Search Results for: Cuban music

Learn to dance to the rhythm of Son Rumbero

Latin America / Colombia / Bogota

The Son Rumbero academy dresses up with the grand opening of its offices in Bogotá in Colombia and Santiago in Chile.

They offer dance classes based on 3 profiles, for the youngest and adolescents of the “Kids” house, the fitness line and Latin dances, join the dance trend, give your body health and distraction, it’s been 15 years of experience and consolidation, they have been one of the distinguished schools of Salsa in Venezuela, now, they dedicate hard work in giving improvements and innovations to the dance of the capitals of Colombia and Chile.

In Bogotá they will begin to offer salsa tourism, if as you hear it, you could have 5 days of tourism in Bogotá under an innovative and very formal proposal. This tourist proposal begins with more than 24 hours of formal classes in the disciplines of Afro-Cuban music, learn rumba, cha cha, son, salsa, mambo and many more, together with the tourist tour of the city, closing every night in local and spaces destined for enjoyment, dance all night without stopping with the dancers taxis assigned for this great experience. To learn more about this great proposal, be sure to visit www.sonrumbero.com in our SALSERO TOURISM section soon to be published.

Photo of Jose Perez teaching in Son Rumberos

Everything is in the hands of lovers of good music and dance, do not forget to give yourself the opportunity to do a different tourism, full of experiences that you hardly get in the world, study, dance and get to know the best tourist sites. Follow the social networks of the academy by @sonrumbero on Instagram, Facebook and twitter.

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Papo Lucca. The Giant of the South

Latin America / Puerto Rico

Papo Lucca born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on April 2, 1946, Enrique ‘Papo’ Lucca began playing the piano at age 11 with his father’s orchestra. Initially, La Ponceña played versions of tropical hits of the moment by bands like Cortijo y su Combo and La Sonora Matancera.

In the late 1960s, Papo became the orchestra’s musical director, beginning a profound transformation that would eventually establish la Ponceña as one of the most progressive groups in the history of Afro-Caribbean music. Papo’s orchestrations were bold, experimenting with elements of jazz, rock, and Brazilian music. Representing the authentic spirit of Puerto Rican salsa, his piano solos were velvety, displaying elegance, restraint, and infinite swing.

During the mid-’70s, La Ponceña began to enjoy unprecedented success with critics and the public. The band recorded for the Inca label, which eventually became part of the Fania empire. Papo was invited to arrange and play on sessions for the company’s biggest artists, including Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz and Cheo Feliciano. He also recorded and toured with the Fania All Stars.

This compilation pays tribute to the art of Papo Lucca through 14 classic songs recorded between 1967 and 1981. Although Lucca has recorded as a solo artist and also collaborated with a multitude of salsa stars, it is his work with La Ponceña that best expresses the clarity of his vision.

The music we make has to make people happy, as well as make them dance. That’s what it’s all about, says Lucca from her home in Puerto Rico. When the public can dance, no matter how complicated the music is. The first theme that this genre had was to divulge the things that happened in the different communities, as if it were a newspaper.

Our journey begins with two fiery songs from the beginnings of La Ponceña: “Hachero Pa’Un Palo” and “Fuego En El 23” are versions of songs by Cuban Arsenio Rodríguez. La Ponceña always had a soft spot for Puerto Rican folklore, but she also found inspiration in the golden age of Cuban music.

The precise moment in which La Ponceña becomes a mature orchestra in total control of its aesthetics can be found in the six songs from the Musical Conquest/Conquista Musical and El Gigante Del Sur albums. Launched on the market in 1976 and 1977 respectively, they represent the pinnacle of the salsa movement.

These songs combine a musical skill that approaches virtuosity with deep lyrics and a generous sense of humor. “Ñáñara Caí” is a hilarious narrative of pure magical realism, describing a world where everything is turned upside down (my favorite phrase: I saw a cow/Hit with Pacheco). Also included in Musical Conquest, “El Pío Pío” achieves the perfect cross between Afro-Cuban rhythm and contagious pop. This hit is a mandatory part of all La Ponceña concerts.

