Search Results for: Cuban

Los Boleros Latin Band Bandleader Rudy Furlan kindly talked to us

Cuban music has managed to conquer so many hearts around the world that even many who were not born on the island have come to feel a great fascination for it. Such is the case of the bandleader and leader of Los Boleros Latin Band, Rudy Furlan, with whom we were able to talk for a few minutes about his career and his band.

Rudy playing the guitar — Rudy Furlan playing the guitar for the camera

How Rudy got started with music

Although Rudy was born in Guatemala, he moved to the United States when he was just three months old and has lived in the country ever since. His parents loved music and having parties at home, where various members of the family brought out guitars and broke into song to lighten the mood.

Most of his parents’ friends loved to sing boleros and the Latin classics of the time, which Rudy found pleasant and enjoyed musical activities of the adults around him to the point that he wanted to participate in those impromptu gigs within his means.

Soon after, he started taking guitar lessons at the age of nine, but it was at 16 that he started to take music more seriously and realized that he wanted to play the genres his parents always listened to such as bolero, cumbia, Cuban son, danzón, among others. Only drawback he found was that he could not find boys his age who wanted to play that kind of music, added to the fact that the communication possibilities that we enjoy today did not exist.

So, Rudy had no choice but to start forming small bands with kids who lived on his block and play rock and other local genres that were normally played back then. However, this whole situation changed when he placed an ad on Craigslist (online classified company). That is when he finally managed to get the people he needed to play what he finally wanted to play and how he wanted to play it.

Rudy at the museum — Rudy Furlan at the Motown Museum in Detroit

Los Boleros Latin Band

Rudy finally fulfilled his dream of playing his parents’ favorite music as an adult and managed to recruit a group which he named Los Boleros Latin Band. The artist chose this name as a tribute to the genre he liked to listen to since his childhood, plus he likes how the name sounds.

In the early 2000s, he set up the band’s website to have an internet presence, which was not very common for Latin bands in Northern California in those years. There was so much rock and soul in that area, but Latin music did not have the boom that it has acquired today.

Practically from day one, they managed to have a lot of work in many events, which led several talented musicians to contact Rudy to work with him. One of them is vocalist Felix Samuel, who comes from Cuba and joined Los Boleros Latin Band in 2009. Felix comes from a family of professional musicians, so it was easy for him to integrate into his family’s craft and exercise it with the same talent and momentum as his relatives.

Something interesting to say about Samuel is that his talent began getting noticed, so he was recruited by an HBO producer to soundtrack the film ‘‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’’ with Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen.

Another important member of the band is Zareen Tangerine, who is also a vocalist in the group and joined it in 2000, making her one of the first to join Los Boleros Latin Band.

Another fundamental part of the band is David Somers, who is currently the group’s saxophonist, although he also plays the flute to perfection.

Among other members, we can also mention bassist David Pinto, percussionist Dominic Cabrera and Oswaldo Carvajal, who also plays for La Moderna Tradición.

Dominic, David, Felix, David, Rudy, and Zareen — Percussionist Dominic Cabrera, singer Felix Samuel, saxophonist David Somers, bandleader Rudy Furlan, and singer Zareen Tangerine

Great references and inspirations for the music Los Boleros Latin Band makes

A few years ago, Rudy bought an album by Buena Vista Social Club, which he says changed his life completely and made him change direction in terms of the music. He listened to the material every day for months, to the point that he even memorized the songs and started playing them with his guitar.

When forming Los Boleros Latin Band, his musicians played many songs from that album and other great artists such as Eliades Ochoa, Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Omar Portuando and many others.

Those already mentioned were some of the greatest inspirations Rudy and the members of the band had for their project, this being the vision with which the artist wants to go on through time as far as possible.

The multifaceted Aymée Nuviola delivers her ‘Corazón Sonero’ to Puerto Rico, at the historic Tapia Theater in Old San Juan

Pete Perignon’s orchestra kicked off Aymée Nuviola’s concert, entitled Corazón Sonero, with a powerful Latin jazz introduction. During the first minute, the instrumental melody settled into a salsa key, giving way to the voices of Lorna Marcano and Ricely Colón, who chanted: “Yo te invito a bailar y a gozar con Aymée, la sonera del mundo” (I invite you to dance and enjoy with Aymée, the sonera of the world). The chorus duo of Marcano and Colón prepared the theater for the triumphant entrance of the voice of La Sonera del Mundo.

