North America

Jimmy Castro and his radio station Ritmo Caribe Promotions Radio

We had the pleasure of interviewing businessman, producer and broadcaster Jimmy Castro, who started his radio show “El Toque Latino” on radio station WTCY 1400 AM from 1998 to 2002 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He then worked as a producer on “The Latin Jazz & Salsa Show” in Richmond, Virginia on station WCLM 1340 AM between the years 2008-2014. He eventually launched his own online Radio station Ritmo Caribe Promotions Radio in 2018 through the link www.ritmocaribepromotionsradio.com. Here, listeners can find salsa, Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban music.

Producer, promoter, and broadcaster Jimmy Castro

Here is our conversation:

You founded Ritmo Caribe Promotions in 1998. What made you found this company and why focus on setting up festivals and concerts?

I started the company as a DJ Record Pool called Caribbean Rhythms Record Pool in 1996 in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. I began meeting many of the artists that I was receiving music from, who began asking me if I would bring them to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to perform. That’s when I changed the company name to Ritmo Caribe Promotions, and produced many concerts and festivals there featuring artists to include Larry Harlow, Tito Puente, Cano Estremera, Hector Tricoche, Van Lester, Miosotis, Edgar Joel, Yomo Toro, Eddie Palmieri, and more.

Why focus specifically on salsa, Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban music?

I used to promote more genres when I began such as Merengue, Bachata, Reggaeton, and Mexican but as the years went on it began getting more difficult because I was receiving so much music but I had a limited staff to and wouldn’t be able to focus on so many artists. I decided to limit it to the genres I had the most experience in.

Jimmy Castro while leading his old show “El Toque Latino”

I knew that Ritmo Caribe Promotions has co-produced songs by several well-known artists. Let’s talk a bit about your role as producer and record label.

Throughout the years, I have always dreamed of producing a Salsa song with my company. In 2020, I had the opportunity to co-produce my first Salsa song with JA Creations entitled “Mariana” by Colombian Salsa vocalist Jaime Andres featuring Frankie Vazquez “El Sonero del Barrio!” Since then I have co-produced 3 more Salsa tunes, “Nuestro Camino” by Leonardo Garcia featuring country vocalist Cat Beach, Max Rosado, and special guest Nestor Torres, “Mi Motivo” by Leonardo Garcia featuring Grammy nominated Miss YaYa, and “Lo Afortunado Que Soy” by William Mendoza’s Latin Heartbeat Orchestra featuring Cuban vocalist Amauri Menocal. Finally, on August 15, 2022 I will be releasing my first Salsa tune as Executive Producer entitled “Historia de Un Amor” featuring a vocalist from The Netherlands, Julie Huard.

What leads you to launch your own online radio station in 2018?

I started in radio broadcasting in 1997 with my own radio show called “El Toque Latino” on a commercial radio station, WTCY 1400 AM in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I was on the air for 5 years. I then moved to Richmond, Virginia where I worked as a producer on The Latin Jazz & Salsa Show on WCLM 1450 AM / WHAP 1340 AM for 8 years. I was also the entertainment producer for 10 years for the annual Latin Jazz & Salsa Festival, with The 15th Annual Latin Jazz & Salsa Festival scheduled this year on August 27th, in which I will be bringing headline artist Herman Olivera.

Finally, in 2018, I no longer was interested in working on everybody else’s radio station, and decided to launch my own 24/7 internet radio station, Ritmo Caribe Promotions Radio, where I am able to program exactly the way I want to. www.ritmocaribepromotionsradio.com.

Jimmy Castro with the “King of Timbales” Tito Puente

You have also produced theatrical plays and film productions. Give us more details about that.

The play I am most proud of was produced by my company Ritmo Caribe Promotions and Yamile Music (Los Angeles) entitled “Melena: A Cultural & Musical Journey into my Afro-Cuban Roots” which was the true story of Afro-Cuban latina percussionist Melena, and her journey from Cuba and becoming one of the best female percussionist in the world. You could check out the play in 3 parts on YouTube by searching for “Melena: A Cultural & Musical Journey into my Afro-Cuban Roots (Part 1, 2, and 3).”

