March

Eva Cortés at present, her music reflects the influences received from her cultural miscegenation

Fragile voice, delicate and powerful at the same time, that moves with devotion and good work through the multiple paths of jazz.

Eva Cortés, born in Tegucigalpa (Honduras), 1972, is a Honduran jazz singer and composer.

Eva Cortés en la actualidad, su música refleja las influencias recibidas de su mestizaje cultural — Eva Cortés at present, her music reflects the influences received from her cultural mestizaje.

More than a voice, she is our jazz star in the world.

She is part of the fusion movement, incorporating in her music the influences of traditional Latin American music (zamba, bolero), blues, traditional Andalusian music and jazz.

He sings with a Latin American Spanish cadence and Andalusian echoes and accent.

He grew up in Seville and currently resides between Madrid and New York.

He became known in 1980 after recording an album of children’s songs entitled Cosas de niños with singers such as Ana Belén, Víctor Manuel, Mocedades and Miguel Bosé.

Eva Cortés born in Tegucigalpa (Honduras), 1972 is a Honduran jazz singer and composer.

Nowadays, his music reflects the influences received from his cultural miscegenation, as well as from the different musical genres developed throughout his career.

Growing up in a family of great musical tradition, she was exposed to Latin American music. Although we hear in her first compositions, at the age of 16, a strong influence of blues.

In January 2006 she flew to Santiago de Chile to record and co-produce Sola Contigo, her first solo album, which was later mixed and mastered in Paris.

In this work we can find South American rhythms fused with jazz and a soft touch coming from the south of Spain.

Eva feels honored to have had the collaboration of musicians with great international prestige: Jerry Gonzalez,

Antonio Serrano, Pepe Rivero and Nono Garcia among others.

In April 2008 Eva recorded her second album Como Agua entre los Dedos, which is an album of original songs composed mostly by Eva Cortés, although they also stand out in the two Spanish adaptations of two standards such as You don’t know what love is and La Vie en Rose.

Fotos Eva Cortés – Instagram @evacortes777

They released their third album El Mar de Mi Vida on April 6, 2010. With his personal jazz fusion, he has managed to carve a niche for himself among the most interesting and promising proposals of the Spanish jazz scene. [El Mar de Mi Vida brings together 12 songs that are maximum exponents of cultural crossbreeding.

On this occasion, in addition, the flamenco great Miguel Poveda joins in the version of the song C’est si bon, Perico Sambeat, Lew Soloff (considered one of the most brilliant trumpet players of recent times and who has collaborated with Marianne Faithfull or Frank Sinatra, among others), Santiago Cañadada, Rémy Decormeille, Georvis Pico, the electric bassist of the moment Hadrien Feraud and the English drummer Mark Mondesir (both musicians of John McLaughlin).

Eva once again signs most of the tracks and shares authorship in a couple of songs with Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro.

In addition, we find tracks such as Alfonsina y el Mar (Ariel Ramírez-Felix Luna), Une chanson Douce (Henrie Salvador- Maurice Pon), C’est si bon (André Hornez-Henri Betti) and Que reste-t-il de Nos Amours (Charles Trenet-Leo Chauliac).

Eva Cortes - El Mar De Mi Vida (2010) — Eva Cortes – El Mar De Mi Vida (2010)

Eva Cortes – The Sea Of My Life (2010)

Tracks:

The Sea Of My Life
Casi
C’es Si Bon / What’s Better? (Feat. Miguel Poveda)
Desterrado
Valsa Da Menina
Remembering Tomorrow
Little Matter If Later
Que Reste-T-Il De Nos Amours / I Wish You Love
Woman
Alfonsina And The Sea
Da Igual
Une Chanson Douce

Information realized (January 13, 2024)

Sources:

L’Òstia Latin Jazz

Iconos Mag

Also Read: Orquesta la Identidad is one of the most nationally and internationally recognized groups in the salsa genre

Flora Purim has earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Female Jazz Performance

Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style.

Airto Moreira, Flora Purim y Carlinhos Noronha

She was featured for her part on Chick Corea’s landmark album Back to Eternity.

She has recorded and performed with many artists, including Stanley Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jaco Pastorius, and her husband Airto Moreira.

Flora Purim’s voice has earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Female Jazz Performance and Down Beat magazine’s Best Female Singer award four times.