La multifacética Aymée Nuviola Imágenes Conrado Pastrano

As the curtain rose at the historic Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Theater in Old San Juan, the stage design by José “Quenepo” Ramos Vega, which revealed two transparent fabric borders held in the middle by an imposing white star, caught the attention of the audience. The red of the triangle of the Cuban flag was represented by the pendant unfurled to the left of the star, while the cloth representing the Puerto Rican flag was held on the right hand side of the same star. The inspiration of the design demonstrates that the Cuban and Puerto Rican flags are fraternal twins.

The opening lyric that resounded in the theater, which was filled to capacity, with the vocal power of Aymée Nuviola read: “A little bit of good salsa, a little bit of pure salsa, so that new people, get to know our culture”. From then on, the music obeyed Nuviola’s command, singing: “Let the clave get into your body, let the conga and the bongo move the floor”. Sure enough, three hours later we were still letting the stage delivery of the musical team continue to move the floor. Pete masterfully directed: Jean Carlos Camuñas on tumbadoras, Carlos Pagán on bongó, campana, güiro and maracas, Miguel Camilo on piano, Jorge Rivera on bass, Pedro Marcano and Víctor Ambert on trumpets, César Ayala and Léster Pérez on trombones and Saviel Cartagena on tenor and soprano saxophones.

Ten minutes into the music under the direction of the leader of the generation of the present, as timbalero Pete Perignon is known on Puerto Rican soil, Aymée greeted the audience with a heartfelt, “¡Buenas noches, Puerto Rico!” She thanked the attendees in a candid manner for joining her, while making jokes about how heavy her dress was as she elegantly adjusted the flounce and wings of her sleeves. She also commented on the design of the theater, inaugurated in 1832.

Gilberto SantaRosa y Aymée Nuviola Imágenes Conrado Pastrano

That first conversation with the audience served to connect with a: “we are survivors”, in clear reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly before quoting Celia Cruz saying: “As Celia said so well: ‘Thank you Puerto Rico, for lending me your flag’. She also recognized actor Willy Denton, who played Pedro Knight when Aymée impersonated Celia Cruz in the soap opera Celia and who was among those present.

Nuviola boasted of having reached the fifth floor, as she recounted that she was going to record her version of ‘El ratón’ with Cheo Feliciano, whose unexpected death thwarted the long-awaited collaboration. However, Aymée decided to record it anyway, in order to pay tribute to Señor Sentimiento. The evening’s repertoire included: ‘Un poco de salsa’, ‘Salsa con timba’, ‘Yo sé que es mentira’, ‘El ratón’, ‘La tierra del olvido’ and ‘La gota fría’.

Many remember Aymée for her character of Celia Cruz in an acting performance that marked “a before and after” in the singer’s career. This was acknowledged by the actress, shortly before paying tribute to Celia, with her versions of ‘Cúcala’ and ‘Quimbara’, in addition to performing a medley of some of the songs with which Celia was crowned the Queen of Salsa. The medley included ‘Toro mata’ and ‘Bemba colorá’, among others.

The concert included a bohemian part during which Aymée accompanied herself on the classical piano to share with us her passion for the filin. The selected repertoire was: ‘Obsesión’, ‘Bésame mucho’, ‘Me faltabas tú’, ‘Perfidia’ and ‘Lágrimas negras’.

Before performing ‘El espacio’, of her own composition, and accompanied by Miguel Camilo on piano, Aymée said that the song was inspired by “someone else’s skeleton”, as the composer described it. Aymée emphasized that ‘El espacio’ is not dedicated to her husband. Between jokes and laughter, the sonera shared with those present her love story with Paulo Simeón, while acknowledging the presence of Fabio Díaz Vilela, who was the owner of the place where the couple met more than 14 years ago. Aymée expressed her gratitude to Fabio, for also having been a great support for the career of the producer, “from day one”.

The climax of the concert came as the sonera took off ‘El cuarto de Tula’, Gilberto Santa Rosa -who was among the attendees- went up on stage to duet with Aymée, between each soneo to describe the scope of the talent of the Cuban who gave her sonero heart to Puerto Rico. El Caballero de la Salsa was also able to tell La Sonera del Mundo the fascination that the Puerto Rican public has for her. For their part, Aymée’s soneos expressed to Gilberto the admiration she has for him for being “a great maestro”.

