Search Results for: Cuban music

Jerry Rivas, career, and support for the Spaha Salsa Gallery Museum

The Spaha Salsa Gallery Museum has been the recipient of a good number of objects donated by artists and their families after they had died. This time, it is the turn of Jerry Louis Díaz Rivas, better known as Jerry Rivas in the music scene, who is one of the main singers of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.

We want to use his pleasant visit to our museum and his forty-sixth anniversary with El Gran Combo to talk a little about his great career and everything achieved in his long musical career over the past decades.

Jerry with Johnny — El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico singer Jerry Rivas and Johnny Cruz

Life and career of Jerry Rivas

Jerry Diaz was born in the city of Tampa, United States, on August 25, 1955 and his parents were of Puerto Rican origin, so it is undeniable that Puerto Rican heritage greatly influenced the path he would take later on.

About five years later, Jerry and his family moved to the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, where he began to take his first steps in the world of music with the guitar, the Puerto Rican cuatro and the Cuban tres, counting on the support of professor Carlos Seguí to learn to play the latter. However, shortly after, he would decide that singing was his thing.

While still a young teenager, he was part of various groups such as Grupo Complicación, Conjunto Cojoba and Grupo Chaney, being in all cases a very important part of the body of musicians who were in these bands.

His big great came in 1976 when Don Rafael Ithier, who was interested in the artist to be part of El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, after he was recommended by Don Quique Lucca, who thought of this boy as replacement of the legendary Andy Montañez, singer of the group for more than 14 years.

Jerry signing a tres — Jerry Rivas signing the Cuban tres he donated

Although it was not believed that Jerry could fill the shoes of his predecessor, his talent, effort and support from the music director of the orchestra, made him consolidate in the institution along with the rest of his colleagues and become one of the longest-serving members of El Gran Combo.

International fame came with the album ”El Gran Combo En Las Vegas” thanks to the song ”La Clave”, in which he proved his vocal abilities to new levels. After that, he achieved his consecration as an international star with the album ”Happy Days” thanks to the song ”El Menú”.

After that, everything that followed for Jerry was success with the orchestra, which resulted in approximately 30 recordings in a span of 45 years with El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, his musicians and the extraordinary team behind the group.

Other details of his life and support to the Salsa Museum

In addition to being a vocalist for El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Jerry also participated in backing vocals with other great musicians for their respective musical works such as Willie Rosario, Bobby Valentín, Yuri Buenaventura, Gilberto Santa Rosa, La Sonora Ponceña, Adalberto Santiago and many others.

Jerry with Johnny and the tres — Jerry and Johnny with the tres and the jacket Jerry donated to the museum

In each of these projects, the Puerto Rican artist has always given his personal touch and his unmistakable vocal chords, so it is normal that he is considered a legendary voice within the salsa movement not only in his country, but also worldwide.

Due to all of the above, it is a true honor for the Spaha Salsa Gallery Museum to receive this great musical luminary in its facilities, where he was welcomed by its president and founder, Mr. Johnny Cruz.

Some photos on the Cruz’s official Facebook page, it is evident that both shared a very pleasant time remembering things from the past and talking about music. In addition, Jerry donated one of his shirts and a Cuban tres to the museum so that they can be exhibited to the public along with the rest of the objects in its collection.

We thank Jerry for his kindness, generosity and great talent, which we hope will continue to accompany us in the years to come.

When it comes to compositions, Luis “Tata” Guerra is widely known internationally

On June 9, 1934, in Guanabacoa, Cuba, Luis “Tata” Guerra was born. Excellent Percussion Master with a Guinness World Record for having accompanied more orchestras live and in recordings.

A virtuoso musician, Luis Tata Guerra, member of a humble and hard-working family, is the last of 4 brothers, born of a musical tradition, his father played guitar, and his older brother Emerio Guerra is a guitarist in Havana.

He studied music and saxophone at the Salesian School of Guanabacoa. He learned to play the tumbadora, and the rhythms of Rumba and Guaguancó in his neighborhood in the 50s.

He joined the Almendra Orchestra in 1954, performing in the best nightclubs of the island. He rehearsed with Conjunto Casino and Conjunto Arsenio Rodríguez.

In 1956 he arrived in Colombia with the Cuban Swing Orchestra, he stayed for 4 years working with the groups Sonera del Caribe and the Pepe Reyes Orchestra (Cuban singer). From there he went to Venezuela where he has lived since 1960.

