Search Results for: Cuban

Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey” and Bailar medio apreta’o con una negra bien sabrosa

Alberto Amancio Beltrán (Palo Blanco, La Romana, May 5, 1923 – Miami, February 2, 1997) was a Dominican singer, known in the Latin American musical world as “El Negrito del Batey”.

Early years

Beltrán was born in the town of Palo Blanco, in the province of La Romana. As a child, he barely had a basic education because his family’s economic situation forced him to sell candy on the streets. At the age of fourteen he was attracted to music and debuted as an amateur singer on the radio. This first artistic incursion led him to take singing lessons.

Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey”

From 1946 to 1951 he belonged to several groups in his country, such as “Brisas de Oriente”. Later, he formed his own group called “Dominican Boys”.

International projection

In 1951 he emigrated to Puerto Rico. There, he recorded with “Los Diablos del Caribe”, a group led by Mario Hernández, the song “El 19”.

He then traveled to Cuba, first to Santiago and then to Havana on July 15, 1954, to work with the Puerto Rican composer and singer Myrta Silva on Radio Mambí.

On August 16 of that same year, he was requested by the Sonora Matancera and recorded the composition Ignoro tu existencia by Rafael Pablo de la Motta and Aunque me cueste la vida by the Dominican Luis Kalaff. Both songs, in bolero rhythm, were recorded on the same 78 rpm disc.

On November 16, he recorded the merengue El negrito del batey composed by Medardo Guzmán, which catapulted him internationally as it became a sales hit.

From there came the nickname with which he became popular. That same day he also recorded the boleros Todo me gusta de Ti by Cuto Esteves, Enamorado de la inspiración by José Balcalcer and, for the second time, El 19 by Radhamés Reyes Alfau.

Beltrán nació en la localidad de Palo Blanco en Cuba

On January 18, 1955 he recorded his last pieces with the Orquesta Sonora Matancera. Then, he spent some time in Venezuela where he left phonographic records with the orchestras “Sonora Caracas”, Los Megatones de Lucho and the Orquesta de Jesús “Chucho” Sanoja.

Hired by the Dominican musician settled in Venezuela, Billo Frómeta, he participated in two albums recorded in Cuban studios: “Evocación” (1956) in which he performed as a soloist and “La Lisa-Maracaibo”, in which he shared credits with the Cuban singer Carlos Díaz.

What does El negrito del batey mean?

In the Dominican Republic the batey smells of black and the black often smells of batey. Both evoke in their generality misery and human abandonment, fruit of injustice and discrimination. This is so, although it pains us to say it

The Negrito of the Batey

They call me the little black man of the batey

Because work for me is an enemy

To work I leave everything to the ox

Because work was made by God as a punishment

I like the merengue apambicha’o

With a black woman who is a retrechera and a good girl

I like to dance de medio la’o

I like to dance half tight with a tasty black girl

Hey!

Get your ass out of here!

There!

They call me the little black guy from the batey

Because work for me is an enemy

To work I leave everything to the ox

Because God made work as a punishment

I like the merengue apambicha’o

With a black woman who is a retrechera and a good girl

I like to dance de medio la’o

I like to dance half tight with a tasty black girl

Hey, there!

And you tell me if it’s not true

Merengue much better

And you say if it’s not true

Merengue much better

Because that of working

It’s a pain for me

Because that of working

To me it causes me pain, it sounds!

The meek ox works hard

But he never gets dengue fever

The meek ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

I’ll dance with a good black woman

I’ll dance to a good merengue

But I never get tired

To dance a good merengue, it sounds!

There, candela!

Finbroso, hey!

The gentle ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

A lot of work the gentle ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

But I never get tired

Of dancing a good merengue

But I never get tired

Of dancing a good merengue, it sounds!

There!

Dominicanize!

Sonora Matancera

Javier Cabanillas and his Cabanijazz Project

It has been a privilege for International Salsa Magazine to talk to Mexican bandleader, professor and musician Javier Cabanillas, who told us in detail about his life from the day he started in music until today, when the fruits of all the hard work and great talent are seen.

