Search Results for: Cuban music

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.

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

Joel Uriola

Latino America / Venezuela / Caracas

Joel Uriola “I am the best, because I surpass myself”

Very soon the theme will be released, Cuidadillo there ok

This Venezuelan pianist, arranger and musical producer was born on January 4, 1963 in Caracas, in the popular parish of Antímano, the same one that saw the birth of Sonero del Mundo Oscar D´ León, by chance or his destiny was already written and en route. towards a dream that over the years would come true; be the best and that your work is recognized both nationally and internationally.

In our gathering, Joel tells us that when he is classified as the best, he has nothing to do with competing with others or with airs of greatness, but with surpassing himself in everything he proposes, he tells us that “my path is longer, but I came as Joel Uriola”, his name is a seal that ensures quality work.

With 38 years of musical career, Joel Uriola has plenty of talent, level and experience, in each production he uses the best group of Venezuelan musicians and continues to be at the forefront of music, all this is demonstrated in the more than 1000 musical productions in which he has participated as a performer, director or musical producer, with national and international artists.

Joel Uriola The best?

“That’s right, metaphysics says that you can’t talk about yourself in a negative way, you can’t sell a product if you don’t have good marketing, you must see beyond, be your own manager, most record companies are in the hands of ignorant people. the music that drive the artist’s work”. “Artists have the obligation to cultivate themselves, learn and not only be musicians, we must project ourselves in a big way”.

How did your childhood develop and what was the atmosphere of the time like?

“I had a good education in my home, with values, a grandmother with character, who told me that no matter where you lived, your behavior would make a difference, she always motivated me, just like my mother who also instilled in me to prepare myself, my grandmother was an enterprising woman, my father was a rumba guitarist and a professor at the Católica”. “I remember that I saw the debut of the Trabuco Venezolano in the CC Propatria, as fate would have it, my mother had an office there, as did the people of the Latin Dimension.”

At what age did you start in music and with which orchestras did you take your first steps?

“My musical beginnings took place at the “Prudencio Esáa” School of Music, starting professionally at the age of 17 with a group called Galaxia, I was the conga player, it was a Son group and we rehearsed at the observatory”. “Then I became part of the Caracuchos of Joseito Rodríguez from 1977 to 1979, whom I met thanks to Jesús “Totin” Rebolledo, later with the Latin Dimension from 1979 to 1980, from Cesar Monges I learned a great deal, and from 83 to 87 with Oscar D´ León.

And why is there that change from the conga to the piano?

“Due to the noise I made in the house when I was rehearsing and the equipment turned on at full volume, my mother subliminally gave me an organ, it was less noise, and then I began to imitate what the pianists did in a self-taught way, I remember the theme of Pete Rodríguez… What things life has, life, life”. “Then my mother bought me a piano and took me to audition at the School of Music and I stayed, I was a student of teacher Tiero Pezzuti, Gerry Well and Samuel del Real”. “In the nightclubs of El Rosal I did many substitutions, there I polished myself, I had a good preparation and some great teachers who are my friends”.

Joel Uriola - piano — Joel Uriola – piano

What anecdotes do you have about your experience of working alongside Oscar D´ León, and about that piano solo on the song “Cuídate bien”, did you ever think that being so young, almost 20 years old, your name would remain forever on the mind of the salsero?

“The time with Oscar was glorious, I got to know many places, we toured for 3 and 4 months, we enjoyed ourselves but we also had a lot of fun, I learned a great deal and disciplined.” “I had the blessing of meeting many musicians that I admired such as Eddie Palmieri, Salvador Cuevas, Barry Rogers, among others, with Domingo Quiñones I made a great friendship.” “As for improvisation, I feel great pride, it was something that came out at that time, I don’t know if it will come out again -laughs-“.

Which musician has been your biggest influence?

Markolino Diamond, Eddie Palmieri, Papo Lucca.

A pianist you admire?

“Markolino Diamond is my idol, a lot of what I do has to do with this guy, if he were alive he wouldn’t exist…”. “He was irreverent, crazy, he broke the schemes.”

How do you see the response of the salsa audience with your productions?

“There will always be admirers and detractors, with the level of awareness that you gain, it doesn’t bother you that there are people who don’t like your work, I make music for everyone”. “Public opinion can kill you if you are not prepared for it, but you must believe in what you do.”

How do you see the support of the media to spread your music?

“Thank God the record companies disappeared, those who knew the least about music controlled them, they decided that it was commercial and that it was not, in the alternative media there is response and support, however, social networks allow you to reach in a matter of seconds many places and you can do your own marketing”.

What do you think about the fusions that you are doing with salsa, for example, salsa and reggaeton?