Her musical partners include Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie and Airto Moreira, with whom she has collaborated on more than 30 albums since moving with him from her native Rio to New York in 1967.

In New York, she and Airto became the center of the period of musical expression and creativity that produced the first commercially successful “Electric Jazz” groups of the 1970s.

Blue Note artist Duke Pearson was the first American musician to invite Flora to sing with him on stage and on record.

She then toured with Gil Evans, about whom she says, “This guy changed my life. He gave us a lot of support to do the craziest things.

This was the beginning for me. Her reputation as an outstanding performer earned her work with Chick Corea and Stan Getz as part of the New Jazz movement that also contained the nurturing influence of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley.

Airto Moreira, Flora Purim e Paulo Rapoport Popó

Soon after, Flora began to seriously re-educate discriminating musical minds after joining with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Joe Farrell to form Return To Forever in late 1971.

Two classic albums resulted – Return to Forever and Light as a Feather nodal points in the development of jazz fusion.

Flora’s first solo album in the United States, Butterfly Dreams, released in 1973, immediately placed her among the top five jazz singers in Down Beat magazine’s jazz poll.

In the mid-1980s, Flora and Airto resumed their musical collaboration to record two albums for Concord – Humble People and The Magicians – for which she received Grammy nominations.

In 1992 she went further by singing on two Grammy winning albums – Planet Drum with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart (Best World Music Album) and the Dizzy Gillespie United Nations Orchestra (Best Jazz Album).

The launch of the Latin jazz band Fourth World in 1991, featuring Airto, new guitar hero Jose Neto, and keyboard and reeds leader Gary Meek, marked a new era in Flora’s career.

The band was signed to the British jazz label B&W Music, and Flora consciously set out to win over the next wave of listeners.

Flora’s 1995 album Speed of Light, with major writing and performance contributions from Chill Factor and Flora’s daughter Diana Purim Moreira, makes the connection between her experimental beginnings with Chick Corea and Gil Evans and the new “head” music being produced by jazz musicians in the London and New York hip hop scenes.

Flora Purim Open Your Eyes You Can Fly (1976)

1- Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)

2-Time’s Lie (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)

3- Sometime Ago (Chick Corea-Neville Potter)

4-San Francisco River (Airto Moreira-Purim Purim)

5-Andei “I Walked” (Hermeto Pascoal)

6-Ina’s Song “Trip to Bahia” (Flora Purim)

7-Conversation (Hermeto Pascoal)

8-Medley: White Wing/Blank Wing (Hermeto Pascoal-Flora Purim).

arrangements:

Hermeto Pascoal (4.5.7.

Egberto Gismonti (4)

Flora Purim (6)

The whole group (1.2.3)

01-David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – electric piano

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Ndugu (Leon Chancler) – drums

Background vocals: Flora, David Amaro, George Duke, Hermeto Pascoal

Instrumental solo: David Amaro (electric guitar)

02-Hermeto Pascoal – flute

David Amaro – acoustic guitar

George Duke – electric piano, ARP sequence,

ensemble synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric and acoustic bass – Alfonso Johnson – electric and acoustic bass

Ndugu – drums

Airto Moreira – percussion

Instrumental solo: Hermeto Pascoal (flute), Nudgu (drums)

03-Hermeto Pascoal – flute

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – electric piano, ARP sequence,

ensemble synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Ndugu – drums

Airto Moreira – percussion

Laudir de Oliveira – congas

Instrumental soloist: Hermeto Pascoal (flute), David Amaro

(electric guitar)

04-Hermeto Pascoal – flute, electric piano

Egberto Gismonti – acoustic guitar

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – moog synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Ron Carretero – acoustic bass

Robertinho Silva – drums

Instrumental duet: Hermeto Pascoal (flute) and George Duke

(synthesizer

05-Hermeto Pascoal – flute, electric piano

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – moog synthesizer, clavinet

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Airto Moreira – percussion

Robertinho Silva – drums, berimbauduet

vocal: Flora Purim and Airto Moreira

Instrumental duet: Hermeto Pascoal (flute), George Duke (flute), George Duke

(synthesizer), David Amaro (electric guitar)

06 -Hermeto Pascoal – electric piano

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – moog, ARP Odyssey and ARP Odyssey sequences, ARP synthesizer

ARP, ensemble synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – electric and acoustic bass – Alfonso Johnson – electric bass and acoustic bass