Interesting beginnings

Javier begins by speaking of his beginnings in the world of music on the streets of Tijuana, in his native Mexico. He tells us that he used to work in San Diego, USA, and Tijuana is a border city, so he had to cross the border every day in order to fulfill his professional commitments.

On his days off, he often went to what is known colloquially as ”sobremesas” or ”tianguis”, which are closed streets where vendors set up their stands to offer their goods to passersby. In those places, he played the conga, as he felt that this was a space where he could freely express his art in front of an audience, although his dream was to do it on stage. What he did not know was that sooner or later it would come true.

Javier did not think he could walking down a red carpet in Los Angeles, since his activity was completely informal. He was just looking to blow off some steam and drain daily stress. I felt very comfortable playing the conga as I did, but over time, I began to professionalize myself in the musical area and that is how I have gradually achieved what I have set myself out to do,” says the artist.

Although it is a long time ago, Javier remembers very fondly those years because that gentle scene and that communication with people on the street helped him to develop the warmth an artist needs to connect with the audience.

Javier Cabanillas and his Cabanijazz Project at the 62nd Monterrey Jazz Festival

How have your Latin roots affected your career in the United States?

As to how his roots have affected his career, Javier says that he had to learn most things on the go, but always ramaining respectful toward all cultures in which his music was involved. He mentions this as his origins are focused on northern Mexico where the typical thing is to listen to norteño and banda music, but he did not choose those genres for his career, but jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. ”I had a lot of respect for that culture because I felt that it was not completely mine, which led me to be much more responsible and respectful when experimenting with this market,” he said.

When talking about learning to play an instrument or genre that does not belong to his culture, he said that there are always some limitations because musical language will always vary. In his case, the kind of musical language comprehensible to him is that of mariachi or banda music, making easier for him to identify certain elements. When he went to live in San Francisco, he spent time with musicians from all nationalities and could realize that they were not able to do many of the things that were not proper from their countries of origin. This makes learning more complicated, but not impossible.

In that sense, Cabanillas says there are some useful techniques to learn to play instruments and rhythms we did not grow up with, so there is a revolution of percussionists and musicians who have managed to break that mold. The Internet has played an extremely important role in all this, as artists of all kinds can access content that helps them improve and develop professionally. In his particular case, YouTube and these online tools did not exist, so he could only count on his ear and imitate what he heard to learn.

Cabanillas' music is based on jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms — Cabanillas’ music is based on jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms

The Grammy

One of the great victories in Cabanillas’ artistic life was the Grammy he won with the Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Since the members of the group did not have the necessary funds to produce an album, they turned to other financing options supported by the community through an online fundraising campaign. The intention was that anyone could make a donation or even buy the album in advance.

30 days later, they achieved their goal and recorded the album. Javier was one of the 36 musicians who participated in the production and his role was to be in charge of percussion with his congas. The orchestra was not supported by any major label, so they did everything independently. This gave them more control over what they wanted to offer to the audience, since they were not subject to what any management wanted from them. This meant that the process of preparing the material was very organic and spontaneous.

When the album came into competition in the ”Best Tropical Album of the Year” category, it managed to be among the five best nominees along with Marc Anthony, Carlos Vives, Los Ángeles Azules, Sergio George, Oscar D’ León and many more. Three of them were working with Sony Latin Music, so they had great chance chances to win because they worked with such a big label, while Pacific Mambo did not have all that machinery behind them, not even close.

Javier Cabanillas with the Grammy he won with the Pacific Mambo Orchestra

That’s how we were invited to Los Angeles, walked down the red carpet like the rest of the artists and took a huge surprise to win the Grammy in our category. At that moment, I felt that all my effort was worthwhile” the conguero said excitedly. He confesses that he and his orchestra fellows did not expect the win because they were the least popular nominees in the category. Fortunately, the judges focused their attention on the quality of their work and not on their popularity at the time.