The opening theme of the El Gigante Del Sur album, “Boranda” seems to offer a salsa version of progressive rock. Its lyrics contain an important sociopolitical message, and the sophistication of its arrangement is a slap in the face for all those who believe that this music is only for dancing. “Soy Tan Feliz” combines bolero climates with an electric piano solo that recalls the psychedelic sound of jazz-rock from the ’70s. “Noche Como Boca ‘E Lobo” creates a tasty collision between salsa fever and Brazilian rhythms.

Lucca was not alone in his mission to reinvent the rules of Puerto Rican dance music. It was also benefited by the prowess of some of the best instrumentalists on the island. Furthermore, his instinct for choosing singers was always irreproachable.

Some of the vocalists of la Ponceña that appear here are Tito Gómez, who would later find fame with the Grupo Niche de Colombia; the inimitable Luigi Texidor, who gave a sense of placidity to all the songs he performed; and Yolanda Rivera, who added variety to the band’s sound with her unique timbre.

One of Rivera’s happiest moments is included here: Coming from 1980’s Unchained Force, Johnny Ortiz’s “Borinquen” is a soulful anthem to Puerto Rico, blessed with a sinuous melody and subtle instrumental arrangement–one of Rivera’s happiest moments. transcendental within the Ponceña canon.

The golden days of salsa are a distant memory in the new millennium, but Papo Lucca hasn’t stopped shining. Perhaps precisely because he continues to record new music, he refuses to idealize the past when I ask him what his favorite album with “La Ponceña.”

The last one, the most recent, he explained in his characteristically introverted tone. All the albums are very important in the career of the orchestra. They all fulfilled their mission at the time, which was to reaffirm the previous one. That’s the way to maintain a pool after 50 years.

The teacher was a little more direct when I asked him about his favorite concert of all time.

It was my first concert with the Fania All Stars at Madison Square Garden, back in 1974, he said. All the stars of the Fania were still alive. A few years later we played in front of 47,000 people in Cali. My knees always shake before I go on stage, but this time they shook a little more.

Exclusive with tres player Iván Camblor from the group Pellejo Seco

Cuban musicians have always found the way to stand out in the entertainment world thanks to their talent and commitment and one of those examples is Ivan Camblor, tres player and vocalist with whom we have had the privilege to talk about his career and what was achieved with the group led by him right now, which is Pellejo Seco.

During the conversation, the artist elaborated on a few topics we found relevant to discuss and we were pleased to hear some of the most important data of one of the most important Cuban son groups in the Bay Area today.

Ivan playing the tres — Cuban musician Iván Camblor playing the Cuban tres live

Iván Camblor’s beginnings in music

As is the case of many other artists of his kind, Ivan showed a very early interest in music, specifically since he was at school in his hometown, Havana, Cuba. He defines himself as a self-taught composer who began his musical learning on the street, while he attended classes like any child his age.

From a very young age, many veteran musicians saw in him the enormous potential he had for music, so they began teaching him all they knew, leading him to the path of Cuban son and traditional Cuban music. Today, these genres is still his north after so many decades.

The Felix Varela School of Music

When he was old enough, Iván attended the Félix Varela School of Music, where he studied music appreciation theory, but unfortunately the island’s economic situation affected that part of his learning. Over time, the conditions of the institute started to worsen, making many teachers resign and leave students without chances to continue their studies, including Ivan, who could not see the classes he wanted because of the lack of staff.

Being unable to study what he wanted, Ivan decided to continue learning on his own with the musical groups he had contact with and that is how it continued until today.

His singing, composition and ability to play the Cuban tres came with the experience he acquired on the street and with friends who knew more about music than he did. He refers to guitarist and tres player Octavio Sánchez ”Cotán” and El Niño Rivera as his greatest teachers and influences.

With the experience gained, he had the opportunity to go through all the Cuban music companies, since there were not many tres players at that time and tres teaching was very new.

Ivan with Chucho Valdez — Pellejo Seco vocalist Sulkary Valverde, Cuban pianist Chucho Valdez, and Iván Camblor

Music composed by Iván for films

Just as Iván was in several groups, he also had the opportunity to compose original music for films and such was the case of the film ”Hacerse El Sueco” directed by his great friend Edesio Alejandro, who contacted him to support him in the musical part of the production.

It is then when he proposed him to write four or five original tracks to be used for the film, but Ivan did not mind getting credit, but helping his great friend with his project, so all the material is under his label Orula Music.

