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Puerto Rican singer and talented sonero Charlie Maldonado

Interview with Charlie Maldonado

José Charlie Maldonado Rodríguez, artistically known only as Charlie Maldonado, is a Puerto Rican singer who has a great talent as a backup singer and sonero, which he has been developing throughout a prominent and very successful career in the world of music.

After having read his biography and being interested in the journey he has been on in salsa, we decided to contact him and arrange a conversation in which we could learn more about him and everything he has done to get here. Next, is a little bit of Charlie’s beginnings and, later on, everything he told us.

Charlie talked to us — Talented Puerto Rican singer Charlie Maldonado, who kindly accepted to talk to us

Beginnings

Charlie was born on October 4, 1964 in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. At a very young age, he was always exposed to boleros and salsa music, as his father belonged to a musical trio that was very popular at the time.

For those years, he listened to Ismael Rivera, Cheo Feliciano, Gilberto Monroig, Danny Rivera, Marco Antonio Muñiz, among others. Charlie said that, with such references at that time, it was impossible not to be enchanted by the music, so his interest in this branch of the arts grew and grew over time.

His interest got to the point where he wanted to learn to play percussion instruments such as the tambourines, the maracas, the drums and, most especially, the bongo (it was the first instrument Charlie learned to play).

Although he does not consider himself as the best bongo player of the world, he is believed to be very capable of playing it efficiently and delighting the listening audience. Most interestingly, he did not achieve this level through formal academic training at an institute, but through constant practice at ”rumbones de esquina” (congregation of people who play music, dance and drink alcohol on a street corner), school activities, family gatherings and Christmas parties.

These informal activities in which he was able to participate gave him the opportunity to develop as an artist from a very young age. In addition, his father and other musicians in the family helped him a lot in this process. The magic you feel when you play music, the family warmth and interaction with the public are not learned in any academy,” said Charlie.

Charlie at rumbones — Charlie Maldonado practiced his skills at ”rumbones de esquina”, school activities, family gatherings and Christmas parties

The Saljaztet

The first opportunity for Charlie to play in a professional group came with The Saljaztet in 1990 thanks to its founder Bobby Concepción, who saw him singing in one of those street parties and believed in his talent and what could be done with it.

Bobby is an industry veteran who has worked with many orchestras such as Orquesta Panamericana and La Orquesta del Maestro Willie Rosario. Being around him taught him a lot and he gained a lot of experience by seeing him in action on stage.

He even taught him some vocal and instrumental techniques to apply in his performances.

Charlie keeps the best memories of this group, its director and his colleagues. He is extremely grateful for everything he learned from them and continues to apply many of these things today.

Osvaldo Núñez, Sammy Marrero, La Selecta and more

”Every human being who comes into our lives has a lot to contribute and teach us. Lord made is different, so all the musicians I’ve worked with have taught me different things” said the artist.

Osvaldo ”Cuchón” Núñez is a brilliant musician who was very dynamic on stage. He was able to play the trumpet, do chorus and lead at the same time. He performed all of these functions excellently, which is why Charlie paid too much attention to what he was doing and copied him.

Raphy Levitt from La Selecta de Puerto Rico was an extremely regimented person who ran the orchestra very well and was excellent for business. He had an almost military discipline and was extremely picky about his musicians and vocalists, to the point that he made them rehearse separately depending on their roles on stage.

Levitt, Marreno, ,Núñez, and Charlie — Levitt, Marrero, and Núñez were very important in his career

In the case of Sammy Marrero, he was always at the height of Levitt’s demands and sometimes exceeded them. In addition to being extremely disciplined, he always lived up to what was required of him on each project and even a little more. He even worked with him when he had his own orchestra, a period in which Charlie learned even more from him.

On this subject, the singer concludes that ”The personalities mentioned have taught me three fundamental things: discipline, perseverance and respect for the public”.

Solo career

The idea of becoming a soloist was always on his mind, but it was not until 2016 that he was able to carry it forward. The previous year, in 2015, the maestro Raphy Levitt unfortunately passed away, at which time Charlie had some songs recorded.

