Search Results for: El Gran Combo

Papo Rosario and his “Salsa de La Buena”

We are incredibly pleased to talk about Luis Alberto Rosario, better known as Papo Rosario, who can be considered one of the most beloved salseros by people who have enjoyed his music for decades. In addition to being a very cloase and kind man to everyone around him, his musical and acting talent is undeniable.

Isidro Infante next to Papo Rosario

After having sung along with El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico for more than 40 years, Rosario makes his debut as a soloist with his first recording work “Salsa de La Buena”, in which he receives the full support of maestro Isidro Infante. Both Rosario and Infante are part of Salsaneo Records, which is close to becoming one of the most important music labels thanks to its contemporary salsa. Thanks to the counselling and advice received from Isidro, Papo has managed to create one of the most important and interesting albums in 2002.

One of the things that makes the album stand out is the great amount of danceable rhythms, positive lyrics, good vocals and fresh sonority. It is evident that the essence of the artist always stands out and he does not let himself be dragged along by what he learned during his time in El Gran Combo. While it is true that there are some traits learned from his friend and former colleague Jerry Vivas, Rosario seems pretty determined to distance hemself from the past and focus on a vastly different future.

Rosario and Infante recording in the studio

What “Salsa de La Buena” is 

“Salsa de La Buena” has many tracks that can perfectly mark a before and after in current Latin music. It starts with a beautiful hymn to optimism and perseverance called “Gracias”, which is one of the four songs composed by the pen of maestro Infante. In the case of “Salsa de La Buena”, the song that gives its name to the entire album, speaks of the connection the singer has with his people as an exponent of the salsa genre. The arrangements and piano melodies are reminiscent of what Richie Ray and Bobby Valentín did when they sang “Los Reyes de La Salsa”.

Isidro also shows his great talent with “Los refranes de Don Yeyo”, a beautiful piano solo where you can see how important the Caribbean collection of proverbs is for the culture at large.

Johnny Cruz with Papo Rosario

Promotion for Papo Rosario’s album 

In a conversation between Papo Rosario and Johnny Cruz, director of the Spanish Harlem Salsa Gallery Museum, the two talk about this recording work and the artist tells how did the whole process go.

Rosario has said that both he and Infante had studied together, but had built their careers separately until they met again recently. That’s when he proposed him to make some arrangements to his songs, but they ended up collaborating to make the album in full. The main objective of the record production was to bring a positive message to the peoples and do what God has put on their shoulders.

In the same way, he pointed out that the salsa museum was quite empty the last time he went, but he was surprised to see that all those spaces have been filling up with truly valuable objects for salsa and its fans.

From there, they gave their regards to Isidro Infante and invited him to the museum to join them and talk about “Salsa de La Buena” and other issues that arise.

Johnny Cruz, Papo Rosario and Rubio Boris

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

Why is he called Danilo?

We will start a conversation with bandleader, percussionist, and singer Roger Danilo Páiz Pérez. Pleased to meet you, how are you doing?

I’m fine thanks, Karina. Sitting here and ready to be interviewed by your magazine. I have a lot of information about what has happened in my life being a musician here in the Bay Area since the 70’s.

Danilo on guitar at one of his frequent restaurant performances

You are Francisco Pancho Perez’s grandson. Did your grandfather serve as inspiration for the path you would take in music?

Definitely he did. I remember being about four or five years old when I used to hear my grandfather play with his big band, which was composed of 15 or 14 musicians. I always listened to them practicing in our house and started dancing, so my grandfather used to call me cha cha chá. It was a great inspiration for me.

He played music similar to American jazz, and that’s where the inspiration for the music I play today comes from. The salsa that I write is inspired precisely by that kind of jazz.

Where does the name Danilo come from? Also, why is your orchestra called Danilo Y Su Orquesta Universal?

I have to make it clear that Danilo is my middle name since I was born. This is not a nickname as many believe. Some people even think that I have changed my name, but I didn’t. Roger Danilo Páiz Perez has always been my name.

Everyone called me Roger Páiz in the past, that is to say, people called me by my first and last name. In fact, when I played with Rubén Blades in 1989, the album we recorded has me in the credits as Roger Páiz. But when I founded my own orchestra in the 1990s, I thought Danilo was better suited to Latin music, so I started using my middle name to call my orchestra Danilo Y Su Orquesta Universal.

The word universal comes from the fact that I am a Buddhist. I practice the religion of Nichiren Daishonin (monk in Buddhism from Japan in the 13th century and founder of the branch of Nichiren Buddhism) for more than 30 years. That word is widely used in the Buddhist scriptures, and I am very involved in that.

