North America

Medusa Pop Band delights its fans with a pretty interesting mix of rhythms

Medusa Pop Band is a group based in the city of Calgary, Canada, that is mainly focused on the Spanish language and Latin rhythms of the 80s and 90s, so it has some very particular characteristics that distinguish it from other bands that can be found in the aforementioned country.

As we found everything about the Medusa Pop Band very interesting, we contacted its manager to talk to some of its members and know a little more about the band. This is how we have managed to have a wonderful conversation with Lorena Galindo, Eduardo Infante and Willy García, who talked a bit about their beginnings, styles and future projects.

Medusa’s members — Medusa Pop Band from right to left: bass player Eduardo Infante, drummer Cristian Gonzalez, keyboardist Lee Que Long, lead singer Lorena Galindo, guitarist Kalvin Ma, and percussionist Willy Garcia

Musical backgrounds of the current members of Medusa Pop Band

As is the case with most bands like this, its members have already been part of other groups until they met and came together to do completely new things. This is how Lorena, vocalist and founding member of the group, who has been working with versatile music for more than 40 years, explains that she had the idea to create this project just two years ago. She even worked with the famous actress and singer Lucero and belongs to the musicians’ union in Mexico City.

In Eduardo’s case, he has more than 25 years of experience in rock in his home country Mexico, until he decided to move to Canada to try his luck. That was when he met Lorena and was invited to join Medusa Pop Band as the lead bass player.

On the other hand, Willy has five years of experience in music, so he would be the one who has the least time in this world, which does not diminish the importance of the role he plays. He was in a group called De Cajón, but when receiving the proposal of Medusa Pop Band, he decided that this was what he was looking for and accepted to be the percussionist and be in charge of ”embellishing” the songs, as he himself describes it.

How Medusa Pop Band was created

Eduardo heavily emphasizes that the one who started the whole project and put together the team is Lorena, and subsequently, the rest of the team joined his idea. In his case, he saw an advertisement on the internet saying that a group was looking for new members and he was postulated to be part of Medusa. He mentions that what attracted him to this proposal was the style of pop handled by the group and the possibility of playing the bass, which he loved being able to do since he had always played the guitar and it represented a challenge for him.

Willy commented that he lived very near to Lorena’s home and they already had a friendship for a long time. When he found out that Lorena was also a musician, he was invited to rehearse with the rest of the band and loved the kind of music he listened to and professionalism of the musicians there, so he stayed with them.

With regard to the name of the band, Lorena explains that she had always wanted to do something with the famous figure from Greek mythology Medusa, in addition there was a nightclub called

Medusa in Mexico City the singer liked a lot, so it all added up to being the name chosen for her band. In the end, the word ‘‘pop” was added because of the main genre on which the group bases its discography.

Medusa Pop Band performing live in Calgary, Canada

Why choose Canada to establish Medusa Pop Band?

‘‘We have chosen Canada to establish the band basically because we all live here and it was in this country that we all met. There was no way for Medusa Pop Band to be born in any other country but this one” said Lorena about the reasons why to establish the band in this country.

On this, Willy added that the diversity of nationalities in the group has been a great advantage for them in Calgary, as that has allowed each member to bring their own essence to the music they are doing. ‘‘It’s very important for us to have more diversity in the rhythms we choose to make more people happy and please a wider audience. I think Canada is an excellent country for that” said the percussionist.

Receptivity of the Canadian public towards Medusa Pop Band’s Spanish-language music

Eduardo has said that the reception from the Canadian public towards them has been warm and has come from less to more. In fact, he commented that the amount of assistants to their shows has been growing exponentially and every day the band are gaining more and more fans at the local level.

”Currently, we only have music in Spanish because we are focused on the Latin American and Spanish-speaking community, but we also have a musical amalgam of different countries and cultures, which makes Medusa Pop Band even more magical. We are always looking to please all types of audiences” Eduardo continued explaining.

Lorena also added that she and her bandmates have found that many Canadians love Spanish, to the point that they have learned that many fans have started taking Spanish classes to understand their lyrics, which makes them extremely happy and motivates them to keep creating more and better music.

