North America

Born in the city of Carolina, Puerto Rico in 1969 with music in his veins.

Carlos Enrique Lopez (Carlitos Lopez el gordito favorito), he begins to show interest in music in general, boleros and trios

The bomba, plena, jibara music which he listened to in the countryside when his uncles and aunts visited his family, they liked to play stringed instruments and harmony either the tres or the Puerto Rican cuatro and the symphony.

At the age of 7 he moved to his grandparents’ house to begin studying in elementary school in his native Puerto Rico, while studying in the afternoons he spent his time listening to Fania and its stars. Singers like Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, Ruben Blades, Ismael Rivera among others.

Courtesy of his cousin who was a loyal fan and collector of Willie Colon’s salsa etcetera, little by little he was learning to vocalize demonstrating the ability to learn to do vocals for the choir at that time he met a young Anthony Cruz for the first time and was impressed with his melodious voice, although they never shared in those days.

Carlos debuted at the age of 14 with an orchestra created by his cousin and some students of the vocational music school where he had the opportunity to accompany Santos Colon former singer Tito Puente, he decided to move back home to his parents where he met Anthony Cruz who lived on the same street where his parents lived, and who already belonged to the orchestra of Mario Ortiz and began to attend rehearsals, recordings and dances.

There he met a young Tony Vega, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Elias Lopez, Lalo Rodriguez, Dario Morales who encouraged him to take vocal lessons, but he never did for lack of time.

but he never made it due to lack of support from his parents because there were other hopes and expectations.

The teacher Mario Ortiz noticed his uneasiness and spoke casually with his parents, but the decision had already been made by his parents.

but the decision was already made by them leaving Carlos disenchanted with music and taking the decision to emigrate to the United States where he dedicated himself to the culinary arts for the rest of his life until 2004 when he met again with Anthony Cruz who already had a successful career as a soloist and was touring they spoke for a moment and that was enough to return to her first love, music.

Anthony Cruz introduces him to several of the musicians who accompanied him in that activity and the rest is history. He joins the orchestra as a chorus singer and debuts as a composer where he writes 4 songs for the production of a CD of the orchestra entitled Going solo under the musical direction of Harry Rios.

They gain the popularity and admiration of the salsa people playing in different parts of Central Florida, festivals, clubs, and discotheques.

They return and record a single Going Back to Old School on which Carlos dedicates a song to Israel Lopez Cachao titled 80 Year’s of Cachao with arrangement and direction by Luis Jungo Ortiz which had tremendous acceptance from the dancing public and the radio listeners, from there Carlos decides to retire from music again to continue his career in the culinary arts.

Until he receives a call from an old friend asking him to help him with the choirs because he was going to accompany different artists.

Carlos began to accompany different singers with that orchestra called La Predilecta as a chorus singer among which there were names of the height of Anthony Cruz, Lalo Rodriguez, Cano Estremera, Manolo Lezcano, Chamaco Rivera, Frankie Figueroa, Ommy Cardona, Paquito Acosta, Paquito Guzman, Hector Tricoche, Papo Cocote and many more.

Carlos has written several songs including a collaboration between Anthony Cruz and Danny Sanchez titled No Vale la pena Enamorarse with arrangement by Luis Jungo Ortiz.

In addition to a song titled Today again under the tutelage of Harry Rios sung by Danny Sanchez currently Carlos Enrique Lopez known as Carlitos (the favorite fatty) made his debut as a solo singer.

And is promoting the theme of his authorship entitled Me Enamore under the direction, arrangement and production of the master Luis Jungo Ortiz which has enjoyed a good reception on digital platforms, social networks and independent radio stations on the internet.

As Radio Brisa Tropical con the master Taíno Roldán, Radio Calidad de vida del Dr Ted, Top 98 radio with Richie Sanchez and also.

Que Siga la Fiesta

Carlos has just recorded a song of his authorship entitled Que Siga la Fiesta in collaboration with 2 talented gentlemen from Orlando Central Florida and Miami are Edwin el Calvito Reyes and Luis Jibarito de Jesus under the direction and arrangement of Mike Rivera The Professor in the studio 305 Imma Studio owned by music engineer Immanuel Ramirez which came out on April 20, 2021.

Facebook: Carlos Enrique López

 

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On July 20, 1969 the orchestra “El Apollo Sound” of the great Puerto Rican musician Roberto Roena was born. Together with trumpeter Elías Lopés he founded “El Apollo Sound”.

This name comes from the first rehearsal of his group, which coincided with the day of the launching of the Apollo rocket to the moon.

Roberto Roena recorded 10 albums in nine years for the Sello Internacional, part of the Fania label, and although he was not a great student of music, he was able to surround himself with very good musicians and use his talent to form his own group, which is now in its fiftieth year.