Roger Páiz getting ready to hit with Josh Jones’ band

Your country of origin is Nicaragua. Is Nicaraguan salsa similar to Californian salsa? Are they different? Do you combine them?

Since I was very young, I listened to a lot of Cuban orchestras. I remember my dad tuning in to Celia Cruz, La Sonora Matanzera, among others. From that experience, I picked up all those things since childhood.

Here in the United States, the style was much more modernized. However, I grew up listening to El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and many other orchestras in the ‘60s and ‘70s. My biggest inspirations were Héctor Lavoe, Oscar De León, Rafael de Jesús, Cheo Feliciano and many others from those years. I paid a lot of attention to how they sang and the melodies that they used.

What Danilo has learned from his musical references

You have made contact with Latin music stars such as Ray Barretto, Rubén Blades, Benny Velarde Y Su Super Combo, Andy Narell, Ray Obiedo, Cheo Feliciano, Oscar De León and many others. What did you learn from all these musical references?

For example, I shared a gig with Cheo Feliciano in Puerto Rico while I was with Rubén at a concert. (Luis Enrique was actually at that concert as well.) Cheo taught me how to phrase with the clave, since this is a very important detail in singing Salsa.

In the case of Héctor Lavoe, I learned a lot from the melodic part. When he sang, the melody was very interesting and appealed to me a lot.

Another singer I liked a lot was Rafael de Jesús, because his style tended to sound like jazz. Sometimes he sang some lines that sounded very jazzy, but he never lost his style as a Salsa singer. That’s one of the main things I liked about him.

Another singer I liked a lot was Rafael de Jesús because his style tended to sound like jazz. Sometimes he sang some lines that sounded very jazzy, but he never lost his condition as a salsa singer. That’s one of the main things I liked about him.

Danilo y Su Orquesta Universal at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2019

Did he receive academic training in music?

I took classes  in Oakland, California, learning music theory, piano, singing, and much more. These studies helped me a lot to better prepare myself musically speaking.

Studying music is important because it enhances the way you perform, sing, and play on stage. That’s when people can tell whether you are a musician who has studied and analyzed music. I’ve met musicians who learned everything by ear and they never progress to the next level.

Of course, there were also things I learned on the stage, in the studio and in rehearsals. I’ve unified all this knowledge to do my job to the best of my ability.

I saw that you have some dates to perform in the Bay Area and other places, can you tell us a little bit about that?

In 1995, I got the opportunity to take a group to Singapore (to be the house band at the Hyatt Regency Hotel). What I did was to find the best six musicians who could play the music I was asked to play. We rehearsed, traveled to Singapore, and stayed there about three months, all expenses paid. It was an amazing experience and I was honored to present my music in that country.

Danilo with Tito Puente, Jr.

What about your current performances?

We just played at La Peña here in Berkeley. It was really good, a lot of people showed up there and they recorded the whole show. Fans sent me some videos as well, so I have to start editing them.

We also played at The Ramp, El Rio, The Turf Club, Kimbara, among others. Coming up, we will be playing at the Cigar Bar.

Let’s talk about your latest album Perseverando.

I decided to call this album Perseverando because of my experience of overcoming the difficulties of maintaining a music career.

Turning to Buddhism, the word perseverando is very important, because life puts barriers in your way and you have to persevere to overcome them. It was common for record labels to say that they were saturated and couldn’t sign me, but I kept writing and recording original music despite the difficulties. The first album is called Vivencias and the second one is called Avanzando. They are titles that have had a lot to do with my life experiences.

I made a video for one of the songs on this álbum, Rumberos de la Bahia, which is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z3E7K_5SLJo

What other projects do you have pending?

I’m thinking about putting out an album that will be a combination of songs that have not been released yet with some remixes of songs on my albums. Although a dream of mine is to be nominated for a Grammy, that is not why I créate music. Music is my life and my passion.

Cover of the album Perseverando

 

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How it all started

Today we are going to talk with Puerto Rican composer and vocalist José Manuel Rivera Rivera, better known as Josean Rivera (https://www.facebook.com/unsoneroparaelpueblo). Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rivera, how are you doing? It is lovely to have you here.

Thank you so much for the invitation. Thank heaven I’m fine and I hope you’re too.

This is Josean Rivera, Puerto Rican composer and vocalist

Your name is José Manuel Rivera Rivera, but you are known artistically as Josean Rivera. Where does this name come from?