You also receive music in mp3 format from the audience to place on the station. What basis do you have for choosing between the tracks you receive?

I accept music from artists from around the world, again Salsa, Latin Jazz, and Afro-Cuban music, and I listen to all the music I receive and focus on the quality of the production, ensuring I receive mp3/wave along with the album cover image, and last but not least the music has to be GOOD! I also send it to many Salsa dancers who I am connected with to get their opinion on the tune.

What you can say about your show “El Toque Latino”? How has this show changed with the passage of time?

I mentioned “El Toque Latino” in a question above, however, this show is no longer on the air. Now, it is only “Ritmo Caribe Promotions Radio” 24/7 at www.ritmocaribepromotionsradio.com.

Jimmy Castro with Puerto Rican salsa singer Cano Estremera

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Salsa En La Web

As our dear readers know, International Salsa Magazine is dedicated to promoting Latin music artists, especially those who sing salsa, but we also believe that it is of extremely importance to promote platforms that, like us, seek to spread this wonderful and colorful music everywhere.

Salsa En La Web is a salsa community on the internet, so there are members from all over the world. This site is devoted to promoting and spreading everything related to salsa and Latin music so that the new generations get to know the musical idols of their parents and grandparents. They also want this musical genre to keep growing and never go out.

DJ Danny Salsa, director and programmer of Salsa En La Web

Interview

Today, we talked to the administrators of the website Salsa En La Web, which is devoted to promoting salsa worldwide, and our questions were as follows:

Who are we talking to? Please provide your name, occupation and direct or indirect relashionship with salsa.

You’re talking to DANNY SALSA, director and programmer of SALSAENLAWEB. I am also a chemist and DJ by profession. – Collector of romantic salsa.

According to what I read on your Facebook page, you have spread salsa culture at the global level for 11 years. How did everything start?

In 2011 we started sharing music on a blog where we spread LP, CD, ARTISTS, GROUPS, ORCHESTRAS. After that, we also shared gatherings of collectors and salsa events in Bogota.

To date, we have not failed to spread salsa culture that through this beautiful music, we want to make a better culture.

DJ Danny Salsa loves salsa and wants to promote it

What has motivated you to create a website of this style? Why are salsa and Latin music so important to you?

First of all, the taste for salsa music started from I was 13 years. From a very young age, I had contact with computers after school. In my spare time, I created my first blog and, after knowing the world of the internet, I created this website of salsa.

Salsa has brought me great friends, moments, live artists since I programme salsa at bars. I saw the happiness dancing and sharing after entering the world of collecting your albums for your own taste brings.

What part of the world is the largest part of your audience from?

Colombia is our biggest audience with listeners who always listen to our programming at any time of the day and from any time of the day and from any part of the planet where there is an Internet connection.

According to the map on your website, many members of your audience are in Europe and the southern United States. Where are you located? Are you in different countries?

The website is free on the platform www.salsaenlaweb.com.co and from the APP without any cost, listeners in these countries can listen to us from these countries send us their good comments and this motivates us to programme the best salsa music through our . We are in Bogota, Colombia but we have listeners all over the world.

In addition to salsa, what other musical genres do you promote?

We don’t do dissemination of other genres because we are select in salsa.

What goals have you set in the long run?

We want to be the salsa website of reference for its good content in the whole world and have great sponsors that allow us to keep working in favor of salsa.

Logo of Salsa En La Web

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Why is he called Danilo?

We will start a conversation with bandleader, percussionist, and singer Roger Danilo Páiz Pérez. Pleased to meet you, how are you doing?

I’m fine thanks, Karina. Sitting here and ready to be interviewed by your magazine. I have a lot of information about what has happened in my life being a musician here in the Bay Area since the 70’s.

