Australia |
New Zealand |
| OCTOBER 2023 FESTIVALS | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Search Results for: Bachata Festival
Latin America – October 2023
| DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| OCTOBER 2023 FESTIVALS | ||
|
|
|
|
Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe here in ISM
Eddie and his story
Latin talent has expanded all over the world to the point that there is a significant presence of these groups in Hawaii. Today we have talked to Eddie Ortiz, one of its leaders, who tells us his interesting story.
Eddie Ortiz, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, began his journey through music when still a child, which led him to become the musical director of one of the main Latin orchestras in Honolulu.
The following are the most salient aspects of his life and musical career.
The Armed Forces and moving to Hawaii
Eddie’s first contact with music was in school, when he began taking trumpet lessons for a few years until he moved with his family to Tampa, Florida, where his life would change radically.
While there, he joined the Navy and served for more than 20 years, time in which the artist took the opportunity to join the Marine band and hone his skills as a musician.
It was in those years he served as a trumpet player and played for several military bands being in the armed forces.
During his military career, he was forced to visit many countries and Hawaii was his last stop. About three years before retiring, he decided to create Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe, a group he still plays with today.
As for Hawaii, he liked the place, the weather and the people so much that he did not want to return to the United States. That was over 27 years in total. He still thinks it was the best decision he could have made personally and professionally.
Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe
Something very interesting about Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe is that they play Latin music, but most of the members are not Latino. The group has people from Japan, China, Portugal and Hawaii. In fact, some of them were with Eddie in the navy and, today, support him in this great project.
A very particular case is that of Cynthia Romero, the band’s vocalist, who was born in Manila, Philippines, and speaks six languages, but Spanish is not one of them. However, she is perfectly capable of singing in that language without any problem, since she practices a lot the songs at the phonic level to avoid mistakes.
Whenever there are original songs, Cynthia usually asks Eddie what a song is about and he explains it to her in detail so she can perform it and live out it properly. She also takes the trouble to translate all the content and learn it to avoid any failure in the studio or on stage.
In the case of the genres, a different level of preparation for each one is always required, so Eddie and Cynthia always rehearse alone at first, while the musicians prepare themselves separately. It is then that they all join together to see how the band sounds as a whole.
Learning from other artists on stage
The members of Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe have had the opportunity to share the stage with Ismael Miranda, Celia Cruz, Johnny Polanco, Tito Puente Jr, Luisito Rosario, and many more. When asked what he and his musicians have learned from these great artists, Eddie replied that the opportunity to accompany these personalities and open their shows have been a blessing and an immense honor.
”Each one of these artists has a very unique style and, whenever we accompany one of them, there are always new things to learn in order to be able to interpret those styles in the future. All of these things that we see in others are incorporated into our own music as we see fit” said Eddie.
The media’s role in his career
With respect to the media, Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe has had a presence in various magazines and channels such as Honolulu Magazine, KS TV, 88 Tee, University of Hawaii Sports Television, among others.
Eddie said they did not expect this media exposure, but it has been very well received. They have been asked to make music for one or two radio stations or channels, which has given them the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and be known among a wider audience.
The best thing is that this gave them the opportunity to explore other genres, as the aforementioned media have asked for pop, traditional Hawaiian music and other genres requested at that time.
Original music and covers
Eddie also told us that his band usually performs live on various entertainment places about four times a week, so they should try to have a repertoire as different as possible every night so as not to bore the audience.
Regarding covers, there are always certain songs that people usually ask for, so the band always takes them into account to satisfy those attending.
They also try to make a balance of all the genres they play such as salsa, bachata, merengue, cha cha chá, cumbia, Latin pop and many more.
Tours
Although the band’s strength is in Hawaii, their audience is not centred on the island and they have also managed to tour Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and the Philippines. In those places, the reception of the public towards Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe has been phenomenal because there are many lovers of Latin music and culture in general there.
Because of this, these countries usually have relatively large salsa events and festivals where they always take this band and other groups of this kind into account. Of course, they are also supported by dancers and DJs in order to liven up the atmosphere even more.
Eddie remembers attending an event called ”Isla De Salsa”, which featured El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, Juan Luis Guerra, Havana De Cuba and many others. This shows how much Latin music is valued in those places and the large number of followers it gathered.
To end the conversation, Eddie pointed out that they have a large audience in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, so they also have plans and are making the appropriate arrangements to go there soon and meet their fans. They will also perform an anniversary concert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the orchestra and will have Luisito Rosario as a guest.