The repertoire of this last section included the songs ‘Fiesta’ and ‘El manisero’, which incorporated correspondences between the singer and the pianist. The coda of ‘El manisero’ coincided with the closing of the curtain, while the audience shouted “another, another, another”. The ñapa corresponded to ‘Chan chan’, a song included in the album that won Nuviola a Grammy for his production A Journey through Cuban Music. The interpretation was sprinkled with the strength brought by the trumpets of Pedro Marcano and Víctor Ambert, along with the trombones of César Javier Ayala and Léster Pérez. Chan Chan’ announced the farewell with which Aymée Nuviola’s energetic “God bless Puerto Rico” resounded as the curtain came down on her first solo concert on Puerto Rican soil. For my part, I reciprocate: “God bless Aymée Nuviola and her team (including Paulo Simeón and Luis Solís)”.

Here in the Island of Enchantment we are pleased to know that Corazón Sonero has consolidated this high-end artist, whom we already consider our own.

Images: Conrado Pastrano

Also Read: Mel Martinez I come from Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico is Salsero

Dance. The best of America United in a Single Project

Latin America / Cuba / La Habana

Since the 1950s, a very humorous genre called the casino dance was born in Cuba, a style based on dancing the Cuban music of the moment between couples. This lies in history since the fashion of Mambo and Cha Cha Cha in the most aristocratic clubs and in the fraternal halls of poor blacks of the beautiful island, they danced on Saturdays, Sundays or special parties on specific days, for the moment the rhythms sounded de la Aragon, Chapotin, Orquesta Casino, el Benni, among others, without leaving aside rhythms such as rock and roll, sounds of the time that fought for a space in the fans.

From the mixture and the dance relationship of those attending the clubs is born that change of couples in circular formation called the Rueda de Casino, a name that we will be developing in other editions of the magazine.

In America, especially in the south of this continent, Salsa Casino, as it is called in many places, has managed to lay firm foundations, much more than what is known in Europe or North America, in some countries becoming the reference number 1 of the Salsa dance modality. We have the best example in Venezuela, land of casinos par excellence, where we can add a great hundred dance schools nationwide, without leaving behind how strong it is in Colombia and Peru, among some countries that also use this discipline. as a strong influence on young and old.

It is incredible to see the great differences in styles and forms between the casinos in Europe and those in South America, but always the same concept, joining several couples to enjoy a good timba or a good son.

From the foregoing, the Cubashow Project arises, born with the primary objective of generating a training and development channel for the new generations that venture into the beautiful world of dance, mainly those linked to Cuban Salsa and its roots in popular music or traditional Cuban music, folklore and its Afro tendencies, all in relation to the strong wave of this discipline that is developing in the main capitals of many American countries.

BAILA QUE BAILA AMERICA a concept of union between southern countries to extend the dissemination of Salsa Casino in the continent brings together some of the best instructors from each country with the sole intention of conducting national and international training tours in all trends of the dances of Cuban culture, in this way we obtain from the best exponents classes, seminars, talks, forums, workshops and shows that can be viewed through the social networks of @BailaQueBailaAmerica the different schools, academies or instructors registered to the project.

Professional dance teams are structured based on their local projections, the work they do within each of their countries. An event of great proportions is expected for the month of June where we will be able to have the best instructors from all over South America together in a high caliber event, we just have to be attentive to social networks and future reports of this great magazine to join us. to this casual wave.

Habana Style. Dance Company “Where dancing is a pleasure”

North America / USA / Las Vegas

Habana Style

Founded by a professional dancer and choreographer, Yody Iznaga in 2001, to offer people who are passionate about latincaribbean and cuban music a place where they could learn such exotic dance styles and express themselves in dance body movements as its main objective. Habana Style Dance Company is one of the very few dance schools in LAS VEGAS which offer its public a complete portfolio with about 15 different latin-caribbean dance styles with an objective to enable the students to feel identified with what they are looking for in specific.