Danilo on guitar at one of his frequent restaurant performances

You are Francisco Pancho Perez’s grandson. Did your grandfather serve as inspiration for the path you would take in music?

Definitely he did. I remember being about four or five years old when I used to hear my grandfather play with his big band, which was composed of 15 or 14 musicians. I always listened to them practicing in our house and started dancing, so my grandfather used to call me cha cha chá. It was a great inspiration for me.

He played music similar to American jazz, and that’s where the inspiration for the music I play today comes from. The salsa that I write is inspired precisely by that kind of jazz.

Where does the name Danilo come from? Also, why is your orchestra called Danilo Y Su Orquesta Universal?

I have to make it clear that Danilo is my middle name since I was born. This is not a nickname as many believe. Some people even think that I have changed my name, but I didn’t. Roger Danilo Páiz Perez has always been my name.

Everyone called me Roger Páiz in the past, that is to say, people called me by my first and last name. In fact, when I played with Rubén Blades in 1989, the album we recorded has me in the credits as Roger Páiz. But when I founded my own orchestra in the 1990s, I thought Danilo was better suited to Latin music, so I started using my middle name to call my orchestra Danilo Y Su Orquesta Universal.

The word universal comes from the fact that I am a Buddhist. I practice the religion of Nichiren Daishonin (monk in Buddhism from Japan in the 13th century and founder of the branch of Nichiren Buddhism) for more than 30 years. That word is widely used in the Buddhist scriptures, and I am very involved in that.

Roger Páiz getting ready to hit with Josh Jones’ band

Your country of origin is Nicaragua. Is Nicaraguan salsa similar to Californian salsa? Are they different? Do you combine them?

Since I was very young, I listened to a lot of Cuban orchestras. I remember my dad tuning in to Celia Cruz, La Sonora Matanzera, among others. From that experience, I picked up all those things since childhood.

Here in the United States, the style was much more modernized. However, I grew up listening to El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and many other orchestras in the ‘60s and ‘70s. My biggest inspirations were Héctor Lavoe, Oscar De León, Rafael de Jesús, Cheo Feliciano and many others from those years. I paid a lot of attention to how they sang and the melodies that they used.

What Danilo has learned from his musical references

You have made contact with Latin music stars such as Ray Barretto, Rubén Blades, Benny Velarde Y Su Super Combo, Andy Narell, Ray Obiedo, Cheo Feliciano, Oscar De León and many others. What did you learn from all these musical references?

For example, I shared a gig with Cheo Feliciano in Puerto Rico while I was with Rubén at a concert. (Luis Enrique was actually at that concert as well.) Cheo taught me how to phrase with the clave, since this is a very important detail in singing Salsa.

In the case of Héctor Lavoe, I learned a lot from the melodic part. When he sang, the melody was very interesting and appealed to me a lot.

Another singer I liked a lot was Rafael de Jesús, because his style tended to sound like jazz. Sometimes he sang some lines that sounded very jazzy, but he never lost his style as a Salsa singer. That’s one of the main things I liked about him.

Another singer I liked a lot was Rafael de Jesús because his style tended to sound like jazz. Sometimes he sang some lines that sounded very jazzy, but he never lost his condition as a salsa singer. That’s one of the main things I liked about him.

Danilo y Su Orquesta Universal at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2019

Did he receive academic training in music?

I took classes  in Oakland, California, learning music theory, piano, singing, and much more. These studies helped me a lot to better prepare myself musically speaking.

Studying music is important because it enhances the way you perform, sing, and play on stage. That’s when people can tell whether you are a musician who has studied and analyzed music. I’ve met musicians who learned everything by ear and they never progress to the next level.

Of course, there were also things I learned on the stage, in the studio and in rehearsals. I’ve unified all this knowledge to do my job to the best of my ability.

I saw that you have some dates to perform in the Bay Area and other places, can you tell us a little bit about that?

