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Miguel “Angá” Díaz the percussionist who made his name in the ranks of Cuba’s legendary and enigmatic Irakere group

Miguel “Angá” Díaz (1961-2006) was a valuable and prolific Cuban percussionist. With his explosive solos and the creation of five conga toques, “Angá” was widely acclaimed as one of the world’s great congueros.

One of the mainstays of Afro-Cuban rhythm in recent times, Angá played with a multitude of jazz stars, from Chucho Valdés, Chick Corea or Steve Coleman, to Roy Hargrove, Minino Garay, Chano Domínguez and Herbie Hancock, among others.

The claim that he was one of the best percussionists in the world is backed up by the Grammy awards he won, his participation in such important projects as Buena Vista Social Club and the Afro-Cuban All Stars, and his status as sideman of geniuses like Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana or Danilo Pérez, as well as his membership in legendary groups like Irakere, according to Más i Más, the organizer of his concerts in Barcelona.

Miguel "Angá" Díaz el percusionista que se dio a conocer en las filas del legendario y enigmático grupo Irakere de Cuba — Miguel “Angá” Díaz el percusionista que se dio a conocer en las filas del legendario y enigmático grupo Irakere de Cuba

Father of three daughters – the eldest living in Cuba and the two younger ones in Paris – Angá never stopped searching for new forms of musical expression, experimenting with the fusion of different styles, such as jazz, African sounds, rock and hip-hop.

He was committed to the development of the conga, breaking the traditional barriers of percussion, to introduce them into classic Latin rhythms while preserving their distinctly Cuban roots.

He played with several Cuban artists, including Irakere, Afro-Cuban All Stars, Buena Vista Social Club, Omar Sosa, Omara Portuondo, Tata Güines, Rubén González and Orishas.

At that time he recorded and toured frequently with international musicians such as Steve Coleman, Roy Hargrove, Baba Sissoko, Ry Cooder, Pascal Coulon, Mezzadri Malik, Montgomery Buddy, Pascal Coulon and John Patitucci. Angá’s musical journey was a personal quest to investigate and create new sounds and rhythmic fusions.

More than just an artist, Angá demonstrated his commitment to the development of his instrument, teaching master classes at various schools and universities in North America and throughout Europe.

For Paris-based Argentine percussionist Minino Garay.

“He is indisputably one of the great percussionists of his generation; the greatest of all. His death causes me enormous sadness, as if it were a story that did not end,” lamented Garay, who will not attend the funeral this Friday, due to the fact that on that day he will give a concert in Vance, in the south of France. “I will certainly dedicate it to him,” he added.

Miguel Angá Díaz (1961-2006) fue un valioso y prolífico percusionista cubano

Angá Díaz received his formal education at the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, and after joining the Latin jazz groups Opus 13 and Irakere, where he perfected his conga playing technique, he moved to Europe, where he devoted himself to exploring the fusion of styles, bringing Cuban music closer to other musics and thoroughly investigating the relationship between Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and technology.

In the summer of 2005, Angá released his first solo album EChu Mingua, which the musician himself described as “a musical religious mass. Spiritual music is when the spirits are invoked to come down to earth, inviting them to a party or to talk to them”, and that is “the whole concept of the album”.

Transgressor of conventions, Angá emerged as an independent, free and committed musician with a wide variety of projects, from experimental jazz with Steve Coleman and Roy Hargrove, and hip-hop with the Orishas, to his participation in Omar Sosa’s tours, in addition to participating in numerous alternative projects with musicians from all over the world.

Angá’s musical trajectory was a tireless search, whose main purpose was to explore and create new sounds, as well as rhythmic fusions.

Source: jornada.com.mx

Miguel “Angá” Díaz

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Son Del Monte’s musical director and timbalero Manuel Rivera

Who is ”Manny”

Manuel ”Manny” Rivera is the musical director and timbalero of the Son Del Monte Orchestra. We had the great opportunity to have a friendly conversation with him to know in detail his beginnings, career, groups, role as musical director, among other things.