Maestro Guerra has an extensive career as a musician for his activity in different groups such as: Los Melódicos, Víctor Piñero y sus Casiques, Aldemaro Romero, Chucho Sanoja, El Pavo Frank, and accompanying on percussion in Caracas Tito Rodríguez, Miguelito Valdez, Rolando Laserie, Daniel Santos, Olga Guillot, Rubén Blades, Paco de Lucia, including the Timbal King Tito Puente and many Others.

Recognition for Luis "Tata" Guerra — Recognition for Luis “Tata” Guerra

His compositions have been played in the media in Santo Domingo, Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela.

The composition “Son Matamoros” dedicated to this famous Cuban trio, was included in the movie “Salsa” with the participation of Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Grupo Niche and other values. He was a member of the VTV Orchestra (channel 8) for 23 years (1965-1991).

Member and Director of the trio Hermanos Rodriguez, in 1994 they traveled to the Canary Islands invited by President Hermoso, and are well known there for the hit “Son Canario” (composition by Guerra himself).

Again in 1999, they returned to the Canary Islands for more than 2 months, in addition to performing at the fabulous The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

He presented his program “RAICES CARIBEÑAS” on ANTV.

When it comes to compositions, Luis "Tata" Guerra is widely known internationally. — When it comes to compositions, Luis “Tata” Guerra is widely known internationally.

His fondness for acetate collection was recognized throughout Venezuela. A work with his conjunto became very popular and the voice of “Kiko” Mendive reminded us of the grilles and discómanos of Cali in the 80’s. “Barara Bururu”.

We also remember the time he shared with his compatriot Rafael “Felo” Bacallao Hernandez, who had retired from the Aragon orchestra.

With great regret we recorded on February 24, 2015, the unfortunate news of the death of Tata Guerra, four months shy of his 81st birthday, he had been suffering from an accelerated affection in his respiratory system, remaining hospitalized at the Florida Clinic in the city of Caracas, where in the early morning of that day he left us.

“When I listen to reggetón/ my heart stops/ because my thing is rumba and son”.

Maria Luisa Guerra

Source:

Por: Carlos Molano Gómez

Bogotá – Colombia
Derechos Reservados de Autor -primera publicación – 2016
Actualizado 2021.

Tommy Olivencia Jr’s career and support for the salsa museum

Inherited talent

The salsa museum has received several of the greatest artists and their families, who have donated valuable objects related to their careers. Today, it was the turn of Ángel Tomás Olivencia Rodríguez, who is artistically known as Tommy Olivencia Jr.

Tommy Olivencia Jr. is a percussionist and timbalero born on March 19, 1969 and is the son of the famous Puerto Rican musical icon and director of the Primerísima Orchestra Tommy Olivencia, from whom he inherited his great talent and has left his family’s name very high.

Tommy Olivencia Jr., son of maestro Tommy Olivencia

Planté bandera de nuevo

Eager to find his own way and make his own name in the industry, the artist made his debut with the recording ”Planté bandera de nuevo”, which was carried out in his native country and presents a total of nine tracks, some of them created by composer and percussionist Jerry Ferrao.

A very important fact during this period is that the timbalero made his official debut for AJ Records, Inc. in the framework of the 40th anniversary of Tommy Olivencia Y Su Orquesta at the beginning of this millennium, making this event even more special.

It is also important to highlight that this colorful musical work included the participation of figures such as Luis ”Perico” Ortiz. Máximo Torres, Tito Rivera, Pedro Bermúdez and many others. All these big talents made it possible for Tommy Olivencia Jr.’s first step as an artist to be on the right foot.

After Tommy Olivencia’s death

Once the incomparable Tommy Olivencia passed away, his son took the lead on the Primerísima Orchestra, which represented a great professional challenge for his career considering that many of his father’s hits are already salsa classics worldwide.

Tommy Olivencia Jr. next to Lalo Rodríguez

At the beginning, ”Tomito”, as he is also affectionately known, wanted to keep alive his father’s legacy with his most famous songs such as ”El Son Cubano”, ”Trucutú” or ”Doroteo”. However, there came a point where Olivencia and the rest of the members of La Primerísima had to get to work with new songs to join the previous hits.