However, he is grateful for the experience and the opportunity to help a good friend who needed his talent at that moment.

Ivan’s coming to the United States

Ivan remembers his coming to the United States as one of the most difficult things he had to do, since it is not easy to leave his roots and everything he knows to seek a different kind of future in other lands.

At first, Ivan was not at all convinced of this decision, but his then partner and mother of his only son made him see that it was the best for them to leave Cuba and go to the United States to try their luck, to which the artist finally agreed.

For many years, the tres player thought the worst of his host country because of the ideas the he grew up with in Cuba, but upon arrival, he found that the reality was very different from the propaganda he was bombarded with in his childhood and youth.

Once he was there, he started working on the area of music that he liked most since he was in Cuba, composition. It was then that the idea of forming his own musical group started going round his head.

Iván creó el Pellejo Seco — Iván Camblor conceived Pellejo Seco as a Cuban son and traditional Cuban music group

How the group Pellejo Seco was created

Ivan conceived Pellejo Seco as a project in which he would pay homage to the Cuban community, so he tried to find the best musicians for the task. One of them was Cuban trumpeter Marcos Diaz, Puerto Rican Hector Lugo, trumpeter Mario Silva, Liban Montoya, Mexican singer Rogelio Maya and singer German Donatien. This is the original group with which the artist started his band, but others have already joined other orchestras or have started something on their own.

That was more than 20 years ago and, today, Pellejo Seco has managed to consolidate itself as one of the main Cuban music groups in the Bay Area. Now, it is the most required traditional Cuban music sextet in the area.

As for the name of the band, Ivan chose the name ”Pellejo Seco” as a tribute to the Cuban peasants whose skin is hard and dry as leather due to the sun and the working conditions that they are exposed to.

Benny More

Latin America / Cuba

Benny More. The story of the biggest crowd idol that Cuba has given.

Benny More. He is not just another musician, he is unanimously the greatest popular artist that has ever existed in Cuba. It is the symbol, the myth, the legend, as the summary of Cuban popular music that is very rich and abundant. Benny symbolizes the peasant party, the sarao, the bohemia, the download, the coffee, the bar, the theater, the party, the carnivals, the show. El Bárbaro del Ritmo is the best of popular music.

Born on August 24, 1919 at 7:00 a.m. m. in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood of the town of Santa Isabel de las Lajas, belonging to the Cienfuegos province. His parents were named Virginia Moré and Silvestre Gutiérrez, and Benny was the oldest of 18 siblings. His surname Moré came from Ta Ramón Gundo Moré (a slave of Count Moré), who according to the tradition of the Congos, was their first king in Santa Isabel de las Lajas.

He was gifted with a flowing tenor voice that he colored and phrased with great expressiveness.

This context was definitive for his future career in music, he learned to play the insundi, the yuka drums, those of Makuta and Bembé, invokers of deities, with whom he sang and danced perfectly, but also to interpret the son, the guaracha and the rumba.

Since he was a child he manifested his great vocation for music, as he would spend all day humming a popular song or improvising and directing ensembles made up of machetes, bongos made from milk cans, guitars made from a board and nails made from strings of string. sew, two sticks as keys, etc. And when he was ten years old, he “grated” a “real” three that had been lent to him, with which he would escape from his mother to the parties near his house.

Moré was a master in all genres of Cuban music.

He could always be found standing on a table singing and reciting a son manigüero, surrounded by listeners. He spent his childhood and adolescence as Bartolomé, without the opportunity to study or get a permanent job. Like his brother Teodoro, Bartolomé was enrolled in the José de la Luz y Caballero School of Public Instruction, where he always stood out for his conduct and application.

He was gifted with a flowing tenor voice that he colored and phrased with great expressiveness.

Since he was a child he manifested his great vocation for music, since he would spend all day humming a popular song or improvising and directing ensembles made up of machetes, bongos made with milk cans, guitars made with a board and nails with strings of thread. cook, two sticks as keys, etc. And when he was ten years old, he “grated” a “real” three that had been lent to him, with which he would escape from his mother to the parties near his house.

Why is the Bacardi symbol a bat?

Moré was a master in all genres of Cuban music.

His voice particularly stood out in the son montuno, the mambo, and the bolero.