In 1995, I got the opportunity to take a group to Singapore (to be the house band at the Hyatt Regency Hotel). What I did was to find the best six musicians who could play the music I was asked to play. We rehearsed, traveled to Singapore, and stayed there about three months, all expenses paid. It was an amazing experience and I was honored to present my music in that country.

Danilo with Tito Puente, Jr.

What about your current performances?

We just played at La Peña here in Berkeley. It was really good, a lot of people showed up there and they recorded the whole show. Fans sent me some videos as well, so I have to start editing them.

We also played at The Ramp, El Rio, The Turf Club, Kimbara, among others. Coming up, we will be playing at the Cigar Bar.

Let’s talk about your latest album Perseverando.

I decided to call this album Perseverando because of my experience of overcoming the difficulties of maintaining a music career.

Turning to Buddhism, the word perseverando is very important, because life puts barriers in your way and you have to persevere to overcome them. It was common for record labels to say that they were saturated and couldn’t sign me, but I kept writing and recording original music despite the difficulties. The first album is called Vivencias and the second one is called Avanzando. They are titles that have had a lot to do with my life experiences.

I made a video for one of the songs on this álbum, Rumberos de la Bahia, which is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z3E7K_5SLJo

What other projects do you have pending?

I’m thinking about putting out an album that will be a combination of songs that have not been released yet with some remixes of songs on my albums. Although a dream of mine is to be nominated for a Grammy, that is not why I créate music. Music is my life and my passion.

Cover of the album Perseverando

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The Mayan

1038 S Hill Street Los Angeles, CA 90015

Bar Granada

5 W Monument Ave, Dayton, OH 45402, United States

El Floridita Seafood Restaurant

13501 SW 136th St, Miami, FL 33186, United States

Sausalito SeaHorse

305 Harbor Dr, Sausalito, CA 94965, United States

Steven’s Steak & Seafood House

5332 Stevens Pl, Commerce, CA 90040, United States

The Beacon Theatre

2124 Broadway, New York, NY, United States

State Theatre New Jersey

15 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States

Yoshi’s

510 Embarcadero West, Oakland, CA 94607, United States

Ovens Auditorium

2700 E Independence Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28205, United States

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

1 Center St, Newark, NJ, United States

Tropicana Atlantic City

Keswick Theatre

291 N Keswick Ave, Glenside, PA 19038, United States

Colden Auditorium

Reeves Ave, Queens, NY 11367, United States

Tango Del Rey

3567 Del Rey St, San Diego, CA 92109, United States

Vinnie’s Bar & Grill

2045 Mt Diablo St, Concord, CA 94520, United States

La Princesa de La Bachata

I am talking today with La Princesa de La Bachata Chantel Collado (https://www.facebook.com/chantelcolladoficial), who is an immensely talented artist. I understand she is a resident of Canada and is of Dominican descent. Thank you so much for accepting our invitation, Chantel. We learned that you are in Italy at the moment, what are you doing there?

First of all, thank you for the invitation. The pleasure is mine. Certainly, I grew up in Canada, but I’m on tour around Italy and pleased to bring my music to this beautiful country.

Chantel Collado was born in Canada, but her parents are Latino

Wonderful! How has reception towards your music in Italy?

It was amazing! Actually,I’m proud to see how both Italians and foreigners dance to bachata and enjoy it. Bringing this music to a country like Italy makes me very proud. It is a blessing to be able to travel, come, sing my lyrics and see how the audience loves them.

The nickname people you are given caught my attention. Where does La Princesa de La Bachata come from?

People give me that name when I went to London to give a concert. In view of the lack of women in the genre, I think it was easy for the public to call me that. For me, it’s a great honour for me to represent the genre, being a woman and a Dominican, since there aren’t many women who sing bachata.

Precisely because there weren’t a lot of women in the genre, did you feel a strong competition? Did you feel like you weren’t taken seriously?

Being a woman can complicate a few things. Thank goddness, men in the genre have also given me the opportunity and supported me, such as my musical godfather Frank Reyes, who is someone I admire. He is a bachata icon in the Dominican Republic and an example of a man who has supported me in my career. I had the opportunity to record a song and a music video with him.