Robertinho Silva – drums, percussion

Laudir de Oliveira -congas

Instrumental solo: Georrge Duke (ARP synthesizer)

Odyssey)

07-Hermeto Pascoal – electric piano

David Amaro – electric guitar

George Duke – ARP sequences ensemble and moog synthesizer

moog synthesizer

Alfonso Johnson – acoustic bass

Airto Moreira – percussion

08-Hermeto Pascoal – electric piano, pipe, harpsichord,

whistling, percussion (seven-up bottles)

Egberto Gismonti – acoustic guitar

Ron Carretero – acoustic bass

Alfonso Johnson – electric bass

Airto Moreira – percussion, drums, berimbau

Robertinho Silva – percussion, berimbauduet

vocal: Flora Purim and Airto Moreira

Instrumental solo: Hermeto Pascoal (harpsichord and whistle)

Information realized (March 28, 2008)

Sources:

L’Òstia Latin Jazz

Flora Purim

Also Read: Samuel Quinto Feitosa is a Brazilian virtuoso jazz and classical pianist

Career and interesting facts about Venezuelan singer and musician Omar Ledezma Jr.

Venezuelan singer, percussionist and music teacher Omar Ledezma Jr. has already talked to us in the past and has revealed important details regarding his life and career, but this time, our editor Eduardo Guilarte has been in charge of interviewing him and revealing some unknown details about his different facets professionally and personally.

Is such a pleasure to have the chance to talk to one of the most talented Latin musicians who currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and know so many things that the artist had not previously revealed.

Venezuelan percussionist Omar Ledezma — This is Omar Ledezma Jr., Venezuelan singer, percussionist and music teacher

Omar Ledezma’s beginnings in music and childhood

Omar Ledezma Jr. was born on February 17, 1972 in Caracas, Venezuela, and was raised in a very close family that gave him a lot of love and care since he was a child. Both the Ledezma and López families were very important in his growth, but it was from the Ledezma’s that he got his musical vein.

His mother and cousin José Vicente Rodríguez López decided to enroll him in the marching band at the Claret School, where he had his first contact with music by playing the snare drum, an instrument he was first assigned to play. It is also in the band where he started making friends with other teens who were already forming gaitas groups to compete in contests related to this traditional Venezuelan genre.

When he turned 16, he began to participate in these gaitas inter-school competitions in 1987 and 1988. In 1989, he participated in his first big musical event at the nightclub Mata de Coco. Omar assures that this was the official start of his career in a more professional way. A few years later, going hand-in-hand with his father, he began to take a deeper interest in music as a profession and wanted to experiment with other genres such as Afro-Cuban music and Latin jazz.

This path led him to join the orchestra La Charanga Clásica led by Mr. Frank Luzón. While playing there, he met several inspiration timbaleros such as Daniel Cádiz (from the Andy Durán Orchestra).

In parallel with all of the above, Omar was admitted to study in law school at the Santa María University, so he shared his time between his university studies and his professional musical activities. In his spare time outside the university, he played Latin jazz and was formed as a percussionist with his orchestra.

In 1995, Omar graduated as a lawyer as part of the class ”Honor a Venezuela” ranked in 12th place among his classmates. Although today he is not engage in law at all, he considers that having continued his studies was very important to him as a person because he would have a base on which to stand on in case his plans with music fell through.

However, the artist never thought about practicing law, since he was very clear that it would be difficult to do so due to the legal situation in Venezuela, so he continued to focus on his great passion, which was music. Besides, after analyzing it, he decided that he did not have a natural talent for that career.

In parallel, during those years as a law student, he made a trip to Cuba, which he claims changed his life completely. Some friends he made there, when seeing his skills as a musician, told him that he could be studying law, but that his life was and would be music forever.

Omar graduating as a lawyer — Omar Ledezma Jr. graduating from Berkee College of Music

The United States and Berklee College of Music

Just a few years after graduating, specifically in 1998, Omar made the decision to move to the United States looking for new opportunities and describes this trip as an exploring experience because many of his friends, orchestra fellows and acquaintances from the musical environment in general started taking new directions in the mid 90’s. The young man knew he wanted to do the same and chose the city of Boston to settle in at first.

Although he finally moved to Boston in 1998, already in 1997, his mother gave him the idea of going to the United States with an open ticket so he could decide whether to stay permanently or return. In the end, he opted not to use the return ticket and stayed in Boston to try to enter any music school through a scholarship.