Yody Iznaga professional dancer and choreographer born in Cuba and educated through the authentic Cuban technique of modern dance created by the professor Eduardo Rivero Walker at a professional company Teatro de la Danza del Caribe (Theater of Caribbean Dance). Yody Iznaga knows to perfection about 15 different dance styles. He dances on TV channels and big and famous stages known in the world of salsa. Yody has choreographed and danced for artists like Marc Anthony, Victor Manuelle, La India, Maelo Ruiz, and others. https://habana.style

Habana Style - Social Photo 1 — Habana Style – Social Photo 1

Dance Classes at Habana Style Dance Company

Private lessons Private lessons represent the most accurate, effective and the fastest way to learn or master any dance style of your choice; since you can choose exactly what you would like to learn and the areas you need to improve. The dance studio is reserved only and exclusively for you and the instructor for the time of your scheduled session. This is also why you can fully enjoy and exploit the most out of the instructor’s time and attention which are completely yours during the private lesson.

Workshops Workshops are special dance classes taught by certified professionals with the main objective to develop and improve special dance abilities and to acquire original movements of a specific dance style. Members of Habana Style Dance Company learn through an authentic technique created by the dancer & choreographer Yody Iznaga. This authentic method focuses also on clean movements while it is easy to understand and acquire due to the high and professional level of teaching methodology typical for Habana Style.

Group Classes Group classes are designed for people who want to learn in an entertaining way how to dance and at the same time to meet people and to connect to people who have the same dance objective.

The classes are structured so that also people without a partner can participate in and enjoy the group classes. Students keep on rotating which allows them to improve their commands necessary for social dance. The group classes are designed to create a friendly environment and increase trust among participant; students are greatly encouraged to practice and demonstrate the knowledge acquired in the group classes on the dance floor at our social dance nights.

Habana Style - Social Photo 2 — Habana Style – Social Photo 2

Benefits of Dancing with Habana Style Dance Company

Habana Style Dance Company offers various benefits to its members while dancing Latin-Caribbean dances at the dance studio. Preparing and encouraging students to enjoy social dances anywhere in the world. On their way toward this goal, students have loads of fun, relieve stress, exercise, meet people with the same dance objective, and have constant participation in social events.

Members of Habana Style Dance School learn through an authentic technique created by the dancer & choreographer Yody Iznaga. This authentic method focuses also on clean movements while it is easy to understand and acquire due to the high and professional level of teaching methodology typical for Habana Style Dance Company.

Last but not least, Habana Style Dance School offers its members to join teams where they reach a very high level of dance including exotic movements within the social and professional dance through a long path of practices. What could be more beautiful and uniquely identifying than the exotic mixture of Salsa with Afro-Cuban rhythms and Cuban rumba within popular and social dances?

From Cuba El Septeto Son de Nipe come Abriendo Caminos (Opening Paths)

Son de Nipe. A musical septet born in the municipality of Antilla, it burst into the cultural world with an album of the In Situ label of the Colibri Record Production Company.

Antilla is the smallest municipality of the province of Holguin in Cuba and one of the smallest of Cuba, it was founded on January 21, 1925, it is famous from distant times for its beauty, legends and original aspect.

De Cuba El Septeto Son de Nipe vienen Abriendo Caminos

The group is formed by former musicians of the orchestra Brisas de Nipe of this municipality.

This project was born from the hands of Porfirio Núñez Cruz (Firo) who as Art Instructor at the Casa de Cultura Adelaida del Mármol of Antilla had experimented with other amateur groups, but not with the same results, because the members did not have the necessary musical training.

The album Abriendo Caminos includes 14 songs, 10 of which belong to Antillean authors.

“The value of Abriendo Caminos also lies in the fact that it helps Antillean composers and arrangers to open up to the recognition of their work and ways of doing things”.

From the singer and percussionist of the septet Son de Nipe, Alejandro Arencibia appears the guaracha Esa muchacha quiere bailar and the son, Honor al Guayabero; from Edalio Espinosa Alayo (Pupi), former member of the Brisas de Nipe orchestra, the son, Es caliente como el sol (It’s hot like the sun).

The songs A mi Antilla (bolero-son) and, Y no me niegues el beso (son) by José James Pinder, singer of the septet. By Oscar Fernández, former singer of the Brisas de Nipe Orchestra, the disc offers the themes Rebozo de amor (guaracha) and the son Que lástima.

From the director of the septet Son de Nipe Porfirio Núñez Cruz, Mi son tradicional.

And the guaracha Olvídate de esa nena by the Antillean composer Nemesio Palacio.