Since he was a child, his aptitude for singing and improvisation stood out, which he demonstrated when, barely seven years old, he escaped to entertain Guateques and parties nearby and stayed singing notes with his mother to prevent him from sleeping while ironing until late at night. .

Benny went through a complicated life, but he was willing to do anything to achieve his dreams of success. With almost twenty years of age, in 1940 Bartolomé said goodbye to his mother at the Ritz Hotel in Central Vertientes, where she worked, and traveled hidden, indistinctly, on a train and in a truck, to the City of Havana. He was definitely coming to try his luck in the bustling city. Since then he would be seen in the famous neighborhood of Belén, with a guitar acquired in a pawnshop, wandering through cafes, bars, hotels, restaurants, and even brothels.

That same year he told his cousin, a fellow downloader: “I’ll stay in Havana, here I get up or I sink.” From then on the saga of the downloads began in the bars on the avenue of the port. Once, recalling those times, he confessed: “I went out into the street with a guitar on my shoulder to sing to the tourists. I am not ashamed of it; Carlos Gardel also did it in Argentina and he is the king of tango”

At that time, the Supreme Court of Art began to be broadcast on the CMQ station. Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré appeared on that program animated by Germán Pinelli and José Antonio Alonso. After presenting it and at the moment of starting his presentation, the bell rang for him. Later Bartolomé returned to Monte y Prado to the Supreme Court and on this second occasion he won the first prize. Possessor of a fresh voice, with a beautiful timbre, sensual and evocative, of a black peasant, despite his misery, Bartolo continued to sing with all the inner strength that Cuban rhythms demanded of him.

One of his escapades Siro Rodríguez, a member of the famous Trio Matamoros, heard him sing in the bar of El Templete restaurant, on Avenida del Puerto, and was very impressed by the boy’s voice and tuning. Bartolomé’s entry into the group led by Miguel Matamoros can be considered his true debut as a professional singer, since with said group he had a stable job for the first time as a musician and made his first recordings on 78 revolutions per minute records.

Benny knew he had a voice, an atche (luck), and a destiny. Perhaps he sensed it, intuited it, or simply trusted in his triumph. When he started with Miguel Matamoros and his group, he already wanted to make changes to the picket line. In Mexico, when Miguel got sick, he was able to direct the group, took command and made the friends enjoy themselves at the El Patio cabaret.

When the contract ended, the Matamoros group returned to Havana, but without Bartolomé, who decided to try his luck alone in Mexico. When communicating his decision to the famous author of the son El que sowing his corn, Miguel Matamoros would reply: “It’s very good, but you have to change your name from Bartolo, which is very ugly. You’re not going anywhere with him. You’re right, Bartolo replied, from today I’ll be called Benny, yes, Benny Moré.

The owner of the business was hypnotized by the tasty atmosphere that Benny created as a manager. After singing with several leading orchestras in Mexico, he stood up nicely with the most famous band of the 20th century: Pérez Prado and the Cuban mambo.

With this meeting, two geniuses came together: in Benny Moré there was talent and natural intuition; in Pérez Prado, in addition to all that, mastery of technique and an enormous facility for making music.

With Pérez Prado he conquered the noble Aztec people on tours of different states of that sister country. Due to the success achieved by Benny, the town awarded him the title of “Prince of the mambo” and Pérez Prado that of “King of the mambo”. He sang like no one else in the world and began his international rise.

By that time Benny’s voice was already known in Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Venezuela, and of course, in his native Cuba. In the lively world of nightlife in Mexico City, the Cuban singer performed in countless theaters, among others the Margo, the Blanquita, the Folliers and the Cabaret Waikiki, alternating with renowned artists such as the legendary vedette Yolanda Montes (Tongolele ), the Mexican Toña la Negra, and the prominent Cuban pianist and composer Juan Bruno Tarraza, for whom Benny sang the bolero Ya son las doce. He participates in many films and upon his return to Cuba, he was already sure that he had to be counted on.

Nostalgia for his family, friends, for the Homeland, and the desire to obtain laurels on his Island, where he considered that he was not well known, made him return to his beloved Lajas at the end of 1950. The older sonero was definitely in Cuba, he had left behind comforts, material and spiritual satisfactions, friends and even the loves that winners usually do not lack.