Manuel ''Manny'' Rivera tells us his interesting story — Manuel ”Manny” Rivera tells us his interesting story

Time in the Yambú Orchestra

After apologizing for his deficits in the Spanish language, he continued by thanking us for the opportunity to tell his story and describe his time in the Yambú Orchestra, which was the first group in which he could start developing his talents in the 70’s. ”what we wanted to do at that time was make a mix between jazz with typical music because the pianist, who was of African descent, was who wrote the music with musical director and bassist Ramón Rodríguez”. It is presumed that the pianist focused a lot on these genres because of his roots, but his colleagues were fine with it.

Although he loved jazz, Manuel began to notice that it was not very danceable for the audience, which is what caused him to become interested in charanga, a genre that was already very famous in New York City in those years. That’s how he decided to immerse himself in this set of rhythms because he liked to see people go to the dance floor and enjoy themselves.

He also liked Yambú’s style a lot, but felt he had to take a more accurate path for what he was feeling at the time.

Similarities of Son Del Monte with other jazz big bands and members

I was a bongo player, but I started playing timbales because they are widely used in charanga. What I was looking for was to do a similar thing to what Eddie Palmieri did with La Perfecta, who used trombones and a flute mixed with timbales to achieve a charanga sound” said Rivera on this subject. He also added that ”I also wanted to avoid monotony of charanga so I also started using trombones, violin and a flute. This is what I have baptized as chajunto, a mixture of charanga with the characteristics of an ensemble (conjunto in Spanish) ”.

He also pointed out that New York does not have an orchestra like his because he did not want to do the same thing that all groups of this kind do, but something different and novel. ”Son Del Monte is charanga with something more for the people, not only violin and flutes,” said the artist. ”I have three singers with three different styles and they are Puerto Rican Luis Ayala, Colombian Armando Son Giménez and Puerto Rican-Dominican Luisito Soto Junior,” he added.

The Son Del Monte Orchestra also features from the talent of flutist Mauricio Smith Junior, violinist Erick Salazar, trombonist Juanga Lakunza, trombonist Charlie García, bassist Bert Castro, conguero Joe González, pianist Andy Colón, among others. This is the group that has stuck by his side for more than six years in spite of the storms and they always perform together.

All members of the Son Del Monte Orchestra

Opinion on the academic training of musicians

Rivera was one of the best students at Harbor’s Conservatory of Music in Manhattan, New York and he thinks that institution had done so mucho good for folk music because of all the talent that graduated there. After studying there, he began to read percussion music and learned to play batá, tumbadora, Colombian rumba, guaguancó, yambú, and so on.

The musician stresses the importance of studying, as this knowledge helps to understand the clave, the moment to start playing an instrument, the chime, the reading of music, discipline and many more. Before this, Manuel played led by the spirit and sensations, but his teachers at the conservatory taught him to have the technical tools necessary for being even more professional.

What is more important, experience or studies?

”Definitely experience. I have seen many great artists learn to read music without going to a conservatory and a great example of that is Roberto Roena, who did not need that learning to be who he was. However, that is something that not everyone can do” said Manuel. I can also mention the case of Tito Rodriguez who was not a musician guided by the lyrics, but he knew very well what he wanted. These are some of the many examples of privileged artists who only needed accumulated experience to achieve wonders with their work”.

However, this does not mean studies are not important, as they can teach things that can be useful later on and under some circumstances.

Front cover of the Son Del Monte Orchestra's album ''Una Charanga Con Algo Más'' — Front cover of the Son Del Monte Orchestra’s album ”Una Charanga Con Algo Más”

Covid-19

”The pandemic did not let us do anything on stage. The guys went to the studio from time to time or we met virtually, as we do now. It was so sad because there are many venues that have failed to open their doors again. Since the pandemic started, we have not seen as much activity in New York as it used to be before” expressed the artist sadly.

Also of concern to the musical director of the Son Del Monte Orchestra is that this situation has put many musicians out of work, at least in the industry. Active musical groups have very few members in the vast majority of the cases, contrary to his and the orchestra he conducts. He hopes that it will improve with time.

Joe Arroyo was an excellent Colombian singer and composer of salsa and tropical music

On November 1st, 1955, Alvaro José Arroyo González, better known as “Joe Arroyo”, was born in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

He was an excellent Colombian singer and composer of salsa and tropical music, considered one of the greatest interpreters of music in his country.