After checking several options, he chose Berklee College of Music because it was the only college that allowed him to study composition and arranging as hand percussionist, so he auditioned to be admitted and was selected in the fall of 1999. He obtained a 70% scholarship, but he had to work hard to get the remaining 30%. In that sense, Omar assures that the same school helped him to obtain the corresponding permits to work legally in the country and thus be able to pay the percentage that is not covered by the scholarship.

Omar also told us that it was his friend Gonzalo Grau who helped him do the demo with which he auditioned to enter Berklee and it was a song of his own titled ”Cacao”. Today, he assures that that recording gave him one of the greatest opportunities he has ever had in life, which was to study there. He spent a total of four years studying in that institution and graduated in 2003.

During his undergraduate studies at Berklee, Omar had the option to study business and intellectual property and his lawyer’s training made it easier for him, but he defines himself as a ”natural born performer” and his life was the stage, so he did not see himself stuck in an office solving cases.

One of the first jobs Omar had in Los Angeles was replacing the singer from Johnny Polanco’s prestigious orchestra and that one that helped him take that place was Ray Barreto’s flautist, the late Artie Webb. The concert was held at the Mayan.

Omar playing the conga — Omar Ledezma Jr. playing the conga in a live performance

Family

As to the family part, Omar told us that he had married his wife Jennifer Radakovich about seven or eight years ago, but they have no children for the moment. This is because they are still analyzing their opportunities to settle permanently in the state of California, so he assures us that they are still building their future as a couple and as a family.

Jennifer’s family comes from Serbia and settled in Detroit, Michigan. They had to leave their country, which was then the former Yugoslavia because of the war that went on in the territory at the time. In fact, at a family reunion, his in-laws told him that his wife’s father arrived in the country on the boat anchored in Long Beach, California, The Queen Mary.

Pacific Mambo Orchestra

Omar Ledezma started his journey with Pacific Mambo Orquesta practically since its foundation in October 2010, when he started playing at Café Cocomo. Santana’s timbalero Karl Perazzo, who was already included in the lineup of the venue, proposed him to go to this place to play as a percussionist on Monday nights. The problem was that there was no money to pay him for the moment.

That’s when the directors of Pacific Mambo, Christian Tumalan and Steffen Kuehn, proposed to the owners of Cafe Cocomo to give them some space to have band practice. These Monday meetings ended up being paid rehearsals open to the public in exchange for 10 dollars a night. This lasted some years in which the 20 members of the orchestra were in charge of developing much of the repertoire that has made them famous internationally.

About this time, Omar said that, on several occasions, he and his orchestra fellows sat down to talk about the continuity of the band owing to the lack of money. The wonderful thing is that everyone always voted in favor of their stay in the group despite the adversities. According to the Venezuelan musician, it was this hunger and desire to succeed that made the orchestra what it is today.

Omar, Eric, Karl, and Edgardo — Omar Ledezma Jr., percussionist Eric Rangel, music producer Karl Perazzo, and bandleader Edgardo Cambon

These efforts worked and Pacific Mambo Orquestra managed to win their first and only Grammy so far in 2014. That year began with the orchestra’s appearance in one of the main banners of the iTunes page for a little over a week, which gave them a lot of popularity at that time and was not common for Latin artists and groups.

That same year, the group began touring with Tito Puente Jr. in August and were so successful that Omar and five other members of the group decided to begin campaigning for that year’s Grammys via e-mails to all the members of the jury promoting their latest album. Then, on tour, they received the news of their nomination (the second of Omar’s career), but they did not think they would win.

Much to the surprise of Omar, in January 2014, he received word that Pacific Mambo Orquesta won its first Grammy in the category of Latin Tropical Album of the Year. This event changed the lives of everyone in the group to the extent that large media outlets started looking at them. One of them was world-famous Billboard magazine, which published a piece talking about the band and its talents.

It is important to stress that, although it was an experience the musician will never forget in his life, he is aware that this is in the past and has to look ahead and focus on his future successes. At this moment, Omar and his companions are focused on making up for time lost during the pandemic and performing all the activities that confinement prevented them from doing.

The Conga Room closes its doors, but says goodbye in style

Recently, we learned some unfortunate news for the Latin music scene and the community in general and it is that The Conga Room, one of the most important nightclubs in Los Angeles, will close its doors this March, which has shocked those who used to frequent the cheerful and colorful place to forget their everyday problems for a few hours of dancing.

