until next time and let’s keep on salsaing. Dj. Augusto Felibertt and Carlos Alberto Colmenárez Oropeza.

The first DJ was British radio engineer Ron Diggins.

Contrary to what many may imagine, it was not a bohemian musician in a garage or some friends in a ghetto. The first DJ was British radio engineer Ron Diggins, who in 1949 invented the Diggola, which today is considered the first “mixing desk” in the history of music. The home-built Diggola had two turntables, lights, microphones, amplifier, speakers and was built on a wooden coffin (yes, coffin) base.

With his Diggola at the ready, and like a good DJ, he loaded his equipment into a van and began playing records at the hundreds of UK events where he was hired, causing the crowd to go wild. “I didn’t invent anything, I just put the same things to a different use,” he commented in the magazines of the time, never imagining that his creation would be the beginning of a revolution in music, where DJ’s and beatmakers would take beats to every corner of the planet.

Ron Diggins, throughout his life, played records in more than 20 thousand parties, retiring only in 1995, after 46 years of career in front of the decks. Passionate about music, he passed away in 2011 at the age of 91, leaving an eternal legacy.

In 2020 it will be 25 years since Diggins retired from the dancefloors. And we commemorate it with music, without a minute of silence, because a life with silence is the last thing the first DJ in history wanted.

Article written by @comte_con_eme, member of the Urban Roosters Army.

Also Read: Djane Shina una Pasión Convertida en Realidad

Yari More Latin Band, the orchestra that accompanied Celia Cruz

Yari More Latin Band is one of those groups whose history shows us that dreams do come true and that there is always the possibility to meet our greatest idols. Today, Yari More, with whom we were able to talk a little about his history as an artist and his band, is an example of what Latin artists in general have achieved over the past decades.

Yari posing for the camera — This is Yari More posing for the camera

How Yari More first became interested in music

Juat like most musicians, he became interested in music when still a child. He remembers getting together with his friends from the block to play with makeshift instruments, moments that he keeps in memory and that marked the beginning of what would become his great adult vocation.

Some time later, he joined the army in his native Colombia, specifically the navy, but that was not the only thing he devoted his time. It turns out that he found a great taste for several of the songs from acclaimed Spanish singer Raphael and started imitating his voice in musical events of the armed forces. He was so good that he began to be called as ”El Rafael de Colombia” by his acquaintances, but the event that would make him see music as a serious profession was yet to come. That came later.

A night where he was celebrating a friend’s birthday in a night club, another boy in the group asked the orchestra director to let Yari sing with them. The audience liked his performance so much that he started going to the same place every weekend to continue delighting those present with his melodious voice, eventually leading the orchestra he was performing with to offer him the position of singer on an ongoing basis.

Never in his wildest dreams did Yari imagine such an offer, but he accepted it, so he began to balance his activities in the orchestra with his daily work in a factory at that time. Since both jobs took up so much of his time, he eventually had to decide on just one, which was, of course, music. It can be said that this was the official beginning of his career.

From then on, he was in several groups both in Colombia and in the neighboring country Ecuador until he was given a great job opportunity in the United States, more specifically in Los Angeles. After some time with the orchestra that hired him there, he decided it was time to pursue a solo career with romantic music.

Yari with Celiz Cruz — Yari More Latin Band playing live with ”La Guarachera de Cuba” Celiz Cruz

Yari More Latin Band

In the 1990s. he decided to form his own orchestra which he named Yari More Latin Band. Since he already had plans about undertaking such a project, he visited universities and talked to many friends in the industry in order to hire the best musicians he could find for his band.

His success earned him the possibility of signing with the company RMM Records & Video owned by the popular Latin music promoter Raphy Mercado. This label was the same one that signed ”La Guarachera de Cuba” Celia Cruz, with whom they shared the stage, since Yari More Latin Band was the orchestra that accompanied her in her performances on the West Coast.

In addition to Celia Cruz, he has also accompanied other musical luminaries like Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Eddy Santiago, Tony Vega, Tito Nieves, El Grupo Niche, El Gran Cobo de Puerto Rico, Oscar D’ León, Joan Sebastian, Las Chicas del Can and many others.

Yari says he has learned a lot from each and every one of the aforementioned singers and groups, details that he has added to his own orchestra in order to improve it every day more and more.

Yari with Oscar D’ León — Yari More next to ”El Sonero Del Mundo” Oscar D’ León

Private Events

Yari More Latin Band offers its talent for all kinds of private events such as weddings, quinceañeras, corporate parties, charitable activities, award shows, festivals, Latin nights in clubs, among others.

Yari told us that those interested in hiring the orchestra simply have to contact him through his official website, Instagram and Facebook. These are the channels he uses to agree with the client on the conditions, the place, the date and the economic arrangement.