Challenges Medusa Pop Band has had to face

Eduardo took the floor again to affirm that one of the biggest challenges facing the band has been finding Spanish-speaking musicians because there are not many in Calgary and the vast majority of them already have their own projects and bands, so getting the necessary elements for the group has not been an easy task.

To these words, Willy adds that the hardest thing to find are singers who speak Spanish, so he is glad Lorena handles that part. Faced with these challenges, he ended up by saying that the support of their families has been fundamental in order to move forward, and like any other band, its members spend many hours rehearsing each day of the week. That is why the understanding of their partners and children has made it much easier for them to follow this difficult path to the success they have achieved.

Nationalities in Medusa Pop Band

One of the most interesting things about Medusa Pop Band is that its members come from very diverse countries like Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Vietnam and China. This makes the group have elements with a variety of musical cultures so diverse that it could complicate the picture when agreeing to work on their music.

What Willy has to say about this is that the Latin musicians have a certain ”feeling” to play the music, while the Asians have a completely different one, so guitarist Kalvin Ma and keyboardist Lee Que Long have gone the extra mile to engage with the rest of the team and play their instruments as is required.

In this regard, Lorena stressed that both Calvin and Lee have done a great job all these years and their contribution to the group has been immeasurable, since they also propose techniques and add different sounds to those already known.

What has made things difficult for the aforementioned musicians is the language, as they do not speak Spanish and the rest of the band can only communicate with them in English, but that is no impediment to fulfill their role to the fullest.

Lorena from Medusa Pop Band — Lorena Galindo is the founder and lead singer of Medusa Pop Band

What makes them call themselves an eighties and nineties band?

Once again, Lorena took the floor to explain that the group describes itself as an eighties and nineties band because many fans of their work who are contemporaries with them, but that does not stop them from playing music of all kinds and all eras, either from the 80s or this same year. What they seek is to make different arrangements so that their covers sound different than their original versions.

It can be said that the age group that most often follows them goes from 18 to 50 years old, giving Medusa Pop Band a huge range of action. Additionally, the word ”pop” is too general and gives them the possibility to choose from a large range of genres and rhythms that captivate an ever wider audience.

Venezuelan businesswoman Joanna Torres is an example to follow

There are many Venezuelans who, due to the economic and political crisis that has affected their country in recent years, have had to set off for new horizons and leave their homeland to look for a better future for themselves and their family. Such is the case of the businesswoman and founder of Arepas Latin Cuisine Joanna Torres, with whom we had the pleasure of conversing with recently.

This talented young woman has a fascinating history of success and is a true inspiration to any Latino wanting to open paths in the United States or anywhere else in the world. That is why, from International Salsa Magazine, we decided to contact her and share her journey in the land of opportunities.

Businesswoman Joanna Torres — Venezuelan businesswoman and founder of Arepas Latin Cuisine Joanna Torres

Arrival in San Jose

The first American city where Joanna arrived was Miami and her goal was to do a master’s degree, since she had studied her undergraduate career in Venezuela. Once there, she realized that she had a lot of trouble learning to speak English and there were few opportunities to practice it, since all with whom she interacted with spoke Spanish.

It was then when a friend suggested the idea of moving with her to the city of San Jose, where it would make it easier for her to learn the language and spend time with people who spoke it all the time.

How Joanna began to conceive the idea of becoming a businesswoman

Two years after Joanna arrived in San Jose, she began working in a clinic and, together with her experience in administration and accounting, she learned everything she could about medical coding and the way medical procedures were coded. This gave her enough experience to dare to open his own medical consulting firm which has more than 22 years of operation and a total of 150 employees in Venezuela.

The entire staff of the consulting firm residing in the South American country speaks English and takes care of serving all customers in the United States. Joanna even took it upon herself to provide her workers with their own fiber optic internet by contacting some telecommunications engineers, since this service in Venezuela is extremely poor.