Cabanijazz Project

As noted, the name of the group is a play on words between the artist’s last name and the word ”jazz”. The whole idea came up in Tijuana, where he was clear that he wanted to start a project in which he would not limited to a single rhyming scheme. He did not want to use something as generic and worn-out as ”Javier Cabanillas Y Su Orquesta”, so he started to play with other elements to obtain an original name that would capture the essence he wanted to show. This is how the name ”Cabanijazz Project” was born.

The project started as a quintet that played in several festivals and events, achieving some success in a short time. Later, he added more musicians until having eight. When he started working in San Francisco, he began studying more and absorb the culture around him for a few years. Some time later, he restarted his project again with Bay Area musicians and started uploading his material to music platforms such as ITunes and Spotify.

Among the instruments used by his group, the trombone, the tenor saxophone and the baritone cannot be left out. They are the three largest wind instruments in the brass range, so they were the ones that achieved the sound Javier was looking for in his orchestra.

Another important detail is that the music they play is entirely original and they only change their repertoire a little when they play live.

San Francisco Salsa Festival 2023

One of the group’s upcoming performances will be at the annual San Francisco Salsa Festival to be held in March 2023. Cabanillas says that one day he received an email from the event organizers informing him that Cabanijazz Project was the choice to play there. They were recommended by several of Javier’s friends and colleagues who assured the organizers that the band was the best choice for its quality.

They have already played three times at the festival before the pandemic resulted in the suspension of the event, so the artist and his musicians already have a lot of experience entertaining the tough Bay Area audience. Cabanijazz Project will be the opening band for the festival and will perform along with two other local groups that will also offer their talent to the attendees.

Pacifica Radio, history, shows and controversy

This is Pacifica Radio

Pacifica Radio has been one of the largest radio networks in the United States in recent decades and its importance remains enormous today despite the time elapsed. It has given voice to figures of all kinds of political and ideological trends and artists from all genres who sought a platform in order to be heard. However, such popularity does not make this organization to be free from controversy that, like its history and shows, we would also like to explore with the greatest possible respect.

Next, we will talk about the most outstanding to observe about this radio station since its beginnings from 1946 to this day, since talking about Pacifica Radio is also talking about communication in the United States and the role played played by Latino culture and music in all of this.

Logo of Pacifica Foundation

Beginnings of Pacifica Radio

Pacifica Foundation is a non-profit organization that owns five independent radio stations financed from listener contributions. It is widely known for its progressive and liberal tendencies and is located next to KPFK in Los Angeles, California.

This organization is also responsible for managing everything related to Pacifica Network, which, in turn, runs much more than a hundred affiliated stations with all kinds of shows and content, although it specializes on political and social issues to varying degrees. It is the oldest radio network in the country and the oldest non-profit network in the world, which speaks of Pacifica’s relevance compared to other media.

It was founded in 1946 by E. John Lewis and Lewis Hill after the Second World War. Both men were totally anti-war and refused to perform military service as conscientious objectors. They joined other pacifists to create Pacifica Foundation, whose first station started to air on April 15, 1949 in Berkeley, California.

Being true to the beliefs with which they started this project, the founders gave voice to all those who were against the Korean War the following year along with many other minorities who could not find means of communication to express their views contrary to the majority position of the time.

The station started operating in several cities over the years due to its enormous success and the following radio stations were created in several cities: KPFA/94.1 and KPFB/89.3 in Berkeley, California (San Francisco Bay Area), KPFK/90.7 in Los Angeles, WBAI/99.5 in New York, KPFT/90.1 in Houston and WPFW/89.3 in Washington, DC.

Lewis Hill, co-founder of KPFA and Pacifica Radio

Operation

Pacifica is governed by a board of directors that sets out the policies that determine the organization and oversees the network operations. The board is comprised of representatives from each of the stations that comprise the foundation, as well as directors elected by the Pacifica community.