“It works perfectly, it’s urban salsa, reggaeton with its lyrical content has improved a lot, they’ve softened it, reggaeton artists have great economic and communication support.” “The good things are guaranteed, reggaeton is seen as Salsa was seen in its beginnings, with bad eyes, but you see, Salsa is worldwide even the Chinese dance it, people consume what the radio puts on it, even if it’s bad, there’s room for everyone”.

As a music teacher, what have you contributed to the country?

“Train the next generation, in values and discipline, and that seed continues to germinate, help people regardless of how they sometimes pay you.”

Why musician and not another profession?

“I wanted to be Disip (Venezuela’s intelligence corps), but when one is born marked for something, that’s what goes… My destiny is music.”

How do you see the music industry right now?

“Everyone is recording with their own effort, you make a song, you upload it to the networks, we have that powerful tool in our favor; the record companies limited you, hardly any albums are recorded anymore”.

Can you live from music?

“Well… Thank God I can do it, every day I get up like a conuquero to work, I can live from music.”

Of the 9 productions under your belt, which do you think is the best or the most important for you?

“Babalawo (2009), the best achieved, the best worked in all aspects, was sold in all religious houses.”

What motivated you to form your own orchestra?

“I’ve always been a leader, that’s why I decided to form my own orchestra, everyone has their moment”.

Isn’t it a difficult job to compose and arrange?

“You are born for this, it is not difficult, you must study and prepare yourself, my muse can arrive at 3 a.m., I get up and add or season my music in my own way, I listen to traditional Cuban music, jazz that inspire me.”

What is Joel Uriola doing right now?

“Currently I dedicate myself to producing for other artists of the Salsero genre, always offering quality, the most recent is the work with the Mercadonegro Orchestra with the theme Rumba Negrito”.

You are the arranger of the 3 songs that made the Bailatino orchestra known internationally, you have been the Producer and arranger in five songs of “Rumberos del callejón”, among other Venezuelan artists. What does it feel like to contribute so that other Venezuelans are successful?

“At the moment you do things, you do it with the best intention, and that is the greatest satisfaction, helping others grow regardless of how they pay.”

Do you feel that unity and camaraderie are lacking in the salsa guild?

“Totally, without unity nothing is achieved.”

What do you think of copying, imitating and not creating?

“He who imitates is destined to fail, one must have personality, you must not cling to something foreign to survive, what you do has more value, you must have creative capacity”.

Future plans or present?

“I am recording two songs, Cuidadillo there ok composition by Maurice Melo, a salsa with tasty rhythmic elements, timba and hard sauce, and the second song You are the teacher has a Christian connotation, with the Praise Orchestra, the song is my own. , a cool sauce with Christian sauce”.

Joel reaffirms us “My road is long, but I arrive as Joel Uriola, I am who I am, I am the best”.

5 best places to dance in Barcelona

Europe - Spain - Barcelona

5 best places to dance in Barcelona

We tell everything you need to know about it

Everyone wants to seize time when they travel, so we save you the search and show you the 5 places where you can go dancing salsa, bachata, merengue and all those vibrant tropical rhythms.

Europe cannot resist the swing of Latin music, dance and guaguancó!

1.- Antilla Salsa Barcelona

Antilla Salsa Barcelona is a discotheque specialized in Latin Music, the best option for your nights of Salsa in the city. Pass by the discotheque and share with us our happiness, our rhythm and our unique atmosphere. Approach to discover the musical selection of our DJs: salsa, bachata, kizomba, merengue, rumba, cha-cha-cha, casino wheel… They see and enjoy all our activities: exhibitions by renowned dancers, Free workshops and the collaboration of the Salsa-boys… Come and enjoy our unique and special environment!

Their school organizes the courses quarterly, and in the summer it also offers Intensive Courses and free Workshops for those who want to take advantage of their vacation period. Their School of dance receives pupils of all levels and for the different specialties and rhythms, too.

Address: Carrer d’Aragó 141, 08015 – Barcelona

http://www.antillasalsa.com

www.antillaescueladesalsa.com

2.- Mojito Club

Mojito Club is offering three salsa-nights a week and has one night completely dedicated to Cuban music. If you want latino music, salsa or bachata, Mojito Club is the place to go! On Fridays & Saturday the club is 100% an international latino music club. You will also find orchestras playing live music that you can strut your moves to. The club is very popular and might be busy on Fridays and Saturdays, so arrive early! Mojito Club is the reference of Salsa, Bachata and Latin music in Barcelona. The classic Mojitos and an international cocktail bar and the restaurant will not leave you indifferent!

Sundays is student’s day! If you are a student of their dance school, Sunday is your day. Enjoy discounts with your VIP card and wardrobes for FREE. If you don’t know how to dance, they have their own Salsa School where you can learn from the first steps to the most advanced movements.

