Singers, dancers, musicians and artists in general are usually the first thing the public sees during any type of event, but very little is spoken about the companies, producers and promoters that are in charge of managing all the logistics behind these shows, so we wanted to talk to Guido Herrera-Yence, founder of Yambu Productions, which is an important music production company based in Los Angeles, so he could tell us a little about all these subjects.   

How Guido Herrera-Yance started in the world of music as a radio host 

Many years before Guido even thought about the idea of forming a company, he began to establish himself as a radio host on the popular public radio station KXLU 88.9 FM, specifically on the show ”Alma Del Barrio”, which is about to turn 51 years on the air in October. In Guido’s case, he has been hosting the show for more than 30 years, bringing the best Latin music and artistic news to all his listeners.   

The also producer confesses that he did not really like locution and that he was simply in the right place at the right time, resulting in the career he has built in this type of media. What it does say is that he was a frequent listener of several radio shows and a voracious music collector, which led him to meet certain personalities who saw potential in him to belong to ”Alma Del Barrio”. When a show was opened, he was the leading candidate for the job and accepted immediately. 

Guido did not have any kind of experience in radio, but his employers trained him and taught him everything he needed to know to carry out his tasks properly. 30 years later, Guido is still one of the main hosts of the show and a reference in terms of Latin music radio.    

From radio to event production   

In 1995, one year after having joined ”Alma Del Barrio”, a friend told him that Chucho Valdés was going to the United States after many years and proposed him to make a show together with the artist as the main attraction. When Guido accepted, they began to look for artists to accompany the Cuban that night and some of them were Alex Acuña, Justo Almario, Luis Conte, among others.   

The results were so good that Guido was left with the desire to keep experimenting with this field of the industry, so he continued to produce events of all kinds on a small and large scale since that year. 

As the years went on, he realized that he would need a bigger and more elaborate structure if he wanted to continue to work on this, so the idea of founding a music production company began to take shape in his mind.    

How Guido created Yambu Productions   

On the creation of Yambu Productions, something that Guido highlighted is that, in the United States, ”everything must be done very formally”. In light of the obligation to declare the income from his musical activities, Guido saw the need to create a company that would facilitate the procedures related to taxes and issues of this sort in order to cover his back.   

Regarding the name ”yambu”, the businessman was inspired by a song by the Cuban popular music singer Carlos Embale, who was one of his favorite artists, so he wanted to honor him in that way. Taking this detail into account, it is not surprising that Cuban music and its exponents play a fundamental role in the events and groups that Yambu Productions seeks to promote, but it is not limited to nationalities or genres.   

The company has set up events for Los Papines, El Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba, Chucho Valdés, Los Van Van, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Tito Nieves, José Alberto ”El Canario” and the list goes on. Guido is very proud that Yambu Productions was the one that produced the only concert given by Los Van Van Van and El Gran Combo in the United States, which was in the year 2029. He says he is a fan of both groups, so this was a dream come true for him.   

Upcoming Yambu Productions Events    

This year, Yambu Productions was about to hold the Cuban American Music Festival on 2 June this year, but it has been suspended due to multiple factors, but the main one is that Guido feels that many things have changed in the entertainment industry after the pandemic such as demographics and the public tastes. This has caused the producer to rethink many things, as he is not quite clear  what will be the path to follow by the company, so he prefers to wait. 

In addition to the above, Guido is focused on his own restaurant that opened just six months ago and needs to dedicate all his time and effort to this new project, so it is very possible that the previously festival will be back better than ever for the year 2025, when he will be clearer about what he wants to do with this event.   

However, he said he does not want to be away from live music, to which he attaches a great deal of importance in his work, so with the support of one of the most important jazz clubs in California, Catalina Jazz Club, he rolled up his sleeves and organized the Salsa Meets Jazz Concert Series for 26 April this year (at the time of publishing this article, the concert must have taken place). In this way, Guido wants to recreate that golden era of Latin jazz and salsa in New York, but in his own way. 

The Salsa Meets Jazz Concert Series is expected to pay tribute to a different artist who has contributed to these genres each edition and this year it was the torn for Tito Puente. In addition, Catalina Jazz Club proposed Guido to hold events of this type several times a year, so tribute concerts to Ray Barreto and Andy Gonzalez are also scheduled before 2024 is up. He maintained a close friendship with both musicians, especially with Gonzalez.  

How are the logistics behind a Yambu Productions event? 

When Guido plans to hold an event, the first thing he should do is to find a venue that complies with the requirements for the type of show he plans, analyze the costs involved, find the best talent for the show, hire sound engineers, recruit the people who will be in charge of the logistics part, among other things. It is an arduous work of at least six months before the event takes place.   

An example of the above is the Cuban American Music Festival, which has always been held in May, so he should start organizing and planning for it since November or December of the previous year. This in order to have every detail ready on the day of the festival and to avoid any unforeseen problems that could put those involved down.  

On this subject, Guido said he feels lucky to be able to have so many friends in the world of music, to stay on ”Alma Del Barrio” for so many years and to know people like Nelson González, Johnny ”Dandy” Rodríguez, Genaro Rivera and many others who are always ready to come to Yambu Productions events without even asking about payment, since they know that Guido and his company are very responsible about these issues.  

How talent is selected for events 

”Everything falls on me. I believe that I have the capacity, knowledge and experience to know what the public wants. It is for the very reason that we will not be making the Cuban American Music Festival this year, since the pandemic changed everything in the industry and I have to accept that what sold yesterday is not the same as what sells today” said Guido when asked how he chooses the talent he wants for his shows. He also added that ”I’m still debating with myself on which way to go with the company after quarantine”. 

What Guido will never do is let go of live music because, in his words, ”it feeds his spirit”. As long as he is dedicated to music production and Yambu Productions is still operating, live events will always have a highly important place in the activities carried out by the company. 

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