It is indisputable that the most popular orchestra in Puerto Rico and South America during the 70s was Roberto Roena’s Apollo Sound.

“Lucky 7” was his seventh release in front of Apollo with the Fania International label, after his discreet debut as leader with Los Megatones and after a fruitful career as bongocero of Rafael Cortijo’s Combo and Rafael Ithier’s El Gran Combo.

With “Lucky 7” Roena consolidated his popularity on a continental level thanks to the arrangement of an innovative song that challenged the schemes of the overwhelming salsa sound institutionalized in New York during the decade: “Mi desengaño”, by Julio Merced and Pucho Soufront.

In 1976 the Apollo and its new singer Papo Sánchez, pride of Hatillo, climbed the charts with a nostalgic lyric inspired by unrequited love. In his arrangement, trombonist Merced himself incorporated the cadence of the samba, linked through its bars with a son covered with the nuances of bossa nova, jazz and bomba.

The hit “Mi desengaño” invited many to reinvent their sound and reformulate their proposals in salsa, with more elaborate arrangements and harmonic sophistication, such as those made in New York by Marty Sheller for Willie Colón.

In addition to the brilliant debut of Papo Sánchez, the excellence of “Lucky 7” rested on the arrangements and orchestrations of such great musicians as trumpeters Luis ‘Perico’ Ortiz and Elías Lopéz, pianists Papo Lucca and Jorgito Millet and the King of the Bass, Bobby Valentín.

The sequence begins with the guaguancó “Que me castigue Dios”, performed by Sammy ‘El Rolo’ González, Apollo’s star singer until “La 8va. Maravilla”, their next album. In “Que me castigue Dios” we hear at the end the then incipient Rubén Blades with the declamation of some verses that today would deserve the repudiation of feminist organizations, but that in 1976, were applauded by the prevailing macho sociology in the industry:

May my mouth dry up/If I ever kiss you again/And if I ever look at you again/May my eyesight blur/I’m tired of your bad breath/I never reproached you/Your feet smell too/And I know that not even the worms/With you they wouldn’t get their hands on that day you die/You a cow and I a horse with class/I wish a truck would run over your head/Pa’ que salga la sucieza con que tú a mi me me trataste.

“Lucky 7” was also an LP that satisfied the expectations of the dancer. Although many may have crossed themselves dancing to the samba of “Mi desengaño” and the fusion of “Que me castigue Dios”, the merengue “La mala maña”, arranged by Conjunto Quisqueya pianist Chokie Acosta, the pachanga with cumbia “Estás equivocada”, the composition “A bailar mi bomba” by Arsenio Rodríguez and the guaguancós “Me le fugué a la candela”, “La hija de la vecina” and “Fea” pleased the couples who in those days overflowed halls such as Rancho Luna, El Moroco and El Carretero.

There is no doubt that the best oiled edition of the orchestral collective Apollo Sound was precisely the one that intervened in “Lucky 7“, led then by flutist Miguel Rodriguez, trumpeter Mario Cora, timbalero Cuqui Santos, conguero Papo Clemente and trombonist Julio Merced, who later defected with singer Papo Sanchez to found the band Salsa Fever. Three decades after its release it is an irrefutable affirmation.

 

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The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson

Antonio “Tony” Succar (Lima, May 18, 1986) is a Peruvian-American percussionist, composer, arranger, band leader and producer.

Succar was born in Lima, Peru. When he was two years old, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Miami, Florida.

Among his relatives were several musicians who encouraged Succar to develop his own musical interests. The family’s musical tradition began with his paternal great-grandparents, Mexican composer Lauro D. Uranga and Spanish flamenco dancer Adelina Esteve Gregory.

Succar’s father, Antonio F. Succar, is a pianist and his mother Mimy Succar Tayrako Sakaguchi is a singer. Since he was 3 years old Tony started playing in The Peruvian Cajon, when Succar was 13, he started playing drums with his parents’ band when they played at weddings and other private and corporate functions, mainly in Miami, Florida, USA.

Succar attended Miami Sunset Senior High School in Miami-Dade County. At the time his ambition was to be a professional soccer player, and he played on several teams, including his high school team when it won the 2004 state championship. He later tried to earn a soccer scholarship to Florida International University. Unable to get a scholarship, he asked his father for study advice.

The advice he received was to apply to FIU’s School of Music.

Seeking an interview with the school’s drum instructor, he ended up auditioning for the Latin jazz ensemble and was quickly accepted. Succar earned a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Performance in 2008 and went on to study for a master’s degree, which he earned in 2010.

Succar already had an active musical career while still an undergraduate student. As a junior in college he took over as musical director of the family band, which he renamed Mixtura.

On September 21, 2010, Succar released an album recorded at his graduation recital, a live concert with Mixtura at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center in Miami. This CD/DVD contains a mix of Latin-influenced arrangements of classic jazz numbers and original material. It received numerous positive reviews including from Audiophile Audition5 and JazzChicago.

