Latin America

On September 7th in the province of Baharona in Batey 7, Dominican Republic, Michel Batista or better known as Michel “El Buenon” was born, he is a singer and composer.

Considered the most sought after salsa singer, he is a man with a big heart and a story worth admiring, because despite all the vicissitudes he went through during his childhood and youth, he became great, as his grandmother Dona Crisiana instilled in him.

From a very young age he attended Sunday school at the Baptist church with his mother Crisiana Abraham, with whom he attended the evangelical church shepherded by herself, where he also sang in the church choir on Sundays.

In elementary school she participated in a music festival where she won first place at only 8 years of age.

Later she competed in a regional festival in the town of Barahona in the radio station Radio Barahona, winning first place at the age of 12.

He then migrated from the south to the city of Santo Domingo, where he began singing in bars, nightclubs and hotels like the Sheratton, Napolitano, El Embajador.

In addition to the resorts Talanquera, Casa de Campo Sosua, Puerto Plata, among others.

At the beginning he was part of the Tabú Combo, a group from Puerto Príncipe based in New York City, recording hits such as “Inflaciones General”, “La Llave”, “Relimen” and composing the song “Apipi”, known in French and in Spanish as “El Jardinero”, which he recorded with his friend Wilfrido Vargas.

He would later be part of Johnny Ventura’s orchestra for 5 years, from 1982 to 1987.

He recorded the song “Tuyo Más Que Tuyo” by Bienvenido Fabián, then he joined again the Tabú Combo Superstar orchestra with Adolfo Chanci, its director.

In 1995 he went solo and recorded his first salsa CD titled “Amigo De Qué”, which was played all over Latin America, occupying for 12 weeks the first place of the radio station La Mega in the city of New York.

Later he released his second album “Brujería”, and seven others: “De Ahí Nadie Como Él” (2001), “100% Sabroso” (2002), “Llego Michel El Buenon” (2005), “Víveme” (2005) and “Extrañándote” (2005), which contained ballads interpreted in the rhythm of salsa in the style of “El Buenon”, this production has unpublished songs of Michel himself such as “Que Te Vaya Bonito” and “Yo Que Me Lo Creo”.

Throughout his career he has been winner of the Casandra Awards 2005-2006-2007 and nominated in 2008 and 2011.

Among his languages interpreting songs are English, Portuguese, Italian, Papiamiento, Creole, Spanish and French as he did in the song “Se Finit” by Charles Asnabul and the song Wonderful World in tribute to Mr. Luis Armstrong.

In his repertoire of the most outstanding songs in 2008 are “La Primavera”, “Cuando Los Sapos Bailan Flamenco”, “La Playa”, “Víveme”, “Tú Ni Te Lo Imaginas”, “Hoy Daría Yo La Vida”, “Me Has Echado Al Olvido”, “A La Primer Persona” and “Wonderful World”, all with hits and diffusion in all the radios and discotheques of his country.

Among his most outstanding albums in the last ten years are “Extrañándote”, “Todo Terreno”, “Estilo Y Conciencia”, “Arriba Siempre De Pura Sangre”, “Reserva Especial Impecable”, “El Insuperable De La Salsa” and “Claro, Fino, Nítido, Control Total”.

Throughout his career he has traveled to all of Europe, the United States, the Lesser Antilles, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico, Curacao, La Reunion, Tahiti, Africa, Japan, Dubai and Colombia, the latter was where he recorded the video clip of his song “Maldito El Tiempo” written by Alexander Pires.

Michel “El Buenon”

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“It is the lament of the cazanguero in Coiba at dawn, hurry up Chino Juan, they are already calling the line, the guard says not this time, don’t fall so far behind”.

“Whether it is sunny or raining hard, you have to take care of the sowing; don’t let the hunanga come to spoil your effort”.

In 1974, El Malo del Bronx, after 8 years of touring with El Jíbaro de Ponce, decided to take some time off, he did not attend the presentation of Fania All Star in Africa and dedicated himself to solving personal problems and producing.

He was working on his next album with Yomo and Hector, he remembered that there was a Panamanian boy he had met in 1969 at a carnival in Panama, whom he had invited to come on stage to sing with Hector in several of the presentations in clubs in the Big Apple.

This guy was already part of Barretto’s band and had given songs to luminaries of the genre that became hits, such as Guaguancó Triste to Richie and Bobby, Las Esquinas to Niño Bonito and Amor Pa’ que to Conjunto Candela.

These songs put him on Willie’s radar who asked him for a song to complete his next album. Ruben, who was that Panamanian boy, happy for El Malo’s request, writes his first song while living in New York.

Ruben arrives at the studio where that song was being recorded and Hector approaches him and tells him that he would not record it because he didn’t understand it, he didn’t feel it and that’s why it wouldn’t sound right.

Ruben is disappointed by what Hector said, but Willie really liked the song and asks Ruben to record it himself.

Ruben reminds Willie that he is part of the band El de Las manos Duras and that it would be a problem, Willie replies that he would fix it, which he did, obtaining don Masucci’s permission.

This marked the end of Ruben with Barreto and the beginning of what would become the duo that would dominate Salsa for the next 6 years.

This song we are talking about is El Cazanguero,

It is the lament of the cazanguero in Coiba de madrugá’. Hurry up Chino Juan, they’re already calling the line, the guard says not this time, don’t fall so far behind”.

“Whether it is sunny or raining hard, you have to take care of the sowing, so that the cazanga does not come to spoil your effort”.

Part of Coiba’s history as a penal colony, for 74 years, is described in El Cazanguero, a song by Rubén Blades that began to be heard in 1975.