This great place was opened in 1999 by businessman Brad Gluckstein thanks to the support of leading figures in the entertainment industry such as businesswoman, actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, actor Jimmy Smits, actor Paul Rodriguez and actress Sheila E.

Although it first opened its doors on Wilshire Boulevard in 1999, it was moved to L.A.A. LIVE about nine years later. After the change of venue, there were personalities interested in investing in The Conga Room due to the great project it represented at the time, such as rapper and member of the Black Eyed Peas William Adams (better known as will.i.am), actor of Puerto Rican descent Amaury Nolasco, former basketball player Baron Davis and former basketball player Trevor Ariza.

It was these great figures in music, acting and sports who made The Conga Room one of the most recognized meeting places for Latin music fans and its greatest exponents.

Jimmy Smits and Paul Rodriguez at The Conga Roo — Jimmy Smits and Paul Rodriguez celebrating The Conga Room’s 20th anniversary some years ago

The achievements of The Conga Room all these years

During the years following as of its reopening, The Conga Room became an iconic place for music lovers and contributed greatly to the development of the Latin music and cultural scene in Los Angeles.

During 25 years of operation, it has not only brought the best singers and DJs from California and the United States in general, but also managed to create a lively environment composed of all kinds of cultures that transcended musical genres, to the point that there were people of all nationalities dancing to the same rhythms without any problem, proving once again that music is a universal language we can all understand perfectly.

And speaking of music, its little stage witnessed more than 500 live shows that included big stars such as Celia, Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colón, Tito Puente, Ocar D’ León, Tito Nieves, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Carlos Santana, Elvis Crespo, Los Van Van, Buena Vista Social Club, Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Fito Paez, Jerry Rivera, Eddie Santiago, Tony Vega, Zacarias Ferreira, Invasión Latina, Andy Montañez, Atercipelados, Aleks Syntek, Beto Cuevas, among many others. As for newer idols, The Conga Room has also received Ivy Queen, J Balvin, Maluma, Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi and many more.

It should also be mentioned that; while The Conga Room’s approach is to promote salsa, merengue and bachata; the nightclub is not limited to Latin genres. In fact, there have been great performances by rock, hip hop and R&B artists such as Prince, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, Justin Timberlake, Avicci, Snoop Dog, Ed Sheeran, Andy Grammer, Jamie Foxx and on and on.

This shows that The Conga Room was not limited to the original concept of its founders, but sought to go above and beyond to increase its assistance every day. Its management knew how to reinvent itself in spite of trends and circumstances, which is why it managed to survive so long.

Oscar D’ Leon at The Conga Room — Oscar D’ Leon performing at The Conga Room

The Conga Room’s definitive closure and farewell show

The Conga Room was inaugurated with music, so it must also say goodbye with music, so it will offer a private concert this March 27th featuring famous personalities who will meet at the club that day to say goodbye in style.

The main star of the event will be the renowned Puerto Rican singer Gilberto Santa Rosa, who will be one of those responsible for livening up the night for the show attendees with his greatest hits. Likewise, the host will be Jimmy Smits and he will be accompanied by Paul Rodriguez in the hosting of the show, who were bot very important in club maintenance for so long.

As for the reasons for the closure, founder Brad Gluckstein has issued statements saying that the ravages of the pandemic, the few events at the convention center and the difficulties in booking national artists with AEG Live (a company focused on the production and promotion of musical events) have made the business model of The Conga Room no longer viable in today’s economy. Not to mention that cost of living, inflation and high interest rates have changed the priorities of potential consumers.

However, despite the sadness that Gluckstein and the rest of those involved in the Conga Room project have, the businessman pointed out that not everything related to this mythical place will be forgotten, since Conga Kids, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting the social-emotional well-being of children through dancing, will continue to operate as before. This beautiful sister project of The Conga Room will keep its doors open despite the setbacks for the sake of the kids.

Argentine-American composer and guitarrist Alejandro Meola kindly talked to us

There is a country we do not usually talk much about in this edition, but we have found the best moment to do so, and it is the land of tango and mate, Argentina. It turns out that, on this occasion, we talked with composer, singer and guitarist Alejandro Meola, who has honored us by accepting our invitation to this very special exclusive interview we had.