The members of this board are elected and replaced every three years and have regular meetings to discuss issues related to the operation of the foundation and decision-making regarding the management of the network. It is from there that the use of resources donated by the audience is being decided.

The board members are as follows:

Lydia Brazon (Chair), representing KPFT in Houston, Texas

Sabrina Jacobs (Vice-Chair), representing KPFA in Berkeley, California

Alex Steinberg (Secretary), representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Donald Goldmacher (Treasurer), representing KPFA in Berkeley, California

Christina Huggins, representing WPFW in Washington, D.C.

T.M. Scruggs, representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Janet Coleman, representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Cerene Roberts, representing KPFA in Berkeley

Pacifica Foundation’s Latino shows

If there is something Pacifica Radio has stood out is for the enormous space provided to the Latino community to spread its music and culture in general. That is why there have been many shows entirely dedicated to these topics and whose hosts have been Latinos or children of Latinos.

KPFA has Luis Medina and Emiliano Echeverría, who are in charge of hosting the show ”Con Sabor”, which specializes in artists and news related to salsa, Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music, among other genres. In addition, they also interview these artists, provide the audience with the musical calendar and offer concert tickets.

Broadcasters Luis Medina, Chata Rodríguez, and Emiliano Echeverria

In the case of KPFK, the Latin community has the well-known show ”Canto Tropical” hosted by Kathy Diaz and Hector Resendez, whose work is focused on promoting the main Latin music genres such as Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban music and salsa. They also focus on interviewing and giving space to both local and foreign artists to promote their talent and be made known to the widest possible audience.

Host of ''Canto Tropical'' Kathy Díaz and host of ''Alma Del Barrio'' Eddie López — Host of ”Canto Tropical” Kathy Díaz and host of ”Alma Del Barrio” Eddie López

On WBAI, ”Salsa Con Candela” is a weekly celebration of the rich history and diversity of the salsa music genre. The show hosted by DJ Candela includes a mix of classic and contemporary songs, as well as interesting and enlightening interviews with artists and important figures in Latin music culture.

Another noteworthy Latin program is ”Salsa y más” on KPFT, which explores in detail the world of salsa and other important Latin genres. The program hosted by DJ Leonard Trujillo, as well as ”Salsa Con Candela” also offers a mix of Latin and contemporary songs along with interviews with local and international artists.

And finally, WPFW has ”Latin Flavor”, a program dedicated to the most important Latin genres such as salsa, Latin jazz and many others. The show hosted by DJ Jim Byers explores the cultural and historical roots of Latin music and provides a platform to present new artists from around the world.

Controversy

Since the beginning of this foundation, its stations have been embroiled in a series of scandals that have not gone unnoticed by telecommunications and the community at large, especially political and ideological. Among the many events suffered by Pacifica, we cannot fail to mention the requests from the government to obtain the recordings of some shows, controversial interviews such as the one with Che Guevara, reports about embezzlement of funds, financial crisis, among many other things.

In 2020, it was learned that some Pacifica listeners, volunteers and donors have created an organization called Pacifica Safety Net with which they seek to expose mishandling and attitudes of Pacifica’s board members, whom they accuse of compromising the main mission of the station network. The members of this group have filed a lawsuit against this board for prevarication and mismanagement, assuring that the board’s lack of leadership resulted in the loss of many revenues in the station network and, therefore, caused a serious problem of solvency in the organization.

A great example of this mismanagement is the reduction from 120,000 to 40,000 members the network has today, as was the case in just a few years. There are also many complaints about the type of programmes broadcast by the network in recent years due to their high content of hate, conspiracy theories, racism and a lot of things that did not represent the values upon which Pacifica Foundation was based.

In that sense, the members of the aforementioned committee make an urgent call to all members of the radio network to recover these spaces to go back to the main mission of the foundation, which unfortunately has been taken by other interests completely unrelated to those of the donors, workers and listeners.