The song describes who the cazangueros were, some of the punishments to which inmates who broke the rules were subjected, and the sadness of being far from their families, with the uncertainty and fear of an enemy attack, in an open penal system like Coiba.

Although the main value of the island is in its natural wealth, it is also important its history and the history of the prisoners it housed, the anecdotes of those who paid long sentences for going against the laws and the rights of others.

How many cans of gravel are there from here to Catival?” Blades ask in his song. The rubble, which is everywhere in Coiba, was used to fill the holes in the roads, to fill land or in construction”.

The Cazangueros were the inmates who chased away the cazanga, a climbing bird of the parrot family, green in color, with a blue head and neck, black beak and legs, which killed, like a plague, any planting it found in its path.

“The cazanga would come down from the mountains by the thousands, in the early morning, and the hunters had to scare them away by ringing empty oil cans and shouting. Sometimes they had to make dolls in human shapes to win the battle against the birds”.

As mentioned above, El Cazanguero was the first song Ruben wrote in the United States. To write it, he was inspired by his trip to the penal island of Coiba where he wrote his law degree thesis. It seems that this song was placed as filler on the 1975 album “The good, the bad, and the ugly” featuring Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe and guitarist Yomo Toro on the cover. However, it was “El Cazanguero” that sold the acetate record.

“El Cazanguero” was cut 6 of the album “The good, the bad & the ugly” which was recorded in 1974, at Good Vibrations studios. It was the last album in which Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe collaborated.

It contained 3 instrumental tracks, three sung by Colón in his first appearance as a solo singer on record (“Toma”, “Cua cua ra, cua cua” and “Guaracha”, 2 with Lavoe’s solo voice (“Popurri III” and “Que bien te ves”) and “El Cazanguero” written and sung by Blades.

Hablemos de EL CAZANGUERO

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International Salsa Magazine presents a Cuban musician today considered by critics as one of the best trumpet players of the moment in Cuba and probably in the whole world.

He is Alexander Abreu Manresa, born on September 6, 1976 in Cienfuegos.

Owner of innate conditions and a unique talent to play the trumpet in a wonderful way.

Alexander Abreu, in spite of his youth, equals greats of the instrument such as El Guajiro Mirabal, Arturo Sandoval or Dizzy Gillespie, without ignoring that as a singer he has a melodious voice and, as if that were not enough, he also works as a composer and musical director.

He began playing trumpet at the age of ten, he studied music at the conservatory of music in his hometown Cienfuegos and at the National School of Art where he graduated in 1994 and in that same institution has served as a teacher, the impeccable way of playing his instrument allowed him to reach the top in Cuban music with only twenty years of age; he was part of the Cuban jazz group Irakere, worked with exponents of Cuban Timba Paulo FG and Issac Delgado and his Orchestra.

On the other hand, he has made recordings in other genres with musicians, composers and singers such as:

Armando Anthony Corea, known as Chick Corea, is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist and composer.

Arnaldo Rodríguez, young talented arranger, composer, singer and director of the Cuban Musical Group Arnaldo y su talismán, born in Ciego de Avila, Cuba.

Baby Lores, musician, singer and arranger from the city of Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the South.

Hugh Ramopolo Masekela, trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and South African jazz singer from South Africa.

James Morrison Catchpole, English soul and pop rock singer, songwriter and guitarist.

Luís Represas, Portuguese singer and composer.

Ron Sexsmith, Canadian singer-songwriter.

Alexander Abreu created, in 2007, his own group, which he called Havana D’ Primera, with several of the most talented Cuban musicians, the first presentation of the band took place on October 4, 2008 at the Cabaret Turquino of the Habana Libre Hotel in Havana.

With Havana D’ Primera, he has made three albums, they are: Haciendo Historia in 2011, Pasaporte in 2013 and La Vuelta al Mundo in 2015.

He has also released the singles: Rosa la Peligrosa, Me Dicen Cuba and Prohibido. Alexander Abreu Manresa is trumpet and lead vocalist of Havana D’ Primera, as well as composer, arranger and musical director of the group.

This work aims to highlight the enormous and excellent musical career of one of the best musicians of the island of Cuba in the new generation, with just thirty-eight years of age, the music of Alexander Abreu has transcended borders, his recordings exceed one hundred albums in different countries and in multiple musical genres.

From our website, we want to highlight the magnificent musical career of Alexander Abreu Manresa.

Despite his youth, Alexander Abreu’s musical gifts and excellence have allowed him to play and record with a great number of musicians and groups, not only in his native Cuba, but also in other countries of the world, to mention a few, we have then, as far as our music is concerned: Adalberto Álvarez, Amaury Pérez, Andy Montañez, Irakere, Juan Manuel Ceruto, Klimax, Mayito Rivera, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, Pablo Milanés, Pachito Alonso, Team Cuba, Teresa García Cataurla, Van Van and Yurumí y sus Hermanos.

Havana D’Primera nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards 2022

“We are nominated once again for the Latin Grammy Awards, this time with the album Será que se Acabó. But it’s not just me. Cuban music is nominated, which is reflected in this album with all the energy. I think it’s the most powerful album I’m going to make in the history of my life.” This is how Alexander Abreu announced the magnificent news.

Será que se Acabó, Havana D’Primera’s latest album, was nominated for the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards in the category of Best Salsa Album.

“At The Latin Recording Academy, we continually strive to support and encourage Latin music creators, and these nominees epitomize musical excellence and represent the great moment our music is going through,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy.

Alexander Abreu & Habana de Primera

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