He was already thinking about becoming independent and creating his own musical project, but had not decided to leave the orchestra until the death of Levitt. That is when he got hands on work and finished the record production he had already started.

In 2016, he launched his first solo project entitled ”Dueño de Nada”, whose songs are mostly written by Charlie Ramos. The only cover in the album is precisely ”Dueño de Nada”, which was written by Manuel Alejandro and masterfully played by José Luis Rodríguez ”El Puma” in the 1980’s.

His most recent album is entitled ”Vida Artificial”, which was released in September last year and addresses very interesting and current issues. The single that gives its name to the whole album, ”Vida Artificial”, ”is perfect for today. Phones, tablets and computers are damaging everyone’s mind. There are families who sit at the table, but don’t even talk to each other focus their attention to electronic devices. Technology is important, but we can’t be connected to it all the time. That was the message we wanted to bring with Artificial Life” said Charlie.

Charlie on stage — Charlie Maldonado singing on stage

Future projects

Charlie is about to release a song titled ”Señora Rumba” written by Eduardo Saya. The material has already been recorded and Charlie and his team are working on the video clip, which has a few shots filmed. It is expected to be released this August.

Likewise, he is working on his concerts and private presentations in Puerto Rico, but some opportunities are opening up in Colombia in the future.

También lee: We spoke with Andrea Chaparro from Lulada Club

The void left by Felix ”Pupi” Legarreta

Pupi’s life

Cuba has given the world a large number of artists who have left the name of the country very high, so it is always a good moment to talk about them. Such is the case of arranger, composer, singer and musician Felix ”Pupi” Legarreta, who sadly left this world last month.

Given that this great exponent of Cuban music and the charanga genre is no longer with us, we think it is a great opportunity to remember a little of his career and all the way to becoming the great artist he was.

Pupi playing the violin — Pupi Legarreta playing the violin on stage

Pupi’s childhood

Felix Legarreta was born in 1940 in the city of Cienfuegos, Cuba, and from the very early age, his father nicknamed him ”pupi”, as he would be called for the rest of his artistic life. ‘’Puppy in Spanish means ”cachorro” (a very young dog), so this pronunciation was very interesting to Americans.

Around this same time, Pupi was not really interested in music as a profession, as his thing was carpentry at the time. However, he began being affected by severe asthma attacks due to the dust used in his daily work, so it was recommended to his father to take him away and make him dedicate himself to something else that would not damage his health.

This is how the young boy decided to become a barber and met a friend with whom he started taking music lessons, which could be considered as the first contact he would have with music.

The first instrument Pupi played was the violin. He admits it was not easy to learn how to play it, but with effort and dedication, he managed to become really good at music. However, he was faced with another challenge that would complicate the realization of his new dream: lack of money.

Like the majority of families in Cuba at that time, Pupi’s was also going through a complex economic situation, so buying everything he needed for his musical training was very difficult. However, it did not stop his father from getting down to work and raising the money necessary to buy his son his first violin.

In a 2010 interview, Pupi revealed that it took his father more than two years to raise 60 pesos to buy a used violin at a pawn shop, as it was the only way he could afford the instrument for the young boy.

Pupi playing a flute — Pupi Legarreta playing a flute in a studio

Formal beginnings in music

When he decided to travel to Havana, he was given the opportunity to play Orquesta Sensación, with which he earned about eight pesos a month to cover some of his basic expenses. It was very difficult for him to live with that little, but music helped him to support himself.

However, little by little he worked his way up and earned the respect of his fellow musicians, who consider him for their own projects.

In 1959, music also allowed him to travel to the United States, specifically to the state of California, but it would not be too long before he decided to try his luck in New York. Once there, he collaborated with artists such as Mongo Santamaría, Charlie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco, Machito, Tito Puente and many more.

Fania All Stars

In 1964, he started collaborating with the Fania All Stars, which had more than 24 instruments, including trumpets, pianos, basses, singers and more. Pupi was so shocked that he could not refuse to work with the world-famous orchestra, as this number of musicians was something he had never seen before.