In 2019, the network was able to get a $3 million loan that would allow it to pay part of the debt accumulated up to that date, but the possibility of the foundation achieving long-term financial stability is not even close to being a fact. Due to mismanagement, the foundation is not able to pay this amount back, so it is forced to cut costs. This reduction in income is causing the board of directors to seek to sell the building where WBAI operates, which had been given by the Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) in exchange for a rental agreement that is quite detrimental to the foundation from the point of view of current and former workers.

The Empire State Building, where WBAI FM is located now

Wit regard to this issue, Mexican broadcaster Jesse ”Chuy” Varela, who worked for several years at KPFA, told us a little about the irregularities presented both there and at other stations where he worked. The radio professional points out that there have always been serious communication problems between administrations and workers. ”The board always thinks they can do something better with the money raised and spend a lot of resources without notifying the audience about what they are doing. When you ask for money from the listeners, they have to trust that when they give it to you, you are going to put it to good use” declared Varela.

”I knew of many cases where executives who had meetings in different cities, stayed in expensive hotels and ate in exclusive restaurants. I consider this is an abuse and a lack of respect for those who donate their money. I have seen this in all the stations where I worked unfortunately. In this sense, trade unions play a fundamental role to avoid these kinds of problems” the broadcaster continued.

Announcer Jesse ''Chuy'' Varela at KCSM Jazz 91 — Announcer Jesse ”Chuy” Varela at KCSM Jazz 91

As for other announcers and former Pacifica Radio employees or managers, they did not want to make comments in this respect. We presume that this could be because of possible reprisals due to the power accumulated by the largest radio network in the United States.

It should be noted that everything written here is based on testimonies of others that have not yet been confirmed, so we neither confirm nor deny any of the facts as presented here.

In front of adversity we grow with Johnny Cruz .

North America/ All USA

Johnny Cruz : This month I wanted to dedicate myself to good news, highlighting the work of those who, despite adversity, continue to strive to bring the best to the public. We keep working!

Gilberto Santa Rosa surprises us with his new album Colegas. His most recent phonogram. In this, Santa Rosa invested the last six years and presents 16 collaborations with Cuban artists -Isaac Delgado and Juan Jose Hernandez-Puerto Ricans -Tito Nieves, Tito Rojas, Luisito Carrion, Pirulo, Nino Segarra, Choco Orta among others-, as well as with a Dominican – Jose Alberto “El Canario” -.

Gilberto Santa Rosa - Colegas — Gilberto Santa Rosa – Colegas

The album is preceded by “40… y contando en vivo desde Puerto Rico”, an album recorded in 2018 live at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, to celebrate its 40 years of musical career. The majestic arrangements were the work of Dino Nugent (Apaga La Luz), Marty Sheller (Caminalo, Ban Ban Quere), Ramón Sánchez (Que Se Sepa), Javier Fernández (Tremendo Coco, Masacote), Louis García (Por La Calle Del Medio, Ocana Sordi, El Guateque De Chombo), Ricky González (Vamos a Bailar El Son, Eque Tumba), Manolito Rodríguez (Medley Boleros), José Madera (Bailadores), Rene González (Estoy como Nunca), Isidro Infante (Mario Ague, El Mejor Sonero, Sonerito), James Hernández (La Fonda De Bienvenido).

In good time Santa Rosa presents this production. He positions him on the GRAMMY platform and refreshes him in his role as sonero and incidentally, he extends a helping hand to some who had not recorded Salsa Brava again.

Tracks: La Familia; Caminalo; Que Se Sepa; Mazacote; Apaga La Luz; Sonerito; Por La Calle Del Medio; Nos Vamos A Bailar El Son; Medley Boleros; Ocana Sordi; Bailadores; El Mejor Sonero; Tremendo Coco; Estoy Como Nunca; Mario Ague; Eque Tumbao; La Fonda De Bienvenido; Ban Ban Quere; Guateque De Chombo.