Address: Carrer del Rosselló, 217, 08008 Barcelona

http://www.mojitobcn.com

3.- Habana Club

Habana Club is both a dance club and a restaurant in one. Go there for a delicious meal with live music or show off your rhythm and moves on the dancefloor. The club is located in the district of La Barceloneta and is very popular. You’ll definitely enjoy the view! The party in Habana Barcelona consists of a large number of live shows that will make you enjoy music, quality and harmony of your audience to the fullest. A place where you can enjoy a full night, with exquisite dinner, dances with our entertainers and the best tropical cocktails and mojitos in Barcelona.

Address: Passeig de Joan Borbó, 74.

4.- El Bombón

El Bombón is the portal to the Caribbean in the heart of Barcelona. Salsa, latin soul, merengue, caribbean food and cocktails. The best Caribbean tapas in Barcelona and the best music. Amazing cocktails and amazing food!! Really good dancing music but not enough space to dance, so try to go to monday to friday.

Address: C. Mercè, 13 bis, Barcelona.

https://www.facebook.com/bombonbarcelona/

5.- Dio Club

The party for students and partners of the Seven Dance dance school.

It is a magnificent space in the neighborhood of Gracia that has 2 spacious dance halls and that on Thursdays and Saturdays you can go dancing salsa, bachata and kizomba as long as you have your school membership card. You can get your card completely free at the door or by contacting them previously. On Fridays and Sundays you can go dancing ballroom dancing or swinging. It is advisable to check the schedule before going to dance. A lovely place to practice any type of dance offered there, plenty of space, comfortable ventilation and a bar as god commands.

Address: Carrer del Perill, 10 08012 Barcelona

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dio-Club/544345925626341

Soneros Birthdays Party

Omara Portuondo, Ismael Rivera, Jimmy Bosch, and Luisito Carrión celebrate their birthdays this month

October is filled with talent and it’s that in this month a hurricane of brilliant artists of the Salsero genre was born, who have captivated us and have shown their Gift before hundreds of audiences around the world. These Latin Stars have bathed us in SABOR with their lyrics and infected with joy with their melodies. It for that, this month we celebrate their births and dance to the rhythm of the applause towards them. Happy Birthday, Soneros!

Omara Portuondo (October 29, 1930)

Omara was born in La Habana (Cuba). Her first encounter with music was at a very early age. Just as in any other Cuban home, the future singer and her siblings grew up with the songs which her parents, for lack of a gramophone, sang to them. Those melodies, some of which still form part of her repertoire, were young Omara’s informal introduction to the world of music.

She and her sister Haydee sang well-known American group “Los Loquibambla” and their style, a Cubanised version of the Bossa Nova with touches of American jazz, was known as “Feeling”. In their radio debut, Omara was introduced as “Miss Omara Brown, the girlfriend of Feeling”.

“Magia Negra” was her debut record released in 1959. It combined Cuban music with American jazz and included versions of “That Old Black Magic” and “Caravan”, by Duke Ellington. Later she joined one of Cuba’s most important orchestras, La Orchestra Aragón, with which she recorded several albums, such as the one she did with Adalberto Álvarez in 1984 and “Palabras and Desafíos” on which she was accompanied by Chucho Valdés.

However, Omara Portuondo catapulted to her well-earned fame was in the mid-1990s when she collaborated in the recording sessions for Buena Vista Social Club on which she sang “Veinte Años”.

She was the star of the third launching of the Buena Vista Social Club released in 2000 and she toured Europe, traveled to Japan, and performed in the USA and Canada.

Omara went back to the studio to record her second solo album “Flor de Amor” (World Circuit), which was produced by Nick Gold and Alê Siqueira, signals a change in direction in her career: it is an album marked by a more subtle sound and a richness of texture. Portuondo brought in a mixture of Cuban and Brazilian musicians for this album, and it is this factor which influences the particular style of the music.

Omara returned to Europe in 2004 to promote this album, performing at such illustrious venues as the North Sea Jazz Festival, Marble Hill House in London, Olympia in Paris and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. “Flor de Amor” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Tropical Record category and the 16th edition of the Billboard Latin Music Awards (2005); this album obtained the Tropical Record of the Year award.

Later, Omara released “Gracias”, the record that marks her sixtieth year in the music business and won the Latin Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary Tropical Album. It was a very special night as Omara was there to receive the prize in person and she also presented one of the awards, the first time that a Cuban artist has done this. The album was also later nominated for a Grammy in the Best Tropical Latin Album category.

After touring with the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club in Europe during 2010, “the girlfriend of Feeling” released the latest recording, Omara & Chucho (Montuno Producciones) in spring 2011. 14 years after their last joint album, they reunite once again to continue unravelling the thread of their first joint project, and show us their talents in the simplest, most unclad manner on a context that enables them to lay emphasis on some of the features that been characteristic of their music at various stages in their careers.

Omara will also tour with the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club later in Europe and the U.S.