After graduating from FIU, Succar became artist-in-residence in 2012, and continued to work with the school’s music students on a number of projects. He is the youngest artist to ever hold this appointment at FIU.

Succar has worked with several prominent artists in Latin music genres. These include Tito Nieves, La India, Kevin Ceballo, Michael Stuart, Jon Secada, Jennifer Peña, Jean Rodriguez and Obie Bermudez, who collaborated with him on Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson.

The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson

Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson is a collaborative project to produce a musical tribute to Michael Jackson. In addition to live performances, the project plans to release an album consisting of 14 Jackson songs rewritten to include Latin influences, primarily salsa and Latin American rhythms, Succar, who was a long-term fan of Jackson’s work, is the founder and producer of the project. Unity launched in 2015 with a concert at Miami’s Olympia Theater sponsored and broadcast on PBS TV, 360 stations, primetime, Friday night at 9:00 p. m., and also sponsored by Universal Music Classic.

Unity features over 100 musicians, Latin superstars such as Tito Nieves, Jon Secada, La India, Obie Bermudez, Jennifer Pena, Michael Stuward, Angel Lopez, Sheila E., Judith Hill, Jean Rodriguez, Fernando Vargas, Maribel Diaz, Kevin Ceballo, hosted on PBS TV by Gloria Estefan, and the magic of Jackson’s legendary engineer, Bruce Swedien.

Succar’s sound is refined and distinctive. His up-tempo songs have an unmatched explosive energy, while his slower arrangements are soulful and captivate the listener with the intricate nuances that are signatures of his sound.

Tony is currently working on his next album and touring the world with his band.

He has performed at the Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival (Aruba), the Ravinia Festival (Chicago), Auditorio Telmex (Mexico), Vivo Beach (Puerto Rico), Tempo Latino (France) and the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards (MGM Grand Las Vegas ), among others.

Contacts:

Youtube: tonysuccarofficial

www.tonysuccar.com

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Edwin Morales, founder, bass player, director of Mulenze.

Orquesta Mulenze was born in 1976 thanks to the motivation of Edwin Mirales who was a young rocker back then and decided to switch his guitar for a bass and to form the YAMBO Orchestra, which served as a companion of artists such as Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda among others arriving to Puerto Rico without an orchestra; then it was later identified and we would know it as Mulenze.

The orchestra was created at a time when salsa was booming and was fortunate to have musicians, composers, and singers of great stature who are currently recognized among which we highlight Cano Estremera (El dueño del soneo) who later joined the Bobby Valentin’s band as a vocalist; In the chorus, singer-songwriter Pedro Arroyo who has contributed several of his compositions to Mulenze; in the piano, we have Andy Guzman and Eric Figueroa, the latter was one of the influencers in the style adopted by the orchestra, practicing a rather sophisticated and little revolutionary rhythm for the public who follows popular music.

Mulenze was one of the first orchestras to use synthesizers in salsa, rhythmically working outside the beat in which the clave pattern is established to give a jazz variation to their music; this innovation that was not widely accepted by the groups established at that time, although this would give respect and an identity of its own to the orchestra with its amazing arrangements.

Edwin Morales known for his first name only in his family circle. But if someone calls himself a salsero, he has to know who Edwin “Mulenze” is.

This bassist of Bayamon, who has performed with the most important exponents of the salsa genre, has written his own page in the history of this musical genre as the founder and director of the Mulenze Orchestra.

“Salsa will not die and I would say that it is in a fulfilling moment. The new orchestras, which are like us when the pillars of salsa were in full swing and we were called the youth orchestra, are carrying out their work very well.

To this is added a group of boys who are taking their dance academies to municipalities and have resurrected the salsa dancer,” said Edwin.

Pedro Brull continues to see him as the official voice of La Mulenze although he left the group in 2005 to start his solo career.

Edwin succeeded in establishing an identity for the orchestra and my singing style flowed really well with his proposal. But after 24 years, I wanted to seize the opportunity to record an album (Pronóstico).

Today I work mostly outside Puerto Rico and have to admit that I am traveling the world thanks to “La Mulenze,” Brull commented.

For the first time in Miami in the framework of his 40th Anniversary this Saturday, September 11, the Orquesta of Eternal Youth “Mulenze” will perform with its original singers Pedro Brull, Kenny Cruz and Rafael “Ito” Andino.

The event will take place in the “Carpa Salsera”, this concert promises to be a huge success because with more than a year and a half without live performances due to the global pandemic caused by the Coronavirus, thanks to the organizers Giovanny Lopera, Lucy Corres, Mauro “El Fantástico”, José “Rumba” and its primary sponsor “El Rancho de Miami”.

 

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