Members: Angie Machado, Jan Duclerc, Jesús Alonso, turbidity Vilchez – trumpet; Charlie Sierra – maracas; Dino Nugent – violín; Johnny Torres, Pedro Perez – bass; Manolito Rodriguez – timbal; Rafy Torres, Toñito Vásquez, Víctor Vázquez, Reynaldo Jorge – trombones – trombone; Richie Bastar – bongo; Sammy García, Jimmie Morales – congas; Sammy Vélez, Josué Urbina; Pedro Méndez, Frankie Pérez, Janice Maysonet – saxophone; Luis Marín, Isidro Infante, Javi Fernández, Ricky González – piano; Orestes Vilató – timpani; Pablo “El Indio” Rosario – percussion; Meñique, Paquito Guzmán, Víctor Manuelle, Luisito Carrion, Justo Betancourt – backing vocals. Guests: Víctor Manuelle, Choco Orta, Juan José Hernández, Isaac Delgado, Yan Collazo, Luisito Carrion, Pirulo, Tito Nieves, Tito Rojas “El Gallo”, Ismael Rivera Jr., José Alberto “El Canario”, Carlitos Ramírez, Michelle Brava, Herman Olivera, Maelo Ruiz.

I take this opportunity to greet my good friend Johnny Rodríguez Jr., better known as Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez, is an American bongo player. He was Tito Puente’s longtime bongo player, and also played with Tito Rodríguez, Ray Barretto, and Alfredo de la Fe. He belonged to various popular bands of the salsa era such as Tico All-Stars, Fania All-Stars, and Typica 73. He is a proud son of El Barrio (Spanish Harlem), New York, and stickball (street baseball) was more interested than music.

Marco Bermúdez - En mi voz — Marco Bermúdez – En mi voz

However, influenced by his father, Johnny, 17, earned the position of playing bongos in the Tito Puente Orchestra. Johnny spent more than 30 years with the orchestra, also working with Tito Rodríguez from 1965 to 1968 and with Ray Barretto from 1970 until the end of 1972. Johnny went on to form Tipica 73, of which he remained a member until 1979. He then returned to the band. Tito’s band, playing alongside him until the time of Tito’s death in May 2000.

Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. continues to be a Latin jazz and salsa percussionist. Today he works as a percussionist in different Latin music ensembles, He is unstoppable and is very active with the Latin Jazz Giants (alongside his colleagues and Exclusive LP Artists Jose Madera and George Delgado) and that includes the stars from the original Tito Puente Orchestra. The band plays the famous music from the Palladium days of Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, and Machito, and also recorded The Giants Play the Music of the Palladium.

In 2008, Johhny entrusted LP’s Research and Development Department with the design of the John “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. bongoes from the Legends series. John is proud that these drums, which bear his name, present such a sound and visual characteristics outstanding. Keep going, Johnny!

A few days ago, En Mi Voz, the solo debut of the Ecuadorian singer Marco Bermúdez, was officially launched on the market. This is a very good selection of ten songs, under the master hand of Oscar Hernández, the prestigious and renowned musician who is making his debut as a record producer with Ovation Records.

Pedro Bermudez - Arrasando — Pedro Bermudez – Arrasando

Marco has not saved anything for this premiere. He has met with his colleagues from the “Hispánica del Barrio” and the result could not be better: Jerry Madera, Máximo Rodríguez, Maneco Ruiz, Héctor Colón, Doug Beavers, Reynaldo Jorge, Jeremy Bosch, George Delgado, Luisito Quintero and Jorge González give solvency and flavor to En Mi Voz. The album opens with “Amanecer Contigo”, composed with four hands between Hernández and Bermúdez, where the trumpet solos by Maneco Ruiz and flute by Jeremy Bosch stand out.

Jeremy is also heard with his flute in his fine and heartfelt composition “Canto a mi Mamá” and in “Únicamente tú”, making Marco the second voice. The romantic spirit of the singer of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Mambo Legends Orchestra is confirmed in songs like “Solo Basta” and “Tu Regreso”. Oscar’s arrangements guarantee the key melody. Highly recommended this album, it has no waste!