That’s a nickname my parents called me since very early childhood. I don’t know where it came from because my name is José Manuel. Instead, Josean is almost always used for people named José Antonio or José Ángel, but I’ve always been called that and ot still is (chuckles).

And you are still called that way to this day.

Yes, to this day. This is so.

I understand that you knew your calling as a vocalist when you were 15 years old. How did this happen?

More or less. I became interested in music long before that, but I liked percussion instruments such as the conga or the timpani. Through some friends, I met Miguel El Pollo Torres from El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and used to go to the patron saint festivities. When I saw the dynamic Charlie, Papo and Jerry had when singing with El Gran Combo, I said I like that, let’s see what can be done.

In one of your most recent songs, you paid tribute to Raphy Leavitt. What did this pianist and La Selecta represent for the rest of your career?

A very important stage because it was my first participation in a renowned orchestra. I had many experiences and learned a lot from him, Sammy, Carlitos and the rest of the membership. They were like a family.

I understand that you were in medical school and, later, in the army. How did you combine these activities with your role as an artist?

I started studying medicine and then I understood it wasn’t my thing, so I joined the army. Everywhere I went, I always found local orchestras playing traditional salsa or covers. Also, working in the U.S. Army is not like that of other countries where soldiers are not allowed to go out and spend locked up. In our case, it was a normal job like any other, so we were able to engange in other activities with no problem.

However, when we had to travel to other places, we had to get some time off of work, take a vacation and stuff like that.

Raphy Leavitt and La Selecta were very important for his carrer

Music and the army

Many of your Puerto Rican-born colleagues also followed the military path when they go to the United States. Did you find any of your colleagues in the army? If so, did that help you or influence you in any way?

By sharing some time and being part of many shows with people from the armed forces or international singers who were going to perform where we were, I was able to sing with them and do the chorus for them. I think that helped me a lot.

I read that it was in the year 2016 when you decided to found your own orchestra. What led you to that? What made you then become a soloist?

What happened is that I belonged to the orchestra of Raphy Marrero, so I recorded two albums with him. The thing is that I was moved from one base to another, which made it very difficult for me to meet with the orchestra and do my activities with them, so I decided to try something by myself and see how it went.

Do you feel that you have achieved your goals or still have a long way to go?

We have achieved a great deal. As a soloist, I have made four musical productions and am working on the fifth one. We have already selected the songs and the arrangements, so we are going to start recording very soon.

The dream of every artist is to be able to play on stage and, owing to the whole issue of Covid and quarantine, all the activity decreased, but little by little things are getting back to normal.

You have experienced everything from classical to modern salsa, which is the style you enjoy singing best?

Since I grew up with El Gran Combo, La Sonora Ponceña, Willie Rosario and Bobby Valentín, of course that kind of salsa is my strongest point. I grew up in that environment where salsa is a little braver, but you have to sing anything because you have to try to please everyone.

Josean Rivera loves salsa brava, but sing anything

With what other musical genres have you experimented or would you like to experiment?

In the different orchestras in which I was, I got to sing merengue, bolero, cha cha chá and things like that. I can sing anything. In fact, I’ve come to sing some boleros in my albums as a soloist.

Which of these genres attrack most people?

Merengue and bachata are very popular.

What did you do during the pandemic?

We decided to make a new abum and used all that confinement time to select the songs for the album.

Have you returned to the stage?

I’ve already toured two or three times. I went to Washington, Seattle, Florida, among others. God Lord willing, we’re going to go to Colombia, Peru, Panama, and Mexico. We’re promoting the latest album Esto No Es Secreto.

What advice would you give to young artists who want to devote themselves to these genres?

My advice to those who want to start an artistic career is to dare to do so. The means to get ahead are there. You have to be active, let people get to know you and make promotions in different countries because that is how your music will reach the world. You have to keep moving forward and never giving up.

The biggest problem that these young artists will have to go through, based on your understanding.

I think the biggest problem is that there are no record labels anymore. One of the biggest obstacles is the budget for an album, whether it is a complete production or just one single at a time. It costs money.

Since there are no record labels to support you financially, it’s hard for the newer artists to record their albums.

Josean Rivera singing on stage

How his career starts

We are here with the very talented Irwin Wito Rodriguez (https://www.facebook.com/nmjrecords). Pleased to meet you, Mr. Rodriguez, such a pleasure to have you here. How are you?

Thank you very much, Karina. Thank you for the invitation. Quite well, thanks to God. I am in Florida at the moment, where the temperature is very pleasant.

Talented Puerto Rican singer Wito Rodríguez

Your beginnings in the musical world occured in a rock band, which is very common in many of your colleagues. Many of them start as boleristas and rockers. How did you go from a rock band to singing salsa and other genres like this?