Read also: Jimmy Rodríguez ”El Salsero Mexicano” talked to ISM about his career
Tempo Latino 2023
Tempo Latino is a music festival held in Vic-Fezensac, France, in the region of Gers in Gascony it is the first and the greatest Latin American and Afro-Cuban music festival of the summer in Europe. The festival was founded in 1994 and has been held annually since then.
“In 2020 and 2021, the festival was only interrupted for two consecutive years due to the containment of the new crown pneumonia (COVID-19) epidemic.”
With around 600 volunteers from all over the city for four days of intense activities and an audience of around 60,000 people from all over the world.
Tempo Latino offers a variety of Latin American and Afro-Cuban music, including Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba, Cumbia, Merengue, Rumba, Latin-jazz, Reggaeton and more. The festival also features dance workshops, food stalls and other cultural events.
International performers and instructors from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Africa, the United States (primarily New York, Miami, and California), and Europe have participated in a number of concerts and workshops
Tempo Latino has grown from a small festival to one of the most important Latin American music festivals in Europe. The festival hosts some of the biggest names in Latin music, including Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, Eddie Palmieri, Oscar D’ León, Johnny Pacheco, Adalberto Álvarez, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Kassav, Totó la Momposina, and Los Van Van. Tempo Latino has also helped advance the careers of many new artists.
Here’s more information on Tempo Latino:
- The festival takes place in a beautiful setting in the heart of the French countryside.
- The festival is family friendly and has activities for all ages.
- The festival is a great opportunity to experience a different culture and learn about Latin American and Afro-Cuban music.
A festival of concerts takes place in the square and, at the same time, many free outdoor events for those who want to discover music in the city’s dance halls in the afternoon and evening. In the second edition, they have integrated dance, music, and percussion lessons.
The 28th edition of Tempo Latino will take place from July 27-30, 2023.
The lineup includes:
La Conga
27 July – Ana Tijoux (France)
Les Arenes
28 July 2023
21:00 – Orchestra Baobab (Senegal)
23:00 – Grupo Compay Segundo (Cuba)
29 July 2023
21:00 – Lila Downs (Mexico)
23:00 – Cimafunk (Cuba)
30 July 2023
21:00 – Bernard Lavilliers (France)
23:00 – La Excelencia (USA)
and many more!
Pass Concert:
On the official website, tickets for four days are available for 120 € (during the festival, they cost 150 €).
Eric Duffau
The current director of Tempo Latino is Eric Duffau from Toulouse, France. He is also the founder of the music festival which he started in 1994. A passionate lover of Latin American and Afro-Cuban music, Dufour devoted his life to promoting this music to a wider audience and serves on the board of the French Association for the Promotion of Latin Music (AFMPL).
Dufoe was a tireless promoter of Latin American and Afro-Cuban music. He travels the world in search of new talent and works hard to make Tempo Latino a major cultural event. He is a passionate advocate of Latin music and works to bring this music to a wider audience.
Dufour graduated from the National School of Arts and Crafts (ENSAM) in Paris. In the early 1980s he worked as a DJ, during which time he became interested in Latin American and Afro-Cuban music. In 1989, he decided to create a festival to showcase this music and Tempo Latino was born.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TempoLatinoFestival
Origins of Kizomba
Kizomba is a very catchy musical genre that has its origin in Angola, Africa. It can be said that its birth was in the 1980s; but if we want to understand its history, we must look further back to the 50s and 60s.
It was then that certain traditional dances of the African country and one of them was semba, began mixing with other rhythms both from its country of origin and other cultures after Africa was colonized by Europe in the 14th century. It is from there that a fusion of rhythms begins in which partner dancing takes center stage.
However, the old continent did not do all the work. Argentina and Cuba also played an essential role in the form in which semba must be danced.
In Portugal, the word Kizomba has its origin in all musical rhythms that derive from zouk, with which it is often constantly confused. It is a type of dancing laden with great sensuality and highly contagious that has become very popular with the passage of time, particularly in countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, among others. Many Latin Americans consider that this is a breath of fresh air because it does not seem like anything they previously knew in terms of dance.
One of the reasons that it became so famous around the world is that this dance is very easy to learn due to its softness and simple dance steps. If you want to learn to dance, kizomba is a very good option to begin with.