I send my greetings and wishes for a reunion with this excellent salsa singer: Hermenegildo Olivera, or Herman Olivera. Born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Puerto Rican parents and from an early age linked to Latin music. In the 70s, in the middle of the salsa boom, Herman began his love of singing by listening to the interpretations of Chamaco Ramírez, Héctor Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano and Marvin Santiago, among others. These vocalists were primarily his source of inspiration. When he was just 15 years old, Herman began his career as a salsa interpreter with an orchestra called La Justicia.

Later he was part of the band La Sónica, where he met his friend and trombonist Jimmy Bosch. After this he spent time with the Caramelo orchestra to later take the most important leap in his career by being part of the Conjunto Libre in 1978, where he left his voice reflected for the first time in the Incredible LP of 1981 under the direction of percussionist Manolo Oquendo and bassist Andy González, where he stands out with the theme Decídete.

In 1990, he was invited to record on the album Salsa Sudada, from the Valdesa Records label of Víctor Raúl Sánchez “Patillas” and with the musical direction of Isidro Infante, sharing vocalization with Mario Muñoz “Papaíto”, Adalberto Santiago, Eladio Peguero “Yayo El Indio” and Pablo Villanueva Branda “Melcochita”; in this work he interprets the songs La Aguja and a tribute to the city of Cali called Valle Plateado de Salsa. Later, it launched an independent project called Herman Olivera y La Exclusiva. Chequea la Mercancía.

Produced by Fernando Pastrana where the song Me Extraña Araña is one of the most outstanding. For 1997 he participates in the CD of the band Rikoson All Stars, called Evoluciones del Son, where he stands out very well in the romantic theme Aquella Noche. In 1998 he was requested by the piano teacher Eddie Palmieri and together with the vocalist Wichy Camacho they recorded the album El Rumbero del Piano, where he stands out as a singer on the songs Malagueña alerosa and Oiga mi Guaguancó.

That same year he was invited to the recording studios by the trombonist Jimmy Bosch and they released the album titled Soneando Trombón, which contains the hit Otra Oportunidad. Who plays a duet with Frankie Vázquez. On this CD also appears the song Descargarana. That same duo, Olivera and Bosch, meet the following year (1999) and produce Salsa Dura, where Herman shines performing the full Impacto Tendremos. The album also features the participation of singers Frankie “Nene” Morales and Frankie Vázquez. Parallel to this album, the RMM label launches a live CD and DVD titled Eddie Palmieri & Friend’s, where Herman looks excellent in the number Palo pa ’Rumba.

The invitation to tune in to the new Fm / Internet radio station on Live365.com continues: Salsagallery. Good music, interviews with the artists and much more… now with the participation of Felix Villalobos who joins Salsagallery Radio with a segment in which we will be talking about Music.

At the Spanish Harlem Salsa Gallery Museum we are happy to say that we are gradually returning to our activities and we will be opening the gallery sporadically. We do not stop, we continue to work for our music and we will always keep you informed through our social networks. We hope to have more news shortly and that we can return to normal soon.

“Mambo Night in Miami Beach” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of “El Inolvidable”, our own Tito Rodriguez

De izquierda a derecha, Tito Puente, Jr., Mario Grillo, Tito Rodríguez, Jr. Foto: sobejazzfestival.com

The initial idea of bringing together the three great orchestras of the Palladium in this innovative “three-in-one” orchestra concept came to Mario Grillo more than two decades ago.

As early as March 3, 2022, the mambo heirs celebrated the coming of age of The Big Three Palladium Orchestra in New York. Twenty-one years after the establishment of this remarkable big band, the concert entitled Palladium in the New Millennium took place in a packed Lehman Center for the Performing Arts.