I have received a lot of support from my colleagues and I am very happy to receive that support.

Who have been your musical references in and out of bachata?

I really like Romeo Santo, The King of Bachata. I grew up listening to exponents of Dominican bachata like Frank Reyes, Luis Vargas, Hector Acosta and Juan Luis Guerra. Outside of bachata, I have always liked Beyonce because of her stage presence. Regarding artists in this generation, I also really like Karol G.

Chantel Collado on stage

Have you experimented with urban or more modern rhythms?

Of course! I love to experiment and change from time to time. From a very early age, when I started singing in a competition in Los Angeles, I sang a cumbia by Selena titled Como La Flor. I have an urban song called Así. I’ve also sung salsa and I have merengues. What I like most is bachata, but for my generation, I listen to much urban music.

According to your biography, you decided to pursue a career in music after a talk you with your father, who also supported you very much in this regard. Can you describe that moment?

I grew up watching my father on stage as a director, musician and singer. From a very early age, I went on stage and sang with him. My brother is also a musician, so I think it just was natural for me. I didn’t know it’d like it or take it seriously as a career, but it was when I turned 15 that we decided to focus on music.

I was also performing and participating in musical theater, so I was singing, performing and dancing at the same time. When I turned 15, we decided as a family to focus on only one thing, which would be music. That’s how I started writing songs with my brother and we’ve been going at it for the last 14 years.

Latin descent

Your father is Dominican and your mother is Uruguayan. Do you think that coming from a Latin family has pigeonholed you or on the contrary?

Quite the opposite! It expanded my horizons. I grew up in Canada, speak English and, try to incorporate this language into my music. I’m of Uruguayan stock and even if people don’t listen to bachata in that country, I chose that genre because I listened to it all the time and I love it. I think that all this mix of countries expanded my horizons and I don’t feel that singing bachata is an obligation for me because I love doing it.

Her father and brother supported her a lot during her career

What did you do during the pandemic?

The pandemic was very difficult for me and all the artists in general, but I tried to focus on writing new music. I don’t know where I got the inspiration, but I recorded a music video with my mobile, which was made for my song Contigo o sin ti that you can find on YouTube. I did my own makeup and my own hairstyle for that day, put my IPhone on a tripod and got it all. I had to find thae encouragement to move regardless the situation.

Fortunately, I returned to the stage to sing for the public after two years.

In which countries are you touring now?

I am touring only in Italy. We’ve already been to two cities and we have two more to go to complete the tour. Then I will return to Canada, rest for a week and travel to the United States to continue touring.

Do you plan to tour Latin America?

I’ll be happy to do so. In fact, we already have some tentative dates in countries such as Colombia and Mexico. Let’s just hope that everything will happen because it would be the first time I brought my music to those corners.

How is urban bachata different from traditional bachata?

I think urban bachata is a movement that is starting to develop. My generation listens to a lot of urban music and an example of this is Bad Bunny, who is killin’ it right now. If we want bachata to evolve a little bit, we have to add a little urban touch and that’s what we’re doing. I think traditional music will never die because it is our main genre in the Dominican Republic, but it can also be made enjoyable for present generations, adding a little urban touch.

Speaking of urban artists, who do you want to collaborate with someday?

At the moment, I would love to collaborate with Bad Bunny. I love Bad Bunny and his new album. I had the great honor of opening for him in Toronto, Montreal, a few years ago. I also had the honor of meeting him, but I haven’t had the chance to collaborate with him yet, though I would love to.

As for traditional genres, I would like to collaborate with Anthony Santos on a more traditional song in my genre, bachata.

A message for young girls who want to dedicate themselves to the same as you.

I’d advise them to follow their dreams. I started in the music industry at a very young age I have achieved many things in the last 10 years. As a woman, I’d tell them to keep going because we are living in a time when women have more attention than ever before. We’re strong, independent and we can do anything we want.

Chantel at a photo shoot