Ismael Rivera (October 5, 1931 – May 13, 1987)

Puerto Rican singer and songwriter contributed to the dissemination of the island’s native rhythms such as the Bomba and Plena, and he was one of the first standard-bearers of the Salsero movement of the decade, the reason for he was called “El Sonero Mayor” and also known for others by the nickname “Maelo”.

In 1952 he was hired as a singer for the Lito Peña’s Orquesta Panamericana with which he became known and reaped his first hits: “La vieja en camisa”, “La sazón de la abuela” and the most popular “El charlatán”, a song in Plena rhythm that was widely heard through the Puerto Rico’s local radio stations.

Two years later he left this group to join the Combo de Cortijo with whom he popularized “El bombón de Elena” by Rafael Cepeda Atiles, and as well as performed on Puerto Rican television in the “El Show del Mediodía”.

At the end of the ‘50s, they were presenting their shows at the prestigious New York club Palladium Ballroom, where they contributed to making popular the tropical rhythms imported from the island with great hits such as “El negro bembón”, “Maquinó Landera”, “Tuntuneco ”, and others.

Ismael Rivera’s triumphant career was interrupted in 1962 for paying four years under the laws of Puerto Rico for possession of narcotics. Then, after recovering his freedom, Ismael formed his musical ensemble “Los Cachimbos” and immersed himself in the nascent Salsero movement to which he contributed two classics such as “Dime por qué” y “Mi negrita me espera”.

In the mid-70s “El Sonero Mayor” became the ambassador of Salsa throughout America, working for the record label of the genre Fania, and triumphing with emblematic songs such as “De todas maneras rosas”.

In his facet as a composer, he wrote very notable pieces such as “Besito de Coco” (famous song by Celiz Cruz), “El incomprendido”, “Arrecotín, arrecotán”, “El que no sufre no vive”, y “Mi libertad eres tú among many others.

In his last years, he suffered a throat cancer that caused him to lose his voice and he died as a result of a heart attack. R.I.P MASTER!

Jimmy Bosch (October 18, 1959)

Jimmy Bosch was born in 1959 (New Jersey, U.S.). He is a world-renowned Trombonist, composer, singer, and bandleader in the world music genres. He has been performing professionally since age 13. Jimmy’s first two solo CDs, “Soneando Trombón” and “Salsa Dura” established him as the Ambassador of the Salsa Dura movement. He ignited this movement by combining old school quality salsa arrangements with a modern NY aggressive edge and socially conscious lyrics. “El Avión De La Salsa” demonstrates and solidifies his commitment to dancer centered music, while “A Millón” is the title of Jimmy’s 4th solo record released.

Appearing in over 100 recordings, Bosch “El Trombón Criollo de La Salsa” has garnered at least 10 Grammys and has toured with his orchestra, his sextet or as a solo artist, as well as with: Eddie Palmieri, Ruben Blades, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Manny Oquendo y Libre, FANIA Allstars, and the list goes on.

Jimmy has been featured throughout the world in major venues and festivals, including; Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (NYC), Celebrate Brooklyn (NYC), Montreal Jazz (Canada), Madison Square Garden (NYC), Sydney Opera House (Australia), Barranquijazz (Colombia), El Poliedro and Teresa Careña (Venezuela), and many other important places.

Luisito Carrión (OCTOBER 26, 1962)

A native of Arecibo in Puerto Rico, Luisito Carrión has been singing since he was 13 years old. He began his career as a Salsa artist with the Orquesta Kafe, Orquesta La Nativa and Grupo Concepto Latino.

In his first performances, he sang along with Celia Cruz, Adalberto Santiago, and Santitos Colón. Later on, he was a member of Salsa Fever together with Julio “Gunda” Merced, were several hits come from: “Renta de Amor” and “Señores ahí va Julián”. Afterward, he joined the Bobby Valentín Orchestra, where he sang songs, such as: “El Señor de las Señoras”, “Ramos de flores”, “El Gigoló”, “Tributo de Cali” and “Como lo hago yo”. In his evolutionary process, Luisito joined the Orquesta Don Perignon where he sang “La Fuga” and later with the Sonora Porceña, where he performed songs, such as “Yaré” and “A Comer Lechón”.

In 1997, he recorded with Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound “Mi música 1997”. At the end of the 90s, Carrión began his career as a soloist with the record company MP Records with Julio “Gunda” Mercéd and Rafael Bodo Torres, which led to hits, such as: “Sin tu amor”, “La Chica Más Popular”, “Nadie Como Tú”, “Porque”, “Amiga Mía”, “Muriendo”, “Como Ave Sin Rumbo” and “Para Ser Real”. Nowadays, Luisito Carrión is one of the best Puerto Rico’s Soneros bringing on “Histeriaaaa…” in his fans.