For the next two years, he performed by contract for a program called “De fiesta con Bacardi”, which aired on the Cadena Oriental radio station with the Mariano Mercerón orchestra, and the singers Fernando Álvarez and Pacho Alonso.

As Benny Moré was an exclusive artist for RCA Víctor, this firm demanded his presence in Havana to make different recordings. To fulfill this commitment, he made alternate trips to Havana and thus maintained his commitment to the eastern radio network. After the engagement at Casa Bacardí and master Mercerón, in 1952 Benny Moré returned to Havana.

Certainly Benny concluded an era, closed a chapter of Cuban musical life, that stage of nightlife that was already declining. Benny’s life was related to a world that has already disappeared. Then everything became myths and legends. Benny kept singing, but now it would be on scratch records, which were digitized.

Today’s “oidores” (listeners) must travel back in time, abstract themselves, imagine those seedy bars in the Havana port full of curious tourists. Of Chinese inns that sold “complete” for poor people who passed the hat, after singing through the streets of Havana.

Vocalist of La Moderna Tradición Eduardo Herrera and his fascinating story

This time, we are very pleased to have been able to talk with a talented Venezuelan who has left the name of his country well off thanks to his talent and professionalism. We are talking about bandleader and singer Eduardo Herrera, who was kind enough to speak exclusively to us and give us details on his personal and professional life so that we can get to know a little more about him.

This is vocalist of La Moderna Tradición and Venezuelan singer Eduardo Herrera

How did Eduardo Herrera become interested in music?

Eduardo comments that his parents always spent their time singing in a very cheerful way since he was a child, so his best childhood memories are with music.

He grew up in Caracas, so he always had close contact with all kinds of music and listened to a great variety of artists starting with Celia Cruz, La Sonora Matancera, La Billo Caracas Boys, Los Melódicos, Benny Moré, Oscar D’ León, Daniel Santos, Los Adolescentes La Dimensión Latina, La Fania, among others. These artists strongly encouraged him to lean towards salsa in the 1970s.

In his hometown, he began playing with the Teresa Carreño Chamber Choir, which was his first professional contact with music and, in his own words, was a great school for him during his time there.

In 1987, being already in the state of California, United States, there was an orchestra called Radiante that played Puerto Rican salsa. Eduardo worked with them for a year until he joined Orquesta Sensual, whose strength was romantic salsa that was fashionable at the time.

After that, he also worked with Orquesta Charanzón, which at that time was led by Anthony Blea, a famous violinist from the Bay Area. It was with this band that he began to fully discover Cuban music and develop a great passion for it, which would lead him to continue along this path in the following years.

In those years, he played with an unlimited number of orchestras with which he gained a lot of experience and learned to perform properly on stage. However, his big break came with the Orquesta La Moderna Tradición in 2021, when he was offered to participate with the group in some projects.

Even so, the latter did not prevent him from working with other groups of this style throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as he has no problem with playing with anyone who wants to invite him.

Eduardo Herrera and Tregar Otton — Eduardo Herrera next to director, arranger, composer and violinist Tregar Otton at Yoshi’s

Reasons to leave Venezuela and go to the United States

Like any other immigrant, Eduardo’s primary reason for leaving his country was the search for new opportunities. Eduardo goes on to explain that he was awarded a scholarship by the famous Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho fellowship programme and managed to obtain his degree in biology in the United States, but unfortunately with the change of government, the things that were promised to him and other fellows such as jobs and revalidations were not kept. As a result, the young man was left in a limbo that made it nearly impossible for him to practice biology.

With his options reduced to almost zero in Venezuela, Eduardo had no choice but to return to the United States, where he started working as a high school teacher until 2023, when he finally retired from his basic profession. In total, he taught for more than 40 years at the secondary level. During most of this time, he combined his school activities with his second profession, which was music.

Other areas of music explored by Eduardo

The singer explained to us that his voice has always been his most important instrument when he gets on stage, but he also confesses to having experimented with hand percussion instruments such as the maracas and the güiro. He pointed out that both are very easy to learn at first glance, but they have their level of complexity once you try them.

At present, he only uses his voice in the orchestras in which he currently plays.