Since the medical consulting firm gave her the necessary experience as a businesswoman, she decided to expand into another area she was very passionate about: cooking. Joanna had been wanting to start a food truck in parallel to her current company for some time and saw the opportunity to do so through a friend and former college classmate who owned restaurants and food businesses. She proposed to Joanna to buy one of her restaurants and partner with her, which she finally accepted and that is how the first Arepa Latin Cuisine restaurant was born.

Joanna and her team — Joanna Torres and part of her team in San Jose

Reducing failure possibilities for Arepas Latin Cuisine

Joanna was aware that the possibilities of failure of her idea were high, but she told us that her extensive knowledge of finance was fundamental to overcome all obstacles.

She was always clear that she had to look for ways to generate more income within the same company. That is why she and her staff have been responsible for providing lunch to employees from technology companies, making food for events such as birthdays or weddings, organizing pop-ups (temporary restaurants created to promote new menus and specific events) in order to innovate and always earn a stable income in the corporation.

The businesswoman points out that she always tries to innovate, and with regard to this, she said ”I have invented some taco-arepas with which I use arepa flour to make the tacos and give them a different touch, so it would be a combination of both dishes. I always try to innovate and do different things to surprise people and keep them from getting bored”.

”At the San Francisco headquarters, we have chosen the strong liquor license to start offering Venezuelan typical drinks and rum such as Diplomático or Ron Santa Teresa. We are also doing some remodeling in the place to make it much more pleasing to the eye” she continued.

In addition, both the San Jose and San Francisco headquarters offer live music for diners to enjoy good Latin music while tasting their food. There is also a dance floor for those who wish to move to the rhythm of the orchestra of that day.

Joana’s grandmother as an inspiration to create Arepas Latin Cuisine

After taking the required steps, the first Arepas Latin Cuisine restaurant headquarters were opened in October 2021, but it was not easy. This was an effort made over many years in which Joanna did her best to be able to reach that point.

The beginning of everything was her grandmother, with whom the Venezuelan learned everything she knows about cooking. She was a cook, a cooking teacher and taught cookery courses and workshops to support her 12 children because she was widowed at a very young age. Joanna tells us that, at that time, she and her children made ground corn arepas to sell to markets and restaurants.

All this made her an inspiration to Joanna and led her to learn to cook since she was just nine. As a child, she knew that cooking would be important in her life.

Lots of secrets that Joanna learned from her, such as the way in which the dough has to be kneaded, the difference between making homemade arepas and arepas to sell, the amounts of ingredients to be used, the way to prepare the fillings for the dishes, among other things.

Joanna and her grandmother — Joanna Torres posing next to her grandmother, who sadly passed away on April 1, 2023

Reception to Venezuelan food in San Jose

Joanna ensures that her recipes have been a boom in California, since there was no authentic Venezuelan food in San Jose, so her project was a pioneer in this area.

The reception her food has got with Americans, Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese and many other nationalities has been truly amazing because dishes from Arepas Latin Cuisine, besides being extremely delicious, were something that has never been seen before.

The taste for food at Arepas reached such a point that the restaurant provides lunch to more than 300 employees in several technology companies such as Netflix, Snapchat and Tinder. It is worth noting that workers who are benefited greatly appreciate being able to enjoy a rich and varied menu every day.

The biggest challenges Joanna faces as a businesswoman

One of the biggest challenges Joanna has faced is to find employees who know the Venezuelan and Colombian cuisine (there are also several Colombian dishes on the menu) as it should be. ”Finding cooks with great experience has been complicated, but with the arrival of Venezuelan and Colombian migrants in California, we have been able to find staff with knowledge in the culinary arena” said the businesswoman on this topic.

For her, it is vitally important to employ people who are very clear about how to cook the main Colombian and Venezuelan dishes, so she takes this into account when recruiting her talents.

In addition to that, Joanna also sells Venezuelan products and has a hard time finding them in San Jose, so she has to bring them directly from Florida in order to sell them in California.

Joanna’s restaurant inside — That is what Arepas Latin Cuisine looks like on the inside

Advice for Latino migrants

When Joanna was asked to give advice to future Latino migrants who wish to move to the United States, the first thing that she pointed out was that they must work very hard in that country to get ahead. In her particular case, she claims to have had three jobs at the same time, since she was alone in the United States and lived only from what she earned.