His songs were national and international hits, he won multiple Gold records throughout his career, among them, 18 Gold Congos and Super Congos won in the Festival of Orchestras of the Carnival of Barranquilla.

Among his most relevant songs are “La rebelión”, “Tania”, “Mary”, “En Barranquilla me quedo”, “El Ausente”, “Tumbatecho”, “Centurión de la Noche”, “Manyoma”, “La noche”, “La rumbera”, “La guarapera”, “El trato”, “Con Gusto y Ganas”, among others.

In November 2011, Arroyo won the Latin Grammy award for best singer/songwriter at the 2011 Latin Grammy ceremony.

Born and raised in the Nariño neighborhood of Cartagena, Arroyo began his career at a very early age, when from the age of eight he sang in bars and brothels in Tesca, the tolerance zone of his hometown.

Joe Arroyo fue un excelente cantante y compositor colombiano de música salsa y tropical

In his early days he sang with groups such as Los Caporales del Magdalena, Manuel Villanueva y su Orquesta and the Supercombo Los Diamantes (the last two in 1970); in 1971 he recorded with La Protesta.

To look back, he started with the song “Manyoma”, which is Fruko’s, but has my arrangements. That’s where that hit was born, but it really came on strong when I had been with my band for four years. It is a sound that has soka, salsa, African sounds, cumbia, sea breeze and a 50% that comes from me but I have no fucking idea what it is.

Joe Arroyo commenting on the origins of joesón.

In 1973 he got his big break when he signed for Discos Fuentes after the producer, author and artistic director of Discos Fuentes, Isaac Villanueva, in the Suri Salcedo park in Barranquilla, was struck by a “pelao” who sang with the vibe of Cuban Celia Cruz. The announcer Mike Char had recommended him to Fruko and told him that he could see him in action at the El Escorpión stand, in the Pradomar (Atlántico) beach resort, as the voice of the house orchestra, La Protesta.

On Sunday Villanueva was there. And it caused him more impact. He spoke with Leandro Boiga, director of La Protesta, and obtained permission to take him to rehearse days later to Medellín. Thus Joe Arroyo joined Fruko y sus Tesos, an orchestra with which he achieved great fame and with which he recorded uninterruptedly until 1981.

Between 1974 and 1975 he performed with Los Líderes (Los barcos en la bahía), between 1976 and 1981 with The Latin Brothers (La guarapera), in 1976 with Los Bestiales, in 1978 with Pacho Galán (Volvió Juanita) and with La Sonora Guantanamera, and in 1980 with Los Titanes.13 He also sang in other groups such as Piano Negro, Afro Son, Los Rivales, Los Bestiales, Wanda Kenya, los Hermanos Zuleta, el Binomio de Oro, Juan Piña, Mario Gareña, Gabriel “Rumba” Romero, Claudia Osuna, Claudia de Colombia, Oscar Golden, Yolandita y los Carrangueros, among others.

In 1981 he founded his own orchestra, La Verdad, with which he dedicated himself to mixing diverse musical influences, mainly salsa with coastal music (cumbia, porro, chandé, among others) and with diverse Caribbean rhythms (socca, reggae) until he created his own rhythm, the “joesón”.

Some of the hits recorded with La Verdad are classics of the coastal music that earned him many awards and being considered the King of the Carnival of Barranquilla, where he won 10 Gold Congos and a Gold Supercongo (created especially for him) in the Festival of Orchestras.

One of his biggest hits was “La Rebelión” (1986), a song that tells the story of an African couple, slaves of a Spaniard, in Cartagena de Indias in the 17th century.

The piano solo, played by Chelito De Castro, and Arroyo’s soneos made “La Rebelión” an immediate hit that is still danced to at parties and discotheques throughout the continent.

In Mexico the same phenomenon happened since the song was first published in the LP “Tequendama de Oro Volumen 7” by Discos Peerless in 1987 and its LP “Joe Arroyo y su Orquesta La Verdad, Grandes éxitos”, still to this date the song is very popular in the sonidero movement.

Other of Joe Arroyo’s most successful songs were “El Caminante”, “Confundido”, “Manyoma”, “Tania” (dedicated to his daughter) and “El Ausente”, all recorded with Fruko.

The album “Fuego en mi mente” (1988) contains songs with influences from African music and contemporary salsa. With “La guerra de los callados” (1990), he made his first Spanish tour. In 1993 he released “Fuego” and played again in Spain.