Orquesta La Moderna Tradición

”La Moderna Tradición reached out to me at the beginning to record one of their CDs and I started singing backup and the harmonies, which is how you should always get you started in any group. When you master those areas and have the talent, you may think about being a soloist and that’s exactly what happened with me” Eduardo started saying about the issue.

La Moderna Tradición’s music was mostly instrumental at that time and they wanted Eduardo for their second album, which would include choirs for the first time, but the group had no singer at that time. In view of the good results offered by the vocalist, he found himself in frequent demand to give voice to other old numbers, but now with a singer.

Years later, he finally received the proposal to be part of the orchestra as such, together with Ramón ”Monchi” Estévez on vocal. Already for the third album, all the songs had a singer, who was Eduardo most of the time.

From then on, the artist has continued to be part of La Moderna Tradición with some interruptions because he moved from the Bay Area to the Central Valley in Manteca, which made it more complex for him to play with the orchestra on weekday evenings.

At the same time, he worked with the group Vissión Latina, Carlos Caro’s orchestra or any other that invited him to play on weekends, which were on his days off.

What Eduardo has learned from La Moderna Tradición and other artists he has played with

The most important things Eduardo says he has learned from the great artists he has played with are the study, humility, knowing your limits and the development of the love of music. He says the latter is fundamental, because if you do not love music, you will not do the job right.

”With music, you sacrifice your time and the pay you receive in return does not always go according to what you do, but it is something you’re supposed to do for the love you have for the craft. If you do not love what you do, you will hardly do it well and use your skills in it” said Eduardo. He added that ”you are an eternal student and you never know everything about everything. There is always something to learn from other singers and seeing any of them on stage is an opportunity to emulate what they do as long as it is useful for your career.

He also said that ”the ego of many artists is a really depressing thing because it prevents them from moving forward and takes their focus away from what is really important, which is the love of the genre and the opportunity to learn as much as you can”.

Complex moments for Eduardo personally and professionally

Eduardo mentioned to us that one of the hardest moments for him personally and professionally was his move outside of the Bay Area, which we had already talked about. Being so far away from the area where he did most of his performances was a blow to him, as he had to be near his wife and children.

Eduardo was very late from work and his wife had a job which made her to leave home for several days, so it was up to him to stay with the children during all that time. For the artist, his family comes first every time and no job or hobby goes above that.

His responsibilities with his children let him to distance himself from music little by little, since not being always available to play, orchestras would look for other singers to replace him. This made his opportunities to sing to be reduced, but Eduardo assures that the sacrifice has been worth it, as quality time with his children is the most main thing for him.

Eduardo’s plans to create his own orchestra

Eduardo was able to conduct an orchestra for a few months, which allowed him to see what the work of a director would be like and the truth is that he did not like it. ”During the time that I was conducting an orchestra, I could see I don’t have the right personality for it. I’m not good for working with adults who are irresponsible and many musicians tend to be late for the engagements and not to take this profession very seriously. I’m a very perfectionist person who has very high standards and I don’t expect anyone to work less than me, so I know it would be torturous for me to have a responsibility of that magnitude,” Eduardo said.

He says that being a bandleader is far beyond what he wants to do with music and that he wanted to keep developing as a singer. In addition to this, going back to the family issue, such a position would have forced him to be away from his family again and that was something he was not willing to do.

He also took into account the little stability offered by music as a profession. His work as a biology teacher was much more stable and allowed him to have secure income without having to worry about the bad times of orchestras. He loves music to a fault, but does not like uncertainty and insecurity.

Eduardo Herrera and Maru — Eduardo Herrera performing with Maru Pérez-Viana, La oderna Tradición manager and chorister

Other groups

In addition to playing with La Moderna Tradición, he also works with a Cuban group called Pellejo Seco, with which he recorded an album that is currently being remastered in Cuba. The material was recorded just before September in California, but will soon be released to the public.

Eduardo works directly with Ivan Camblor, director of the orchestra and professional tres player. In this part of the conversation, the artist was very complimentary about Camblor and highlighted his great potential as a bandleader and musician.

Something he likes about Pellejo Seco is that his main genre is Cuban son and it focuses a lot on very rural and traditional Cuban rhythms, so he can explore other elements different from what he does with La Moderna Tradición. They are very different groups with different genres and different characteristics.