She also added that ”you have to make sacrifices to succeed in life and always do things well according to the laws of the country that welcomes you. I think that there are many Venezuelans who confuse ‘native cunning’ (taking advantage or others and the economic, political and judicial system failures to do whatever you want without consequences) with intelligence, which makes them believe that they are above others and make serious mistakes. You have to do things well and eventually the much-desired success will come,” said Joanna on such an important issue.

Rey Ruiz’s ‘Contigo’ concert at the Coca Cola Music Hall in Puerto Rico was Phenomenal.

As part of his Contigo tour, Rey Ruiz returned to what he considers his musical homeland: Puerto Rico. Since August 1992, when his first album (Rey Ruiz) was released, he has not stopped singing. He affirms that from the beginning he longed for a concert on Puerto Rican soil like the one he finally achieved on March 23, 2024 at the Coca Cola Music Hall.

Rey Ruiz's 'Contigo' concert at Coca Cola Music Hall in Puerto Rico phenomenal — Rey Ruiz’s ‘Contigo’ concert at Coca Cola Music Hall in Puerto Rico phenomenal

Before the concert, we were counting on hearing the songs that the salsero’s fans turned into hits. Certainly, the Coca Cola Music Hall witnessed how the euphoria with which Rey Ruiz catapulted in the early 90’s was revived. We knew we would hear the usual hits, such as ‘No me acostumbro’, ‘Si me das un beso’, ‘Amiga’, ‘Si te preguntan’, ‘Mi media mitad’, ‘Luna negra’ and ‘Creo en el amor’. To these were added ‘El Rey del mundo’, ‘Mal momento’, ‘El hombre de tu vida’, ‘Así se compone un son’, ‘Es difícil de explicar’ and a medley that included ‘Miénteme’, ‘Estamos solos’ and ‘Eso digo yo’.

An emotional Rey Ruiz sang ‘Cuba y Puerto Rico’, a song of his own authorship, arranged by Papo Lucca, which was included in his 4th album (Destino, 1996). For this special performance he was accompanied by the Puerto Rican cuatro player Prodigio Claudio. The concert was brought to a close with a tasty rendition of ‘Mañana por la mañana’.

Rey Ruiz, whose battle cry also gave the title to one of his musical productions: Fenomenal (2000), clarifies that he is a composer by muse, and that he does not consider himself a composer by trade. However, he is a singer-songwriter by definition, and the composition that best defines him is ‘Si me das un beso’, a song that highlights the Caribbean spark that characterizes his lyrics and interpretations.

Rey Ruiz was one of the soloists who firmly established himself in the salsa scene when salsa romántica was taking over the changing spaces of Latin music. Salsa dura was evolving to give way to the new trend we know today as salsa romántica. With the repertoire with which Tommy Villariny’s production and Jorge Luis Piloto’s pen were shaping the salsa artist’s career, the success was epic. That great takeoff in the career of the icon of salsa romántica was given with the impulse of the person Rey Ruiz calls “the daddy of the chicks”, his promoter: Edgardo Barreras. During the concert, Rey Ruiz made a stop to thank Edgardo and the late Tommy Villariny, who was represented by his son Oscar, for the success of his career.

The performance at the Coca Cola Music Hall of the production by Rosalis Torres exceeded all expectations. It had been anticipated that there would be “a unique experience, a magical night with Rey Ruiz as part of his Contigo tour. The promise of an evening with the incomparable energy of Rey Ruiz on stage was fulfilled. Indeed, Rey Ruiz is a legend. His voice is unique, soft and romantic. However, that “softness” does not detract from his vocal strength, which he managed to show off accompanied by a large orchestra and symphonic sound.