Alejandro Meola is an artist who was born in the city of Miami, but his parents moved to Argentina when he was very young, so he spent his childhood and adolescence in the aforementioned country. In his accent, we can see how influential his upbringing in Buenos Aires was.

Next, we will touch some of the most important issues related to his career and his life in general.

This is Alejandro Meola, a very talented Argentine-American guitarist

Alejandro’s beginnings in music

As is typical, Alejandro began to feel a great attachment to music and it all started with the guitar that was in the house he grew up, with which he played at an amateur level and began practicing slowly and improving his skills over time. He says he always knew that his vocation was music, even without being old enough to decide on these issues.

Given that the guitar was the instrument with which he started in music, this will always be the most important element in his artistic life above any other. However, he is also capable of playing other instruments such as piano, drums and bass, which can transport him to places within his mind where the guitar does not always take him.

With regard to composition, Alejandro started to develop in this area through the need to express those emotions he had on the inside and communicate what his feelings in an original way with the help of music and the melodies that compose it. ‘‘I like to communicate things that resonate in other people’s minds and that’s where my taste for composition came from. Besides, I think that practice and time improve your ability to communicate emotions and transmit messages to anyone who listens to you. That evolves with oneself” said the artist.

Alejandro’s musical education

Alejandro told us that he studied at a music school in Argentina where he specialized more on guitar and composition, but what he calls ”street training” also helped him a lot to polish his act as an artist. The experience gained out the academies is so important to Alejandro that he even defines it as ”a parallel university”, which is as important as formal academic training, if not more.

”It’s the street that gives you the tools, the experience and the journey to be a more complete artist. Practice on real stages is critical to specialize in music as it should be” Alejandro said on the subject.

street training is important for Alejandro — According to Alejandro, ”street training” is very important for any artist

Argentine and American roots in Alejandro’s work

Hearing Alejandro play evidences that he is heavily influenced by legendary and world-famous Argentine rock and the artist confirms this stating that he listened a lot to Fito Paez, Soda Stereo, Charlie Garcia, Gustavo Cerati, Luis Albert Spinetta, Andres Calamaro, among others. Undoubtedly, all of these music luminaries played a very important role on how this young man would perceive music, adding to all the American rock and blues he would listen to upon arrival in the United States.

However, he noted that being in the United States also allowed him to listen to a number of Latin artists and rhythms which he never planned on experimenting with, but he did. His song ”La Inmigración” is a good example of this. In that regard, living in New York has expanded his horizons and led him to discover salsa, Cuban and Puerto Rican music. He also says that he took inspiration from Héctor Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano and La Fania when doing one or two songs.

”At the end of the day, my music is a mixture of who I am and the places I’ve lived. A little from there, a little from here and a little from nowhere (laughs). A little from everywhere and a little from nowhere” he said.

Alejandro also said that he is always on the lookout for other rhythms and ideas that come his way, but always using rock and guitar as a starting point.

Alejandro at The Bowery Electric — Alejandro Meola playing live at The Bowery Electric

Why Alejandro chose New York as his permanent residence

Since he was very young, Alejandro had always wanted to experience the dream of living and working in his art in New York. In addition to that, he wanted to know other cities in the country where he was born because while it is true that he spent most of his life in Argentina, he was also very clear that his country of birth was the United States, so he was curious to know it better.

Once in New York, I met all kinds of people and artists with a very high musical level, so I was able to learn a lot from all of them. I feel like the bar is rising here and that led me to want to improve further every day. In that sense, I feel that New York gives you thick skin, since there are many obstacles to overcome to be truly recognized in music” said Alejandro about the city.

The artist has been living in New York for 10 years now and is at ease in the place in which he currently is. In addition, he has managed to find a niche singing in Spanish, which has made him very happy and satisfied with his career.

How Alejandro deals with languages in his music

Something very common that many well-known artists do is to record songs in both English and Spanish so that the audience they reach is bigger, but Alejandro does not believe in it. He thinks that each song must have its own language and feeling, so he prefers to do one version of each song in one language.

When he arrived in New York, he experimented a lot with English and has several albums in this language, but noting that he could work with Spanish without problems, he began to focus his music in that direction. In fact, today, almost all of his concerts are in Spanish.

Each language has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of sound, so I must always pay attention to that,” said Alejandro on the subject.

It has been a great pleasure for us to count on the talented Argentinean singer Alejandro Meola for this edition and we wish him the greatest success in his career from now on.