The remaining four musical numbers are; De que callada manera by Nicolás Guillén and Pablo Milanes, Culpable by Pepe Delgado, Rabo de nube by Silvio Rodríguez and Una alborada de amor by Ariel Dotres Zaldivar, these songs were arranged by Porfirio Núñez Cruz.

In the septet’s album Son de Nipe Abriendo Caminos “the guaracha, the bolero, the bolero-son and the genuine son are retaken with originality and revalued”.

The latter is due to the fact that the musical criteria followed by its director was the respect for traditional music, its deep knowledge, but imbuing it with very contemporary nuances, which results in a seal that distinguishes the septet Son de Nipe.

“We use the son, but more updated because we make innovations, harmonizing it in a more modern way, without losing its roots”.

The selection of the songs that made up the album Abriendo Caminos was in charge of the septet’s management, since the Casa Discográfica Colibrí wanted originality and the authentic exhibition of the work that has been developed with traditional music in the eastern part of the country.

The graphic image of the disc, worked in sepia and black colors fundamentally manage to set the atmosphere that is offered to us with a vintage flavor and invites us to listen to these 14 songs full of tradition and contemporaneity.

“It will be a delight for the listener and the dancer, the good function of the tres in its solos and “entregas”, the beautiful and ingenious introductions, the exquisite mixture between text and music of the boleros, the harmonic patterns of the soneros that not for conventional reasons give up a significant finish, without neglecting, on occasions, the voices replacing wind instruments”.

The selection of the members was meticulous. Porfirio had in his favor the prestige he possessed and the convening power among his former colleagues of the Orquesta Brisas de Nipe, so much so that in the list of his group he planned to include Reyes Cástulo Urgellés Fáez, better known as Lulú as bassist and José James Pinder (Joseíto) as singer, both retired from the Orquesta Brisas de Nipe and linked to the Casa de Cultura in occasional activities.

The septet still needed to be completed with a key piece, the tres, for which the prestigious Mario Arencibia Rodríguez, one of the best tres players in Antilla, was summoned.

In the Arencibia family, musicians abound, that is why the group was completed with them: Alejandro, singer and Rafael on the tumbadora.

Alejandro and Mario had been part of an amateur group called Renovación Antillana for more than 20 years, which was very famous in its time and where a great number of aficionados were formed.

Alejandro sometimes played the tres in other groups, but in Son de Nipe he remained as a singer, he also had a work relationship that did not allow him to devote himself entirely to music; His nephew, trained at the Casa de Cultura and under the musical influence of the family, had taken over the tumbadoras, so Rafael Arencibia was the youngest of the group, he was barely 25 years old and at this young age he had already played in several amateur groups and got the Brisa de Nipe orchestra out of trouble, due to the unexpected absence of its percussionist.

Rafael Arencibia Rodríguez joined the project with enthusiasm despite the fact that the genre and style of the repertoire were not those used by the amateur groups of his contemporaries.

Iro had obtained the desired musicians, but he still had a big step to climb, his musicians were not professionals, they all had work commitments and he needed to prepare the project for the right day…(ecured).

Septeto Son De Nipe – Abriendo Caminos (2006)

Temas:

Esa Muchacha Quiere Bailar (Alejandro Arencibia)
Es Caliente Como El Sol (Edalio Espinosa Adayo)
A Mi Antilla (José James Pinder)
Rebozo De Amor (Oscar Fernández Paz)
De Qué Callada Manera (N. Gillén / Pablo Milanés)
Honor Al Guayabero (Alejandro Arencibia)
Culpable (Pepe Delgado)
Mi Son Tradicional (Porfirio Núñez Cruz)
Y No Me Niegues el Beso (José James Pinder)
Clodomiro (Oscar Fernández Paz)
Rabo De Nube (Silvio Rodríguez)
Qué Lástima (Oscar Fernández Paz)
Una Alborada De Amor (Ariel Dotres Zaldívar)
Olvídate De Esa Nena (Nemecio Palacio)

Septeto Son De Nipe - Abriendo Caminos (2006) — Septeto Son De Nipe – Abriendo Caminos (2006)

Research Sources:

L’Òstia Latin Jazz

Dj. Augusto Felibertt

Also Read: Virgilio Martí was an excellent rumbero and composer of the classic “Cuba Linda” where he was vocalist and percussionist in Grupo Folklorico Experimental Newyorkino