The super orchestra that accompanied Rey Ruiz included Erick Castañeda on congas and musical direction, Elías Lopés, Jr. on timbales, Idelfonso Correa on bongo, Sergio Munera on bass, Héctor Ortiz on piano; Iván Odio, Mario Ortiz and Alfredo Pérez on trumpets; Alexander Zapata and Ramón Benítez on trombones; as well as Alain García, Laura Ruiz and Juan Carlos Gonzales on backing vocals. For the symphonic sound, the chamber orchestra featured Sarli Delgado on double bass and conducting the string ensemble; Leticia Medina, Olga Juliá, Stephanie Berríos Carla Berríos, Mariel Pagán and Emily Reyes on violins; Chrystal Villalongo and Gina Flaz on violas; and Keren Torres and Ruth Brin on cellos.

Rey Ruiz’s more than 30-year musical career confirms that Cuba and Puerto Rico are one bird with two wings. Rey Ruiz is the pride of Cuba and is also the pride of Puerto Rico, his home of always.

Also Read: Jerry Ferrao says in salsa key: “My life is a drum”.

Here we have Brazilian bandleader and composer Paula Maya

Today we have an exclusive that makes us very happy, since it is a talented artist from a country we had never talked about in this section: Brazil. We are talking about none other than the award-winning bandleader, composer, pianist, keyboardist and singer Paula Maya, with whom we had the privilege to talk by Zoom.

Paula has a very interesting background, since she was born in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of the world famous bossa nova genre and the popular composer, pianist and singer Carlos Antonio ”Tom” Jobim. It is clar that this had much to do with artistic inclinations that the woman would show later in her life.

Under her belt, she has several nominations and awards she received thanks to her talent and effort of so many years as her nomination to the Focus Web News Brazilian International Press Awards in the category of Best Brazilian Musician living in the US, her nomination to the Austin Chronicle Music Awards in the category of Top Ten World Music Bands, Winner of the Seattle Weekly Awards in the category of Best Brazilian Composer, her nomination to the Seattle Hot Rocks TV Show Music Awards in the category of Best Female Singer, among others.

Here are the most important topics we touched with lovely Paula about her life and career.

Singer Paula Maya — Brazilian bandleader, composer, pianist, keyboardist and singer Paula Maya

Paula’s early interest in music

Paula first developed an interest in music when she was only four years old or even younger, as she had musical toys such as pianos or keyboards she used to play with all the time. To this it is added that her mother always listened to classical music, which she already found beautiful back then.

What is interest about his direct family is the fact that there were no musicians in it. In fact, her father was a lawyer and her mother was a dancer and yoga instructor, but a cousin of hers was a bandleader, composer and music teacher who traveled to the United States and developed quite a big reputation at the time, so he became an example for Paula, who would end up following in his footsteps in the future.

When she turned 10 years old, she began taking piano lessons, which was her first formal experience with music. Since then, she has continued to learn about a lot of instruments and areas related to this art, which she assures that it is so rich and diverse that you never stop learning new things.

Paula’s mentors in music

Paula has been very fortunate to be mentored by some of the most talented musical celebrities in Brazil and one of them was producer and percussionist Teo Lima, with whom she has continued to work on her latest album to the present. Paula met this Brazilian legend in Seattle, where she lived for 17 years, and music led them to form a great friendship that has lasted until today.

They had wanted to make an album together for many years and it has finally happened, which was a dream for Paula, as she grew up listening to his greatest hits and dreamed about one day meeting him. Not only did she meet him, but also she became his friend and worked with him.

Another name we can leave out is guitarist Baden Powell, whom Paula met in her early twenties and describes him as someone who supported her a great deal in her career and even came to her shows to watch her sing.

Another artist who was important in her training was Luizihno Eça, who was one of the greatest exponents of bossa nova at the time and a great reference for all musicians who wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Paula at ONE-2-ONE BAR — Paula Maya performing at ONE-2-ONE BAR in Austin, Texas

Music theory and the Brazilian Conservatory of Music

Paula comments that, before entering the Brazilian Conservatory of Music, she had an excellent teacher who was a concert pianist of name Luis Magalhães, who taught her the best piano techniques that she uses today in her performances, meaning that she was admitted to the hous of studies with a solid foundation of knowledge that helped her a lot.