Joe Arroyo recorded with Discos Tropical (1970-1971), Discos Fuentes (1973-1990) and Discos Sony (1991-2002). After an 11-year stint with Discos Sony, he returned to Discos Fuentes in Medellín in 2003, where he recorded his latest works: “Se armó la moña en carnaval” (2004), “Mosaico de trabalenguas” (2006) and “El Super Joe” (2007).

Joe Arroyo is one of the five Colombians who have appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Since the early 1980s, Joe Arroyo suffered multiple health problems that prevented him from touring and for which he was considered dead several times.

On September 7, 1983, he was presumed dead after suffering from a retrospective thyroid condition that kept him away from the stage. In 2000, he nearly died in Barcelona due to a diabetic coma and pneumonia.9

His medical history recorded ischemia, renal and motor problems and difficulty singing. In some concerts he even had to be helped up on stage due to weakness and disorientation.

In 1997, despite his health problems, he made a special appearance in the soap opera Perro Amor.

The singer’s health was affected on April 26, 2011 and he was hospitalized since late June 2011 in the clinic La Asunción de Barranquilla in intensive care for a clinical picture of hypertensive crisis, ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus with simple decompensation.

He was connected to an artificial respirator, underwent dialysis and a tracheotomy. His condition caused him to be considered dead on social networks, which was denied by both his relatives and the hospital.

All this took place in the midst of a controversy between the singer’s former family (his ex-wife Mary Luz Alonso and his children) and his friends, who considered that Joe was being exploited by his wife Jacqueline Ramón and his musical representative, who claimed that Joe Arroyo was not suffering from major health problems and announced his early return to the stage.

He died on July 26, 2011, at 7:45 (UTC -5), at La Asunción clinic in Barranquilla due to a cardiorespiratory arrest, as a result of a multiorgan failure (high blood pressure, infections, kidney problems) that had kept him in intensive care since Monday, June 27 of the same year.

He was buried on July 27, 2011 at the Jardines de la Eternidad cemetery in Puerto Colombia.

On October 19, 2011, his body was transferred to a special area for illustrious characters in the Jardines de la Eternidad cemetery.

On December 17, 2011, the Mayor’s Office of Barranquilla unveiled a statue of Joe Arroyo in the Musicians’ Park.

Arroyo had signed with Cenpro TV to produce a miniseries about his life, once Alejo, la búsqueda del amor of Caracol Televisión was finished, but in 2000 Cenpro TV went bankrupt after the crisis of public TV in Colombia.

Between June and December 2011 RCN channel aired a telenovela based on the singer’s life called El Joe “La Leyenda”. Sadly the singer passed away during the broadcast of the series.

After his death, Jacqueline Ramón and Mary Luz Alonso (two of Arroyo’s ex-wives) decided to build two museums respectively. Jacqueline’s museum will exhibit various items that stood out during her musical career, such as the 18 Golden Congos won at the Barranquilla Carnival.

In the future, the museum is expected to be moved to a more appropriate location, once the approval of the Ministry of Culture has been obtained.

A wax statue designed by an American sculptor will also be exhibited there.

The other museum, located in the home of Mary Luz Alonso Llanos and her daughters Eykol and Nayalibe Arroyo, will also feature articles, photos and other Congos de Oro, in addition to a statue.

In July 2011, the Mayor’s Office of Barranquilla decided to name one of the stations of the city’s mass transit system, Transmetro, “Estación de Retorno Joe Arroyo”, in tribute to the singer’s musical legacy. According to the then Manager of Transmetro, Manuel Fernández Ariza, the Joe Arroyo station is the most important station of the integrated transportation system.

On March 1, 2012, a Colombian scientist discovered a new species of bee on the Colombian Caribbean Coast that was named in honor of the singer, the Geotrigona Joearroyoi.

On the same day of Joe Arroyo’s death, singer Checo Acosta composed “Adiós Centurión” while on a trip from Medellín to Barranquilla.