I was born in Chicago and my parents are Puerto Rican, so I was raised American and tended to speak more English than Spanish. I listened only to music in English, but I also listened to Daniel Santos, Los Panchos and Tito Rodriguez at hore since I was a little boy. However, they were my parents’ favorite artists, not mine. As the years went by, my dad bought me my first guitar, so I joined a rock band of four or five kids and we started playing very cool songs. This lasted until I was 14 years old, when my father decided to send us to Puerto Rico and it was a very drastic change for me because now I was going to be in a school where Spanish is spoken and my Spanish was very bad. When I arrived in Puerto Rico, it was very nice to see the island in person because I only knew it from what my dad told me.

Five or six months after I arrived in Puerto Rico, I started singing with another rock band until I turned 16, which was when a very famous percussionist named Chacón (he had a band called Chacón Y Sus Batirítmicos) heard me sing and told me that he would like me to sing with them. He lived near me, so I could go to his place. I started going about twice a week to learn to play the conga and the clave. Around that time, I started learning everything related to salsa and typical Puerto Rican rhythms.

So I started playing in a nightclub, but I wasn’t supposed to do that because I was still 16 years old. So, they got me a jacket, hid me and I started singing there. When I turned 17, I moved to Chicago to finish school and speak English again. Three months later, I started singing salsa with the first orchestra in Chicago whose name was La Orquesta La Justicia from 1971.

So, you didn’t like salsa, but you developed a taste for it.

That’s correct. I didn’t have the joy of attending music school, so I just tried to learn as much as I could from what I saw. If I saw someone playing on a stage, I would approach the musicians, ask questions and clear my doubts. I learned a lot of things on my own.

Image taken from his video clip You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine

Military service and his first orchestra

You were part of the German orchestra Conexión Latina while serving in the army. How did the idea of starting a Latin music group in such a country arise?

When I was in the Orquesta La Justicia, I met many salsa stars like La Lupe, Ismael Rivera, Larry Harlow, Ray Barreto, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, La Sonora Ponceña and many others. All these artists helped me and taught me many things.

When I joined the U.S. Army, I had the opportunity to sing with an orchestra in Puerto Rico, but I was in Chicago. I accepted and prepared everything to return to the island, but the orchestra had already gone on tour when I arrived and they didn’t take me. It was very sad for me because I left everything in Chicago, since I wasn’t thinking of returning.

From there, I decided to join the U.S. Army and wanted to be sent as far away as possible. A week later, I reveived word that I passed the test and that I would be sent to Germany. That’s when I started a band called Wito Y Su Conjunto Sabor in 1977 along with other Puerto Ricans who also sang or played instruments. We were the only salsa band in Germany at that time. In 1981, I already had an orchestra called La Sonora Antillana and we played for the German audience, which was very tough.

In 1983, I left the army. Then, Luis García, an excellent tres player, and Cano Robles from Conjunto Canayon, Puerto Rico, made my first album called Calorcito. The following year, I released my first album and it was awesome because it led me to release another record production that took me to tour all around Europe.

In 1992, I went back to Tampa, where my dad lived. I came back to be in need because nobody knew who I am there. It was very difficult, so I had to start working until I returned to the Army and was sent to Pennsylvania. In 2007, I finally retired with 30 years of service.

In 2013, I started making my first solo album whose name was Qué Mundo Maravilloso. In 2016, I moved to Orlando, where I finished my other three albums I released later.

Art for the song Qué Mundo Maravilloso

You took opera classes. How did this help you in salsa?

Those classes taught me how to stabilize my voice, know how to modulate, know how to breathe, know how to feel the tone in one part of the body (under your nose), know what tone comes after the previous one and all kinds of things. I also learned some very good exercises to warm up my voice.

Another thing these classes taught me was resistance. Spending an hour singing on stage is not easy.

A lot of singers have a good voice, but they don’t have the necessary training to get to the right tone for them and avoid singing off-key.

I read that you have been nominated for the Hollywood Media Music Awards and the Miami Fox Music Awards for both English and Spanish songs. Which songs are the most successful? English or Spanish?

I try to include even a salsa song in English in all my albums. My last song focuses more on the American audience than the Latin audience. It was a good choice because the video has about 42,000 views on YouTube, which means it attracks more attention than my other work.

One of the things that has done musicians in general most harm has been Covid-19. Many are recovering, but others had to get a job because they could no longer make a living from music.

Many of his songs are related to his Puerto Rican roots