Kizomba lets the couple play the music they dance. The more intimate the members of the couple, the more likely that the dance will be much more sensual and there will be much more complicity between men and women who enjoy this pleasure.
How kizomba originated
As we have said previously, kizomba has its origin in Angola, which was a colony of Portugal in the mid-1970s. With the arrival of Cuban military personnel, certain rhythms came from the Caribbean island that started to be used by various Angolan artists for their musical projects. The result was a fabulous mix of fast local rhythms with much slower, romantic and partially synthetic sounds.
The resulting genre was danced with semba and merenque, which made it known as kizombadas and, subsequently, kizomba.
By the 90’s, the word kizomba started to be used in Portugal to refer to all African rhythms danced in the nightspots of the most important cities in the European country. With the passage of time, the term would be used to refer to the musical genre and many other sub-genres with which it shares history.
Once this type of dance began to take hold in the rest of Europe, it was in France where all these rhythms that resemble one another started to be called kizomba, leading to the controversy over whether it and soft zouk are the same. Given that on certain islands belonging to France they were the cradle of zouk, it can be assumed that this has kindled heated debate even further still.
At the beginning, kizomba was only able to spread throughout the African continent, but migration allowed it to reach Europe and America respectively where a lot of passionate dance groups of this genre began to appear. The number of followers accumulated by this genre in countries such as Portugal, France or Spain was very huge.
Currently, there are a number of exponents of this kind of music that became famous worldwide such as Nelson Freitas, Djodje, Anselmo Ralph, Matias Damasio, among many others.
Kizomba in Europe
It is incredible the number of places where you can enjoy this spectacular dance. One of them is the world famous Eiffel Tower, where there are many options to learn or improve the dance steps. In France, the genre has been very popular, so much so that many places for dancing celebrate exclusive kizomba nights known as kizomba soirées by the locals. Considering the major African influence on this dance, those wishing to find out more will be able to enjoy a wonderful mix of dance styles and cultures that will leave no one indifferent.
In these places, you can share with a very impressive amount of tourists and foreigners from around the world. This contributes enormously to linkages and friendships between people of other cultures and other ways of seeing the world, which may be very rewarding from all points of view.
In the case of Lisbon, Portugal, it can be said that this is another place that every lover of kizomba in Europe should visit. Besides being a city that receives all its visitors with genuine hospitality, the dancing and music are ever-present. Among the many places you can go to enjoy the dance, it is important to mention the Estudio Sabor & Dança dance studio, the Academy World Dance and the Kizomba Power Dance School.
Regarding Barcelona, Spain, what can be said is that this is one of the best European cities for dancing as there is a gigantic variety of musical styles that can be found there. There are always parties and events worth attending. One of those dances that can be found in the city’s nightlife is kizomba that has gained popularity in recent years.
Latin music events and festivals were based on salsa and bachata, but kizomba has completely changed that reality. Today, it is very common to find festivals and congresses dedicated exclusively to this dance and its most loyal lovers. If you want to learn to dance this genre, there are a number of schools and workshops that could be very useful such as Así se Baila, Seven Dance and Baila Barcelona.
Kizomba in Latin America
Many people who do not know the origin of the kizomba think that it originated in Latin America due to its type of dancing, but the fact is that this dance was not even known in most countries of the continent. In fact, its main boom started relatively recently in some places such as Colombia, where it began to be known not long ago. In that country, there are currently academies and teachers who are dedicated exclusively to this musical style, which has started to happen in other Latin nations.
In Venezuela, it is said that it has been danced for more than 10 years, but it began to be known a short while ago thanks to some videos on the major social networks after it became famous in Europe. The pioneers of this practice were a certain number of instructors born in the Caribbean country after being trained in Brazil. Following this, kizomba was the subject of a great deal of interest in many young Venezuelans who want to learn to dance it. There are not many records on places to dance where this genre may be found, but there is no doubt that soon it will be like this.
Kizomba in Asia
There are many events and congresses linked to kizomba in Asia, which have a great influx of visitors, even when it is commonly believed that Asians are not fans of this type of rhythm. Experience with congresses of the last years has given the impression that this is not true. In fact, there are many fans of this rhythm from the continent who want to know all events and competitions details that are carried out in their countries for the coming months.
Japan is one of the nations where this type of event can be found the most. Such is the case of the Japan Kizomba Festival that has been going on in the country for many years due to the high level of attendance of visitors.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WOVBNULkYc