The first presentation of 2023 of the “three-in-one” big band and coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the birth of “El Inolvidable”, Tito Rodriguez, the South Beach Jazz Festival’s line-up opened its musical offerings on Saturday, January 7, 2023 with the concert entitled Mambo Night in Miami Beach. At around 8:00 p.m. The Big Three Palladium Orchestra took over the Miami Beach Band Shell when Mario Grillo, known in the music scene as Machito, Jr. kicked off the musical feast that awaited us, to the sound of Cuban Fantasy.

As you can see, each of the “big three of the Palladium” and owners of the mambo in its golden age inherited a timbalero son. These three bandleaders have made it their mission to keep the Palladium legacy alive and well. Although the mambo heirs have transcended the label of being the sons of the mambo owners, they do not forget that the Patriarchs are still a topic of conversation in musical circles around the world.

For the concert at the Miami Beach Band Shell, The Big Three Palladium Orchestra was joined by the veteran musicians: Carmen Laboy on baritone saxophone and musical direction; Jose Heredia on tenor saxophone, Mark Friedman on alto saxophone and flute, Julio Andrade on alto saxophone; Larry Moses, Seneca Black, Dante Vargas and Julio Diaz on trumpets; William Rodriguez on piano, Jerry Madera on bass, Daniel Peña on bongo and Diego Camacho on tumbadoras. On the vocal front, Sammy González, Jr. was backed by the coros of Starlyn Benítez and Tatan Betancurt.

Carmen Laboy en el saxofón barítono y la dirección musical de The Big Three Palladium Orchestra Foto: Ethan Dangerwing of Masterwing Creative Agency

The upscale repertoire vibrated and rumbled at the Miami Beach Band Shell, an elegant venue steps from the beach, which was filled to capacity.

Mario GrilloFoto: sobejazzfestival.com — Mario Grillo Foto: sobejazzfestival.com

Mario Grillo’s highlights were: Cuban Fantasy, Oye la rumba (La rumba), Ahora sí, Piñero tenía razón (Piñero was right), Babarabatiri (Babarabatiri) and Rumbantela (Rumbantela). On the other hand, Tito Rodríguez, Jr. performed the following songs: El que se fue, Cheveré, Yambú, Avísale a mi contrario, Agua de Belén and Fagot’s world. In the performance of Avísale a mi contrario, the conga of Diego Camacho and the bongo of Daniel Peña, who “quinteando a lo bravo” and adjusting to the tuning of the timbal in charge of Rodríguez, Jr. opened the way for the winds. And the winds entered through the wide door to increase the tempo of the night, which was already heating up to the sound of mambo.

Tito Rodríguez, Jr.Foto: Migdalia Sánchez — Tito Rodríguez, Jr. Foto: Migdalia Sánchez

When it was Tito Puente, Jr.’s turn to play the timbal, he affirmed that Tito Puente was the pioneer in having a woman in the vocal front of an orchestra.

Then, preparing to close the first segment of the concert, he introduced Puerto Rican businesswoman and singer Melina Almodóvar, whom he backed for the performance of Mi socio.

Tito Puente, Jr. y Melina AlmodóvarFoto: sobejazzfestival.com — Tito Puente, Jr. y Melina Almodóvar Foto: sobejazzfestival.com

The grand finale of the event placed the three timbaleros heirs of mambo in front of the orchestra to delight us with a masterful performance in sync with the rhythmic base that Diego Camacho and Daniel Peña did not hesitate to maintain.

Last year such a show was promised in which the heirs of mambo honor the legacy of their fathers on Puerto Rican soil. The show was to be entitled “Palladium in the new millennium” and was to be presented on Father’s Day at the Symphonic Hall of the Fine Arts Center in Santurce. However, it was cancelled.

I often say that the past is the past and the future is uncertain, so let’s hurry and wait for The Big Three Palladium Orchestra to perform in Puerto Rico.

I for one continue to live in salsa, which is still magic, fantasy and illusion.

Bella Martínez Writer, researcher of Afro-Caribbean music

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Bella Martínez Writer, researcher of Afro-Caribbean music and author of Un conguero para la historia, Las memorias de Jimmie Morales.

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