When asked about these changes he had to make, he said that he has always worked on his father’s original repertoire, since the audience always asks for those songs in his performances. However, he says he is very happy to be able to contribute his grain of sand with the song ”Mi Querido Viejo”, which was dedicated to Tommy Olivencia senior and of which he is proud for the strng impact that it has had.

Something that made him very happy is that he was finally able to record his first video clip with the orchestra and other great artists such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Lalo Rodriguez, Sammy Gonzalez, among others.

Although he feels quite pleased to be able to continue with the steps taken his father, he is very proud to offer completely new songs to join the already prolific repertoire of La Primerísima. Among the new songs are ”Un Legendario de Pueblo” and ”Evelio”.

Tommy Olivencia Jr. at the Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum

As well as a good number of other stars and their families, we were fortunate to enjoy the pleasant presence of Tommy Olivencia Jr. at the Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum, where he and the president of the institution, Johnny Cruz, had a nice chat and walk around the facilities of the place.

At these visits, it is very common for visitors to make donations to contribute to the extensive collection that the museum has to present and this was no exception. ”Tomito” donated a suit and the güiro of maestro Tommy Olivencia that whosoever visits the museum has the opportunity to appreciate some of the elements that his father used during his career.

From this space, we really thank his visit and his contributions and we wish him the greatest success in all the projects he undertakes both professionally and personally, especially what has to do with music.

By Johnny Cruz, ISM Correspondent, New York, New York City

Mayito Rivera “El Poeta de la Rumba” was the distinctive voice of Los Van Van de Cuba

Mario ‘Mayito’ Rivera is, without a doubt, one of Cuba’s most outstanding contemporary singers.

For more than 20 years he was the distinctive voice and recognizable face of Cuba’s most famous musical group, Los Van Van.

Regardless of the musical genre he performs -rumba, son, salsa, bolero or timba, modern or traditional style, with strength and dynamism or with delicacy and tenderness, Mayito Rivera’s performances, with passages adorned with tremors and coloraturas, are always stellar.

Mario Enrique Rivera Godínez was born on January 19, 1966 in Pinar del Río, a province located in the westernmost part of Cuba and famous for its handmade Havana cigars.

It was there that ‘Mayito’ began his musical training as a child. Later, he moved to Havana, where he studied percussion at the renowned National School of Art (ENA), which he later extended with advanced studies at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA).

After completing his training, which lasted a total of 15 years, Mayito Rivera joined the musical ensemble of the well-known Cuban singer Albita Rodríguez.

Later, he played bass in the Moncada Group, a formation belonging to the Nueva Trova Cubana movement, whose renovating spirit is firmly rooted in traditional Cuban rhythms.

At the age of 26, Mayito was discovered by Juan Formell, the director of Los Van Van, an orchestra that by then had already become a legend. Initially hired to play bass and sing backing vocals, he soon established himself as the group’s lead vocalist.

Over the next 20 years, Mayito Rivera, more than any other musician, put his stamp on Los Van Van.

He burst onto the scene as the representative of a new generation of musicians, and his fresh style contributed to the group’s endurin Singer of the group’s countless salsa hits that were played in the discotheques, he has been nominated twice for a Grammy and won it once.

Mario ‘Mayito’ Rivera es, sin duda, uno de los cantantes contemporáneos más destacados de Cuba

At the same time, he was also working on other projects: in 1999 he released his first solo album, Pa’ bachatear.

Chappotín, in which he transports the past to our days with a brilliant interpretation of traditional Conjunto Chappotín songs.

But Mayito Rivera is not only a singer and percussionist. In 2005, he released Negrito Bailador, his second solo album, produced by the Timba label of the German music publisher Termidor, in which he performs only songs of his own composition.

The music, with a rumbero tinge, is fresh, lively and of timeless quality. Subsequently, Negrito bailador was marketed in the United States under the title Llegó la hora and was immediately nominated for a Grammy in the Best Salsa Album of the Year category.

Mayito Rivera is probably the most requested special guest by other Cuban orchestras; so much so, that in recent years he has sung with almost all of Cuba’s star casts.

Nor has his career suffered any interruptions since he left Los Van Van in 2011: currently, Mayito Rivera tours the whole world relentlessly, giving concerts in countries as diverse as the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, France, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Italy.

The great popularity and multiple talents of this ‘poet of rumba’ are reflected in his performances as guest singer for salsa greats such as Oscar D’Leon, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Issac Delgado, Adalberto Alvarez, Mayimbe, Son Como Son, Timba Live, Pupy y Los que Son Son, Charanga Latina, Havana D’Primera, Tumbao Habana and Elio Reve Jr, to name just a few.