In total, he recorded between five to seven albums with La Fania on which Pupi was taken into account when issuing opinions about his work. If the artist considered something was not quite right and wanted to change it, the orchestra did whatever was necessary to satisfy him with the results of the recordings.

The only criticism that the Cuban issued towards the orchestra is regarding the excessive focus on the Puerto Rican market, in fact, the vast majority of musicians were Puerto Rican. This caused them to neglect other markets that may be useful for Fania. However, this does not exclude all the positive things that came for those involved during the time this union lasted.

When his time in the orchestra ended, he was working for an electricity company in New Jersey, but his family was in Philadelphia, so he decided to move permanently to this city, where he remained till the day he died.

Album cover for Pupi — Album cover for ”Pupi Legarreta Y Su Charanga”

Death

In the afternoon of July 3, 2023, Félix ”Pupi” Legarreta’s relatives issued a statement giving the deplorable news of the artist’s death the day before at the age of 83.

His daughter Frances Legarreta posted the following on her social networks on the already mentioned day: “I announce with great sadness the death of my father, Pupi Legarreta, on July 2, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife Frances, his son Michael, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and his daughter Otie in Puerto Rico”.

In addition to the above, he revealed that his father expressed his desire to be cremated and not to be veiled in a memorial service. She also asked that her entire family’s privacy to be respected in view of the pain that its members were going through.

Meet and learn the Venezuelan Salsa

Latin America / Venezuela / Caracas

Meet and learn the Venezuelan Salsa

Did you know that in Venezuela the basic traditional Salsa is known as “Salsa Cero”, where the only thing anyone needs is “Not knowing how to dance”, knowing the basic steps of salsa, hearing and feeling the rhythm of the music and the musicalization.

The basic steps of the sauce are:

Paso de lateral and/or lateral: This basic step consists of three steps that are executed on the first three beats of the bar. The fourth beat of the measure is a pause where no step is performed. The three steps are repeated in reverse in a second measure to complete a sequence of the step.
Cruzado o cross: en este paso los pies se mueven de la siguiente manera: En el golpe 1, el pide derecho da un paso por delante del pie izquierdo, de manera que lo cruza. En el golpe 2, el pie izquierdo cruza al pie derecho, y así sucesivamente.

Gait: It is a very similar step to the side, but this time it consists of taking two “2” steps forward and two “2” backwards, advancing in short steps and repeating the cycle. With this step the dancer can execute it alone or with a partner, the latter is not performed and is usually executed in a couple but not face to face, since the two people cannot perform the march at the same time.

Turns: The turns in both the man and the woman can be done with any of the steps mentioned above. The turn is usually done in step 1 where the man invites the woman to perform her basic step to turn, everything will depend on the entry made by the couple. There are different types of laps, we mention the basic ones on this occasion:

a. Return of the woman/man.

b. Back in Croos.

c. Return of the man.

d. Right left.

e. The butterfly.

f. The Bridge.

g. The 70.

h. Sixty.

Did you know that Salsa Cero is not just for learning to dance?

Many people who practice or learn “Salsa Casino” take the workshop and/or zero salsa classes to learn to “count” the music that is being danced since musical counting is the fundamental basis of any dance.

One of the characteristics of this rhythm is the corporal expression, since there are details or corporal messages that make the couple understand how to move or what turn they are going to perform and these details can be known with the look, position of the hands and the body. before and during the return to perform. These details are very important especially in the man who is the one who controls and/or manipulates the woman so that she dances to the beat.

Among the different styles of salsa, Venezuelan salsa has a very special and interesting detail and that is that it is a very sensual style, in which the dancers make thousands of turns and constantly hug each other, showing their potential, emotion and feelings at the moment.

The decade in which Eddie Palmieri faced the Erotic or Romantic Salsa

There are leaders in all the activities that man develops in his daily life: Sports, Labor, Student, Political, Musical, even in comic strips you can see these leaders all the time, showing the way to follow and saving humanity from its natural dangers.