The video and song were released months later. Another song that paid tribute to him was titled El Rey Del Carnaval, with the participation of Juan Carlos Coronel, Petrona Martínez, Checo Acosta himself, the pianist and singer Chelito de Castro, Ricardo El Pin Ojeda, who was timbalero of the orchestra La Verdad and also with Eykol Tato Arroyo, daughter of the Maestro. This song was included in the commemorative album made by Cervecería Águila.

Joe Arroyo

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Carlos Peluzza Del Carpio, the versatile Peruvian musician, was in San Juan Puerto Rico

One of Puerto Rico’s salsa anthems is, without a doubt, ‘Borinquen’. Below, Papo Lucca, leader of the famous salsa group, tells us why he included the Peruvian percussionist in that song.

Papo Lucca needed an expert percussionist in Puerto Rican dance for the song ‘Borinquen’, written by Johnny Ortiz, which he would include in the LP ‘Unchained Force’.

It was 1980 and in those days Carlos Peluzza Del Carpio, the versatile Peruvian musician, was in San Juan.

Papo did not hesitate to summon him. “He lived here in Puerto Rico for a long time,” the Sonora Ponceña leader tells us over the phone. “It’s just that in the Sonora I don’t have a redoblante.

And since Peluzza was here and shared his musical journeys with many artists from Puerto Rico, he did know those secrets of Puerto Rican dance. It was for that reason that I invited him to be on that recording, recalls Papo, 37 years later.

Wison Torres Jr. was in charge of finding the Peruvian musician, who incidentally was in charge of the arrangements of the song (together with Papo). Peluzza’ was only informed that he was needed in a recording room. When he arrived he saw the percussion ready, a bass and a piano.

A few minutes later Papo arrived, greeted him and the memorable session began. The percussionist remembers it as one of the most beautiful moments of his life. Borinquen’, in its 6.56 seconds, was a hit.

The vocals were provided by Yolandita Rivera, one of the greatest soneras ever born on the Island of Enchantment. The choruses were provided by Toñito Ledee, Miguelito Ortiz and Edwin ‘Caneca’ Rosas. Papo was satisfied. And Carlos ‘Peluzza’ treasures the story fondly.

That is just one of the many anecdotes that the famous pianist has with Peruvians. He remembers that one day on television in his country a girl and her father were singing the song ‘Fina estampa’. He liked it.

That’s why, in 1979, in the album ‘La Ceiba’, in which Celia Cruz sings, he decided to include that famous waltz by Chabuca Granda. “From that moment on, I got to know other pieces of Peruvian Creole music,” he says.

Papo has visited Lima many times. He has already lost count. He has friendships. For example, he is a friend of Carlos Aparicio, the volleyball coach. He assures us that once they even participated in a game of Alianza Lima’s girls. In addition, he reminds us that Edwin Caneca Rosas is also a referee of that sport. So everything was conspiring.

It is a June morning in La Perla, Callao, and the conversation continues under the gaze of Juan Núñez, a Peruvian singer who a few weeks ago was in Ponce, Puerto Rico, fulfilling a dream: rehearsing with the Sonora Ponceña. Papo is generous with Juan, highlights his singing qualities and underlines the friendship that has grown between them.

Carlos Peluzza Del Carpio, el versátil músico peruano

Precisely, we took the opportunity to ask him about the orchestra’s recent hit entitled ‘Canción a mis amigos’. This salsa was born after the terrible natural disasters that Peru and Colombia faced at the beginning of this year with the El Niño Costero phenomenon.

The composition is by Francisco Alvarado, who wrote it in two days. The voices were provided by Jorge Nicolai and Darvel García. What happened to you identified us a lot,” says Papo.

The musician adds that he felt that La Ponceña should make itself felt with a song of solidarity. Now it is time for it to be played on Lima’s radio stations. Will it become popular?

The twenty minutes of chatting come to an end and Papo has many topics left in the pipeline. He is very grateful and Juan Núñez tells us that behind his solemn appearance there is a human being who enjoys, who is passionate about music and who is always observing how to amalgamate sonorities. La Sonora Ponceña is still going strong and hopefully soon we will be able to see it unload in Lima.

We need to chant ‘Canción a mis amigos’. And that Carlos Peluzza, in one of those, returns to redoblar in ‘Borinquen’. Also that Yolandita Rivera sings? Hopefully.

Sources:

Martín Gómez V.

Papo Lucca

Carlos Peluzza

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