In addition to that, music theory has been very useful for Paula at the time of teaching her classes, since she is a music teacher and thinks that all this knowledge is fundamental for an artist’s education, since music is very logical and occasionally you must look for quick answers to certain situations that certainly require studying and academic training.

She also told us that she usually uses music theory when composing because of the theoretical part, but not always.

Paula as a bandleader, pianist, keyboardist and singer

When we asked Paula how she has developed and performed in all these areas of music, she laughs and says that this is just the beginning, as she is also in charge of producing, composing, recording her albums, running the business part, making booking arrangements, among other things. ”That’s the life of a musician nowadays, especially when you don’t have a machinery behind you to back you up” Paula said on this topic.

This means that, apart from all the musical knowledge Paula has, she also takes care of all the details regarding her work, but they do not have to do with her profession directly. She does not have a large team of assistants to back her up, so she manages everything related to her career herself.

Since there are so many things she should do, she has a calendar in which she arranges the day and time to do every activity and always follows it to the letter. The artist says that the hardest thing about this is finding the time to be inspired and compose, since so many occupations, sometimes, do not let her clear her mind. However, she has learned to take full advantage of those few spaces.

Paula playing the keyboard — Paula Maya playing the keyboard at Barton Creek Farmers Market in Austin, Texas

Paula’s role as a Grammy Award voting member

For some time, Paula was a Grammy Awards voting member in its version in English and Spanish, so we could not very well not ask her about this important issue.

She told us that, although it is true that she is no longer part of the committee responsible for voting, social networks and these new forms of communication have made things much easier, since judges and committee members have groups on Facebook, WhatsApp and other platforms where they can conduct the necessary discussions.

In her particular case, what she considered when the time comes to vote for a nominee was talent and how much she liked a type of performance, but all member had their own particular approach to choosing a specific artist.

Something that Paula definitely did not like was that the majority of votes to an artist did not necessarily reward talent, but rather the popularity of the moment and promotion. She thinks this is not entirely fair, since talent, music skills and preparation do not always go hand in hand with popularity, but she is also aware that the ”game” is as well and she had to adapt to it.

Paula Maya & Bosa Nova Plus

Paula says laughing that everybody in Seattle expected her to play bossa nova because she was Brazilian, but she refused to do so. Eventually, she ended up doing exactly what the public expected and started playing bossa nova when she moved to Austin, Texas.

The fact that this Texan city has so many residents and musicians from Brazilian descent living in Austin has been an advantage for this genre to continue to become more popular and this niche to develop more and more. This led her to meet the musicians who have accompanied her in the band, who also came from playing bossa nova and other genres during their respective careers.

Oskar Cartaya “My Music, My Friends, My Time” He counted with the collaboration of illustrious friends such as Eddie Palmieri, Giovanni Hidalgo, Dave Valentín and Justo Almario.

Friendship and personal relationships seem to have always played a key role in Oskar Cartaya‘s recording career.

This was demonstrated Cartaya in his first recording, “My Music, My Friends, My Time” (2004) in which he had the collaboration of illustrious friends such as Eddie Palmieri, Giovanni Hidalgo, Dave Valentín and Justo Almario.

Bajista, arreglista, compositor y productor neoyorquino de nacimiento y bayamonés

This is also demonstrated by the second one, “Lifetime Friends”, which he co-led with trumpeter Humberto Ramírez and which was chosen as one of the best Puerto Rican productions of 2015.

For the bassist, arranger, composer and producer – born in New York and raised in Bayamon – connections with other people are a vital element for the development of any musician.

Those connections coupled with the tenacity Cartaya has always shown to continually improve himself as a musician allowed him to be part of the legendary progressive jazz-rock group Spyro Gyra for five years, produce albums for Willie Colón or Herb Alpert, and play with a long list of stars including Jennifer López, Christina Aguilera, Rubén Blades, Héctor Lavoe, Tito Nieves, Tania María, Arturo Sandoval, Steve Winwood and Randy Brecker, among others.

To all of them he has lent the sound of his electric bass, able to insert itself with total naturalness in modern jazz, Cuban rumba, Spanish flamenco or Brazilian cadences, but without ever losing its funky essence, which gives rhythmic impulse to the musical genre before him. For Cartaya, music is not a profession, but a passion of life.