In 2012, Mayito Rivera established himself as a permanent member of Los Soneros de Verdad, the most successful orchestra of the moment dedicated to son and its related rhythms, led by singer Luis Frank Arias.

Two sold-out world tours of three months each in Europe, Asia, Russia and the United States attest to the high quality and great interest in this amalgam of traditional son and the vocal artistry of Cuba’s most dynamic rumbero.

Mayito Durante más de 20 años fue la voz distintiva y el rostro reconocible del más famoso grupo musical cubano, Los Van Van

In 2014, the superstar will be touring with his own orchestra. But before that, from June to September 2013, he will give a series of concerts with Los Soneros de Verdad performing songs from his as yet unreleased album Alma de Sonero.

During this project he will return to his musical roots: son and rumba, bolero and guaguancó, both in their traditional interpretation and in their more modern variants.

The album Alma de sonero includes 11 tracks and will be released in September 2013 worldwide success.

The musicians include Alexander Abreu (Havana D’Primera) on trumpet, San Miguel Pérez on tres and Luis A. Chacón ‘Aspirina’ Bruzón on bongos and cajón.

Website: Mayito Rivera

Héctor “Rudy” Regalado and his great career

This is Rudy Regalado

Héctor ”Rudy” Regalado was a Venezuelan artist born on January 29, 1943 in the 23 de Enero parish, Caracas, and died on November 4, 2010, in Las Vegas, United States, at age 61 as a result of pneumonia.

For a great part of his life, he devoted himself to being a brilliant bandleader, composer, percussionist and musician who had a very prolific career with more than 50 years of duration. At that time, he made an endless number of tours and was a very important member of the Orchestra El Chicano, which was very famous in those years.

Rudy Regalado was born in Caracas and died in Las Vegas

Youth

As a teenager, a young Hector began playing drums and timbales in the city of Caracas. The years were not many when he adopted the nickname “Rudy Regalado” as his artistic name in honor of the former Cleveland Indians’ player.

When he decided to embark on a career as an artist, he moved to Puerto Rico in 1963 and began to delight the public of San Juan in various nightclubs of the city. Along with these concerts, he was professionally formed at the Pablo Casals Conservatory of Music.

In 1970, he moved permanetly to Los Angeles and united his talent with local groups before becoming part of El Chicano that same year.

Career with El Chicano

One of the most important details to mention about Rudy Regalado’s career is his participation as a member of the band El Chicano, which was always dedicated to mix rock, R&B and jazz. He remained in the group for 12 years and recorded about five record productions which included songs such as “Viva Tirado” and “Tell she’s Lovely”.

The orchestra also created the song used for the television series “Baretta”, which was broadcast from 1975 to 1978.

Rudy Regalado with the rest of the members of El Chicano

All Star Band

In 1983, he formed his own orchestra “All Star Band” with an outstanding group of musicians from Los Angeles with whom he toured a lot of countries such as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and many more. A short time later, its members decided to change their name to “Chévere”.

Almost a decade later, Rudy Regalado impressed the whole world when millions of people witnessed his timpal solo in the World Cup closing ceremony, alongside Kenny G and Whitney Houston.

A few years later, the artist toured Japan in the company of maestro Tito Puente, with whom he demonstrated his great skills as a percussionist and his high musical level.

Mr. Duran, host of The Mr. Duran Show, and Rudy Regalado

Other musical works

In 2008 he reunited with “El Chicano” for a reunion tour, which highlighted the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival at the Golden Gate Park Music Concurse in San Francisco. That same day, its former members played together for the last time at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, resulting in a historic evening in which feelings were close to the surface.

During the course of his successful career, Regalado collaborated with different and important figures of the musical environment such as: Quincy Jones, Rubén Blades, Cheo Feliciano, Cachao, The Zawinul Syndicate, Paquito D’ Rivera, Willie Colón, Oscar D’ León, Alphonse Mouzon, Caravana Cubana, among others.

Rudy Regalado dedicated his life to music and to represent the name of Venezuela in every stage that enjoyed his talent, standing out in the music scene for his vibrant performances with the timbales, also for his prolific compositions and the dedication to his work.

If you want to know more about this Venezuelan icon, you can wrtite to his daughter Norka Tibisay Regalado and get more info about him.