El Zorro with his friend Bernardo, his father Alejandro and even with Sergeant Garcia and Corporal Reyes, saved California from the clutches of El Aguila, marking the way forward for the peace and freedom of his people.

In salsa, the same thing happens; there are musicians who set themselves up as leaders who dictate the path, the routes, the itinerary and the route where salsa should go, establishing through their musical performances where others should be guided on their way to certain triumph.

For salseros in general, Eddie Palmieri represents El Zorro of the comics, the leader to follow, the paladin of salsa, only that instead of looking like Diego de la Vega in physique, he looks more like Sergeant Garcia; backed by Ismael Quintana who would be El Cabo Reyes and Barry Rogers who would be Alejandro de la Vega.

It is no secret that Eduardo Palmieri is one of the initiators of the salsa movement in New York; but more than that, this master of the piano has established the paths along which salsa has walked since the 1960s.

Eddie was one of the first musicians to use the trombone as a determining instrument in the conformation of an orchestra, giving it a preponderance never seen before and with a sharp and hurtful sound that forced a large number of musicians to follow this type of orchestration that ended up imposing itself in the so-called salsa boom.

La Perfecta determined the path to follow; they recorded anthological albums in the 60’s that were the delirium of the salsa movement lovers; many musicians began to see and hear how the tonality of this orchestra sounded different from those big bands of the 50’s; the people of the neighborhood immediately identified with this sound because, they thought, it sounded like a neighborhood, a slum, poverty, marginality, inequality, it sounded like spite, nonconformity, injustice; in short, with this sound they perceived the most expensive needs of a population marginalized from the great plans of the State that entailed advancement and progress.

The decade of the 70’s meant the explosion of a salsa boom that swept the entire Caribbean basin; orchestras came and went; they came and disappeared; they recorded and were immediately lost in anonymity, but most of these orchestras chose the musical patterns of a common denominator to carry out their musical proposals: A Crazy, Bearded and Barrigón Orate named Eddie Palmieri, as the Colombian writer José Arteaga called him.

Eddie, throughout this decade, was practically on the sidelines of the salsa boom and it could not be otherwise: Too much irreverence from a superior musician who, being clear where salsa should walk, refused to be part of all the outrages that were committed during that salsa explosion.

Too much rebelliousness from an artist who refused to be told what he should and had to record: “Nobody tells me what I have to record and how I have to record; I’m the one who knows how to make music, the label bosses can go to hell with their desks”, an angry Palmieri would say.

The record label Epic signed him in 1978, telling him that he had complete freedom to record the music he wanted: a lie. He recorded the Lp Lucumi, Macumba and Vodoo where he was practically forced to work on an album where rhythms and trends were mixed.

He took advantage of the only freedom he was given to record two legendary songs: Colombia Te Canto and Mi Congo Te Llama.

Bad management and ill-advised decisions put an end to the whole salsa movement that was born in the 70’s and the unthinkable happened for all the lovers of this tasty way of life: the whole musical scaffolding that represented the Fania label collapsed, leaving everyone with clear eyes and without sight.

Clouds of disbelief and uncertainty hung over the entire salsa movement, musicians, producers, artist managers, arrangers, record label owners and, those who were most hurt by all this, the lovers of this superb spectrum of hard and powerful salsa that was experienced in the 70s.

In the 80’s, faced with this dilemma and the perplexity of the moment, most of the orchestras took refuge in the so-called Salsa Erotica or Salsa Monga, which although it is true that it gave oxygen to salsa in general, it inflicted a death blow to salsa dura or gorda as it has been called since the 70’s.

As if that were not enough, the merengueros with: Fernandito Villalona, Jerry Legrand, Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15, Wilfrido Vargas, Rubby Perez, Las Chicas del Can and stop counting, colluded with salsa erotica (as El Aguila colluded with El Magistrado), to try to wipe salsa dura off the map and at any price.