‘‘Fortunately, we have a lot of work here in the Bay Area and many events of all kinds for the rest of the year” said Yari on this subject.

Bolivian guitarist Gabriel Navia and his love for music

We have had any number of Latin music artists of various nationalities in this section, but we are pleased to announce that, for the first time, we will tell the story of a Bolivian who brings pride to his flag with his great talent.

We are talking about Bolivian producer, composer and guitarist Gabriel Navia, with whom we were fortunate enough to talk by Zoom about the most important details of his fruitful career. In the following lines, some of the most important issues addressed in the conversation.

Bolivian guitarist Gabriel — This is Bolivian producer, composer, and guitarist Gabriel Navia

How Gabriel’s love for music began

Gabriel tells us that the love he has always felt for music was instilled in him by his parents, especially his father, who was professionally dedicated to it to the point of having his own band. In the 70’s, Eddy Navia, Gabriel’s father, was in an iconic Bolivian band called Sal Y Andina that played instrumental music, much of which was composed by him at the time.

In his mother’s case, she had a great sense of rhythm and a beautiful voice, so she did her best to make her son learn as much as possible about the fundamentals of music and how to play various instruments. This shows that she was also a key piece in his training as an artist.

Gabriel also points out that, at home, he and his family listened to music of all kinds, but New York salsa was very important in the path the young man would later take.

Gabriel and the charango

When reading a little of Gabriel’s history, we found that he played with his father in the group Sukay, with which he experimented a lot with the charango that, as he explains, is a five-stringed instrument very similar to the banjo. It was the first instrument he played in his life and the one that would inspire him to play the guitar later on.

After his parents split, his father went to live in the United States and met his second wife, with whom he runs Sukay. That is when Gabriel began to visit the country and, soon after, he was playing in a theater for more than 2000 people. Then, he knew that this was what he wanted to devote the rest of his life to.

Gabriel played the charango — Gabriel started his career by playing the charango with the group Sukay

Multi-instrumentalist

While it is true that the instrument for which Gabriel is best known today is the guitar, it is not the only one he is dedicated to.

The artist can be defined as a multi-instrumentalist, that is, someone who plays a considerable number of musical instruments with excellence such as piano, saxophone, quena and many others. ”I have always been curious to learn how to play new instruments and learn new things every day. That’s how I’ve managed to specialize in so many at the same time” Gabriel said about this.

He has become more dedicated to playing the guitar since, during his time with the group Sukay, he had to replace the guitarist who was not available at the time, which makes him feel a special affection for the instrument as he used it.

Not to mention that some of his instruments were robbed in his native Bolivia and one of the stolen objects was his charango. This event left him so depressed that he put the charango aside for years and devoted himself fully to the guitar, during which time he studied it in detail at a theoretical and practical level. He also began to listen to jazz and flamenco records in which the guitar is widely used, making him experiment with new styles. In this sense, an artist who inspired him a lot was Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia.

Gabriel playing live — Gabriel Navia playing his guitar live

Music education

Gabriel has had the opportunity to study in several of the most important musical institutions in the world, which have been fundamental in the professional training of the artist.

The first thought that came into his head was the Instituto Eduardo Laredo in Cochabamba. He described it as an arts school that has a very traditional style during the mornings, while the afternoons its teachers focus on the musical part. It is here where Gabriel learned all about theory, solfege, harmony, scores and many other important details.

Some time later, in the United States, he entered the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied with the famous classical guitarist Scott Tennant. In the same country, he won a scholarship to study some courses at Berklee College of Music.

In Barcelona, he also received a scholarship to study a master’s degree in flamenco at the Conservatori del Liceu thanks to Fundación Carolina, whose main beneficiaries are Latin American applicants without the resources to study there.

”I feel very fortunate to have been able to study in all these institutions which have been very important in my career, but I believe that a musician learns the most important things on stage. You can learn all the theory in the world, but if you haven’t had street experience and gone to practice, you will be an incomplete artist” Gabriel remarked on this subject.

”In fact, I believe that many of the most prodigious musicians in the world have not been trained in academies, but in the streets, because they have had to make themselves from the beginning. Academic education is important, but the main place where music is born is in the heart” he continued.

Navia Productions, LLC

Gabriel had always worked as an independent artist, but there came a point in his career when he realized he needed something more to level up.

Given that the best way to do business in the United States is through registered companies and brands, Gabriel created his own music company which he named NAVIA PRODUCTIONS, LLC, so that his project could be identified with a legally registered entity and avoid any legal problems.

The company was basically created with the purpose of giving a legal basis to Gabriel’s work to stand on, but he still considers himself an artist as independent as the first day.