That passion manifested itself at a very early age, when he told his Cuban-born father that he wanted to be a musician when he was just 10 years old. He completed his initial studies at the Escuela Libre de Música de San Juan, which he remembers with pride and affection.

However, he has affirmed that his first real musical school were the records of Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe, which he listened to at full volume in his room.

At the Escuela Libre de Música he was able to meet teachers and classmates who today are great masters of Latin music and colleagues of his, such as Humberto Ramírez himself. He also studied at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico.

Cartaya recalls that, although he studied chamber music in school, his real passion was Latin music…until he discovered jazz, thanks to an album by the great bassist Stanley Clarke. A new world opened up to his ears.

“I found a freedom in jazz that I didn’t find in Latin styles,” the musician said in an interview. “In salsa, for example, the maximum is when you are playing as part of a unit. Unlike jazz, whose pinnacle is when all the musicians improvise and go crazy playing, but everyone knows what they are doing.”

At 18, Cartaya moved to Los Angeles, where he began studying at the Musicians Institute of Technology. There he practiced for 15 hours a day, a devotion that brought him his first recognition: being accepted as a professor at the prestigious institution, two years after graduating from it.

However, his restless spirit and continuous desire to improve led him to make what he has described as the best decision of his life, moving to New York City. In the Big Apple – the place many consider the jazz capital of the world – he had the privilege of playing and recording with the late Argentine pianist Jorge Dalto; with Willie Colón and Rubén Blades; Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Dave Valentín.

“I learned a lot, matured and saw firsthand what it was like to be on my own,” the bassist said in an interview about this period of his life. “If the opportunity was going to be given to me, it wasn’t going to come to my house. I would have to look for it.” And so he did.

At that time he also had the opportunity to meet the late rock icon Prince, at his Paisley Park, Minneapolis studios, and to become a member of Spyro Gyra. By being accepted into that group over 10 other bass players auditioning for the position, Cartaya realized that success belongs to those who work hard and have faith in themselves.

“I was able to show a lot of people that there’s nothing worse than feeling bad about yourself if you don’t try,” he said in an interview. “All the nights I played for free or for five bucks to earn a chance were well worth it.”

In 1997, the bassist produced the “Passion Dance” recording project for veteran trumpeter Herb Alpert, an experience he has described as a new learning experience in his career, as well as a chance to expose himself to a wider audience.

“My Music, My Friends, My Time,” released in 2004, is a fusion of Latin, Brazilian, American and Flamenco rhythms that was very well received by critics.

“I wanted to do a project that would fill that gap that exists between Latin music and the world. I truly believe that the world needs to know that Latin musicians can do countless things within music, without throwing away their roots,” Cartaya said of the recording.

“Lifetime Friends,” produced alongside Ramirez, was described upon its release in 2015 as “an album of a cohesive and jubilant band,” in which all participating musicians – representatives of the new jazz generation in Puerto Rico – have a chance to stand out. “It’s the album we always wanted to make… to describe almost 40 years of friendship,” Cartaya and Ramírez indicated.

In 2017, Oskar presented the production “Bajo mundo” in tribute to the great Cuban bassist Israel “Cachao” López. This intense, exuberant album, with a multiplicity of rhythms, colors and guest musicians was distinguished as one of the most outstanding productions of the year by the National Foundation for Popular Culture.

It also won a Latin Grammy Award nomination in the category of Best Latin Jazz Album.

Source: Rafae Vega Curry

National Foundation for Popular Culture

“This biography is part of the archives of the National Foundation for Popular Culture. In our interest to disseminate knowledge about our great figures, it may be cited as a basis for research studies or as an assignment for pedagogical purposes, as long as credit is given to the Foundation and its author, if indicated. All rights reserved. The reproduction of the same in any printed, technical or mass media, with or without commercial purposes, is not authorized without prior written request to the Foundation and its consequent approval”.

Also Read: “The Sun of Latin Music” the first Grammy Award for Salsa Eddie Palmieri’s historic album