At the beginning of the 80’s; under all this conglomerate of adverse circumstances; the merengueros and “salseros eroticos” making a killing and the hard salsa artists not knowing which direction to take, Líder Palmieri appeared with his stocky and ungainly figure, a huge cigar in his mouth, his madness (we are even madder) and his voice saying clearly, categorically and confidently: “Follow me, this is the road to follow”.

And so that there would be no doubt about this call against Salsa Erotica and Merengue, in 1981 he recorded the Lp “Eddie Palmieri” which, almost 30 years after its release, we are still studying and listening to it to digest what El Sapo did in these 5 memorable songs: El Día que me Quieras; Ritmo Alegre, Paginas de Mujer, No Me Hagas Sufrir and Ven Ven.

Poster salsa on all four sides, atrabiliary percussion, indescribable trombones and trumpets, legendary voices, in short, a priceless LP. By the way, a certain current of opinion maintains that salsa is nothing more than Cuban music.

Under this prism, then we would have to say that this Palmieri’s version of Carlos Gardel’s El Día que me Quieras, is a full-fledged Tango.

In 1984 and when the “erotic” ones were widening their tentacles, Palmieri came with more fuel and that added to the bad experience lived in Venezuela with some businessmen who were determined to finish with him, musically speaking, allowed him to release the Lp “Palo Pa Rumba”, containing the pieces: 1983, Bomba de Corazón, Bajo con Tumbao, Pensando en Ti, Palo Pa Rumba and two songs dedicated to Venezuela because of the bitter and vexatious experience he had in our beloved homeland of names: Venezuela and Prohibición de Salida.

Eddie Palmieri Palo Pa' Rumba Ganador del Grammy's 1985 — Eddie Palmieri Palo Pa’ Rumba Ganador del Grammy’s 1985

In 1985 the Lp “Solito” was released, a song that allowed Palmieri to tell the “eroticos” that there was a formula for arranging music that sounded strong and powerful, even if the content of the lyrics could suggest a certain shade of erotic salsa; that the trombones could sound energetic and strong without the sweetening and softness to which these hardened instruments were subjected in this decade; that it was not necessary to be bonitillo (as the Boricuas say) to succeed in this salsa environment and that, no matter what happened, he, Eddie Palmieri, was not going to be subjugated no matter how much salsa erotica the record companies demanded and played on the radio, emphasizing this statement with an abysmal piano solo.

To complete the LP: Justicia, Yo No Soy Guapo, Cada Vez que te Veo, Lindo Yambú and Pa Los Congos, round out his confrontation with “aquella” salsa.

Eddie Palmieri Solito Ganador del Grammy's 1986 — Eddie Palmieri Solito Ganador del Grammy’s 1986

To top off the decade, in 1987 he recorded the Lp “La Verdad”, in which with the piece El Cuarto in the voice of Tony Vega ratified his point of view regarding “erotic” salsa; that it is not necessary to fall into pornography to say “nice things” and arrange the music with enough flavor and sandunga and that, finally, nothing would prevent him from continuing to crush his opinion based on hard and powerful salsa.

As if that were not enough, for this album he made use of a beastly orchestra made up of four trumpets, two trombones and a saxophone that left on the acetate: Conga Yambumba, La Verdad, Lisa, Noble Cruise and Buscándote.

The result of all this decade of salsa gorda music for Eddie Palmieri? Three Grammy awards and the recognition of a whole legion of hardcore salseros, who were not intimidated by the onslaught of the “erotic” and “merenguera” fashions of the moment and decided, in the face of so much sweet, effeminate and subtle trombone, to follow in the footsteps of the leader: El Zorro, sorry I made a mistake, by El Sapo Eduardo Palmieri.

Source: Larry Daniel Cabello Guzmán

Dj. Augusto Felibertt

Eddie Palmieri

Francisca’s

North America/ United State / California

Francisca’s. An Italian-Venezuelan Restaurant with Trendy Style

For several years Francisca’s has been in the heart of the Mission district in the San Francisco city. Its peculiar style and the combination of European and South American foods make it one of the trendiest restaurants nowadays.

Francisca's Restaurant - Manny and Katherine — Francisca’s Restaurant – Manny and Katherine

The owners: Manny and Katherine, whose partnership between them is revealing and innovative, it creates an atmosphere of hospitality with personalized attention that projects the value and story of each of the dishes that stand out in its menu.

Manny, a tireless Venezuelan chef with wide experience prepares each different dish daily in his tasting menu that you can try for $39 and if the whole table participates you pay $65. This menu is based on four-courses that this culinary art enthusiast prepares, undeniable, with a lot of dedication, imagination, and skill that have allowed Francisca’s to be positioned as one of the sure destinations to visit in San Francisco when delighting the most demanding palates is the point.

Although his first and powerfully popular restaurant was Mr. Pollo in 2010, it’s Francisca’s that has managed to surface this new trend of mixing Italian foods with traditional Venezuelan ingredients. It’s for that we can find in this restaurant seductive and hypnotic dishes such as Plantain Lasagna (Dish of greater receptivity) and Yuca Gnocchi. While the traditional Venezuelan breakfast “Arepas” is always present in the recommendations of Manny and Katherine for their visitors.

Francisca’s is attended by around 30 people daily to taste an affordable price the visual show of artistic decoration to make things more beautiful and then eat them. In addition to not being able to resist their cocktails duly identified with the origin country.

This restaurant with the inspiration of high cuisine, unique concept and mixture of sounds typical of a famous place for the quality of its food with fresh ingredients purchased directly at the San Francisco’s farmers market (Ferry Building) keeps alive the spirit of Latin American cuisine within of the trends recipes of European cuisine.

“Being a chef for me is everything.” Manny Torres

History

The ingenious idea of putting a woman’s name on the restaurant was Manny. Francisca is the name of his grandmother and his main influence to dedicate to the fascinating world of culinary art. She taught him the true value of obtaining fresh ingredients in the farmers market, as well as making him aware of the true importance and passion for hospitality.

But, let’s go a few years back. Before Francisca’s, Manny had four restaurants, one of them was “The Palace”, which had a considerable number of loyal visitors, however, a raging fire destroyed the venue in 2015. Nonetheless, Manny reopened this space after a complete remodeling and having undergone the corresponding inspections, and we know it as Francisca’s now.

For some time, Manny and Katherine were traveling on two continents. They visited countries such as Aruba, France, Spain, and Italy. And Eureka! From there derived his inspiration for the creation of his exotic and exquisite dishes. After him seeing a different perspective of the kitchen and its formulas for the preparation of the recipes, Manny obtained the main ingredient for the preparation of his Menu in Francisca’s; he had the creativity to make the perfect and successful combination in all his meals.

“In the United States, European food is cooked with so many rules. There are rules for everything. In Europe, there aren’t rules. No one follows the rules and it’s more relaxed”, Manny told an American digital media.

Venue: 3047 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Contact: 415.374.5747

Francisca´s opens:

Tuesday – Saturday Dinner: 5:30pm-10:00pm

Saturday Vegetarian Brunch: 10:30am -3:30pm

Sunday Regular Brunch: 10:30am-3:30pm

Manny’s Curiosities:

He studied at the Engineering School in Columbus, Ohio.
He arrived in the U.S. in 2001.
The names of Manny’s four restaurants are: Mr. Pollo, Roxy’s Cafe, The Palace, and Coco Frio.
He loves washing

4-course Tasting Menu:

First course: Soup or Salad

Second course: Appetizer or Pasta

Third course: Entree Protein-based, Vegetarian or Pescetarian dish

Fourth course: Dessert

Francisca´s Offers:

Capacity: Max seated: 29 people/ Max standing: 75 people
Noise Level: Moderately High
Accessibility: gender-neutral bathrooms
What to ask for: Arepas, Yuca Crispy, Tasting menu (without everyone at the table needing to participate), Plantain Lasagna and Yuca Gnocchi
Vegetarian Options: Three appetizers and tacos of vegetables available
Drinks: a full bar with wines available to buy
Reservations can be made

For more information, please visit: https://www.FRANCISCASSF.com/

SOCIAL CHANNEL: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCISCASSF/