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From The Venezuelan Melody To The Caribbean Rhythm

Portentous percussionist and surprising Venezuelan singer. Musician trained at the prestigious Berklee University in Boston (US). Winner of a Grammy Award. His lifestyle is characterized by national and international performances, collaborations, compositions, and tours. Familiar, fearless, personable, and cheerful. This is how Omar Ledezma Jr. presents us his life.

He was born in the mountainous valley of Caracas (Venezuela) west of the city in the La Candelaria parish in the summer of 1972 at the height of the Salsa. From seven years old he briefly began his musical studies on the Piano at the prominent Yamaha school.

At the age of thirteen, he returned to music again, but this time playing percussion instruments in a “war band” at Claret school, one of the most recognized educational institutions in the Venezuelan capital.

At 16 years old he already formed his first Merengue and Salsa group together with his first musical friends.

At this dizzying pace, Omar began to take an interest in the Gaitas (traditional holiday music from this Latin American country) and began his foray into this genre. In 1991 he obtained his first prize, third place in the Pupitres y Gaitas contest on behalf of the Claret school. “When I started to grow up I was interested in drums. I awoke an interest in the Gaitas festivals… In fact, the Venezuelan rhythm has marked my life as a musician”. Omar commented.

At the age of 17, this percussion player began his university studies in Law at the Faculty of Law of the Santa María University in the middle of a troubled city and in search of knowledge about how society worked. Omar Jr. adds: “Already in the first year of Law I knew that in Venezuela we had a great root in Roman Rights and modern laws, but those laws were not applied. And that worried me“.

At the same time, Omar continued his music studies but this time with his related instrument, the percussion. To achieve mastery, he obtained classes with the Venezuelan teachers Rubén García with whom he is currently collaborating on some projects in Uruguay. He also got instruction from the musical director from the popular area of ​​San Agustín in Sarria (Caracas), Jorge Orta “CroCro” who currently resides in the United States and the founder of the Orquesta CroCro y su Tumbaka.

Years later, and with experience acquired in presentations, and groups, Omar Jr. met his first mentor, Aquiles Baez, a famous Venezuelan artist, guitar virtuoso. Together with Aquiles, he made his first international tour of the United States. “With Aquiles, I had the pleasure of playing Venezuelan music. We play with many artists in the United States… Thanks to him I developed percussion (Non-autochthonous element) in Venezuelan music”. Ledezma Jr. commented.

In 1995 and with a law degree, he decided to dedicate himself to music professionally. He works hand in hand with consolidated national artists such as Daniel Somaroo, Carlos Puchi, Gerardo Rosales, just as his popularity begins and therefore his foray into studio album recordings.

Five years later, one of the most important phone calls arrived and the one that would turn his life upside down. Omar receives the call from Andy Vargas, the singer of the famous Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana. Vargas invited him to participate in his first residency at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas (Nevada), doing a show every half hour starting at six in the afternoon in the renowned bar of those facilities. This residency gave him many satisfactions and multiple experiences during his four years there.

Between these touches in Las Vegas, his second chance arises on the phone again, this time by the hand of the Venezuelan artist Jackeline Rago. Both worked for a season in a school program with the San Francisco Symphony.

All these experiences led him to be part of one of the most prominent local orchestras on the international rise of the San Francisco City (USA), the Pacific Mambo Orchestra for a decade.

In addition, Omar offers weekly personalized percussion training classes and works with various local organizations such as the San Francisco Ballet and the Community Music Center.

This cheerful and outstanding percussionist will soon surprise us with unpublished material in the dance genre. It will be two singles making his debut in the art world as a singer-songwriter, and you can enjoy it on his YouTube channel that he reactivated in December 2020.

OMAR LEDEZMA JR. & PACIFIC MAMBO ORCHESTRA

In 2011, the Grammy Award winner, Omar Ledezma Jr., is part of the most ambitious project of his life, the Pacific Mambo Orchestra (PMO), after moving to the fourth most populous city in the state of California (USA) and most receptive with Latino musicians, San Francisco.

It has been ten uninterrupted years in which Omar has gone from playing the conga to being the singer of the orchestra and is currently developing as the official timpanist of PMO, once that Karl Perazzo (Carlos Santana´s timpanist) left the big band. “Eventually he told me that is yours… I appreciate that opportunity because the Grammy has already come; many satisfactions and a lot of work have come as well”. Omar explained to us.

As time passed, they achieved a characteristic sound. And with it begin the recording of their self-titled album. Ledezma details us: “The band began to become popular on Monday nights, and we began to charge the entrance fee of 5, 10, 20, 30 dollars. Then we started on Saturdays with a lot of receptivity”.

In 2013 they won their first Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album and embarked on their first national tour for 30 days accompanying Latin artists Marlon Rosado and Tito Puente Jr. They toured the stages of Indiana, Arizona, and Oregon ending in California. The first international tour was held in Mexico and the second at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.

After the Grammy and his tour, the second Pacific Mambo Orchestra album was on its way but this time recorded live at Stern Grove (San Francisco) in 2017. Here, Omar had outstanding participation with the queen of percussion, Sheila E. During the song Ran kan kan Omar Jr. & Sheila E.  made a kettledrum war. He adds: “It was nice playing with her, watching her perform, and playing her music”.

This international orchestra made up of 20 musicians began rehearsals for the rhythm section on May 1 after a year and a half of not seeing each other. Before the end of 2021, they will make streaming where they will play original music such as PMO Intro, Muévete con Prisa, and Mr. B’s Mambo, among many others.

THE MUSIC RUNS THROUGH YOUR VEINS

His lineage confirms his musical streak. The Big Bands were always his great curiosity, and Glenn Miller’s orchestra his greatest ambition.

His father and his grandfather are musicians. His grandfather Rafael Isidro Ledezma “El Negro” was a renowned Orchestra conductor of the El Tigre city in Venezuela.

As an only child, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather. He developed himself professionally in music.

In 1995 he belonged for a few months to the Venezuelan super band Guaco in the Salsa project directed by Gustavo Aguado at La Cantina located in Las Mercedes in the Venezuelan capital. “I learned as much as I learned at Berklee”. Omar commented.

Among so many things learned, the main and undoubtedly important were: being a music lover, having discipline, developing creativity, and cultivating friendship.

The last tour in Venezuela that Ledezma carried out with the Gonzalo Grau quintet (with whom he obtained his first Grammy nomination) was 20 years ago at the Teresa Carreño Theater as the opening act for Pablo Milanés.

 If I had children I would like them to follow their steps along with mine.” Omar Ledezma Jr.

YOUR WAY TO BERKLEE

During a trip to Boston, Ledezma visited Berklee University for the first time in the summer of 1998. Through brochures, he learned that he had the necessary conditions to apply for a scholarship at this important school, and immediately did so without distraction. “Many said you couldn’t and I’m the one who thinks you don’t lose anything by trying”. Omar said.

He got going and sent in a demo to schedule an audition. That presentation was a success and he was accepted right away as one of the graduates of this prestigious institution. It took him a year to move to Boston and began his studies in the fall of 1999. The first years were emotionally hard due to the death of his second mother.

But he knew how to recover and move on. He worked very hard for six years to finish paying for school in 2002.

He obtained a Diploma in Performance. During the five years of study, he learned the four harmonies, arrangements, and composition. Also, in percussion, he developed skills in drums, Latin percussion, and vibraphone.

I still feel like my career is just beginning.” Omar Ledezma Jr.

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32 Years After Her Debut In Salsa

She broke paradigms in Latin and Asian music in the late ‘80s. She founded the most famous Salsa orchestra in Japan (La Orquesta De La Luz). She paved the way for new generations of artists. She is an institution of Afro-Caribbean music in oriental culture. A leading woman, dreamer, charismatic, and enthusiastic… This is how Nora Suzuki presents her story.

This famous artist originally from Nakano-ku (Tokyo) did not always want to be a singer, at first Nora was inclined towards professional dance taking ballet classes at three years old, however, by then this young singing promise already had an unmatched vocal talent that couldn’t go unnoticed years later.

Her aptitude for the arts comes from her family because her grandfather was a master of drums and singing, her parents, although they are not professionals, continue to be excellent singers, her cousin is a music teacher, her brother is a fan of the English band, The Beatles, and finally, her son León (named so in honor of Venezuelan Salsa singer, Oscar D’ León) loves Japanese popular music right now, nevertheless, Nora hopes that one day he will succeed her as Salsero. As you can see, music runs through the veins of this successful international singer.

In the last year of Takashima High School in Tokyo (Japan) Nora’s track record of success began to be carved out. She started in an amateur rock band as the lead vocalist and developed her interest in R&B music. She sang in the ATOM band during her undergraduate career at Nihon University art of college. By then, the band had a percussionist (ex-leader of the Orquesta De La Luz) who loved Salsa and suggested to Suzuki that she study that Latin musical genre.

“When I was 21, I visited New York for sightseeing and watched Oscar D’ Leon’s live at the Salsa Club. I was very impressed at that time and fell in love with Salsa. After that, a Salsa band called Orquesta del Sol was playing live in Tokyo, so I went to see that band. I was impressed that even Japanese people can play Salsa, so I decided to form La Orquesta De La Luz”. Nora explained in detail the idea that came up to create this famous Japanese Salsa Orchestra in 1984 and already graduated from university for that year.

For Suzuki, currently based in Tokyo, the last year (2020) was a year of changes: most of her concerts were postponed or canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but they were still able to perform live, and after the summer, they made several performances in their home city and other adjacent regions.

In the near future, the concert tour of Nora and La Orquesta de la Luz in America and Europe is a fact, as well as the fusion of modern elements such as Reggaeton inside Salsa in their new record productions.

HER PATH THROUGH SPANISH

For Nora, not everything was easy when she began her career in Latin music. At first, it was difficult for her to speak Spanish due to the pronunciation of the consonants “R” and “L”. Since there isn’t distinction in the phonetics of both letters in the Japanese language, however, this successful singer never occurred to sing Salsa in another language. “I tried very hard to pronounce it right… Now I have original Salsa song with Japanese lyrics”. The artist commented.

This charismatic singer-songwriter on her path through Spanish first caught the sounds in the katakana alphabet. Then, she studied Spanish grammar in courses broadcast on television and radio.

The lyrics of her songs are composed by her using words she knows, reading dictionaries, and example sentences carefully. Once the lyrics are made, they are reviewed by one of her friends of Latin descent.

 Now I can understand Spanish a lot. If you speak slowly, I can understand the rough meaning”.

NORA SUZUKI & LA ORQUESTA DE LA LUZ

This prestigious artist, who has captivated millions of people with her talent on three continents, was always persevering and disciplined. She formed La Orquesta De La Luz in the early ‘80s and later made a demo for their international performance. Three years later, with her savings, Nora toured three countries on the American continent: Panama, Puerto Rico, and New York.

Panama was the first country that set foot in search of being heard by Latinos. “I was very excited because I was able to appear on the radio and TV show, and the audience was very excited about my singing”. Nora commented.

Then she visited Puerto Rico and New York. Nora adds: “At first, I went to see Ralph Mercado, but unfortunately he didn’t listen to the demo tape. I was very depressed but didn’t want to give up, so I next met Richie Bonilla, and he was able to listen to the tape and could believe my story”.

After overcoming some obstacles, in 1989, they debuted as a world-famous Salsa band with their first concert tour in New York, thanks to the promotion of Bonilla, who currently continues to be her manager and the orchestra.

Eight years of resounding success on three continents and especially in Japan made each member of the band so popular that by 1997 it was impossible to match the schedule of each member, which caused the inevitable and regrettable breakup.

Five years later, specifically on January 16, 2002, Nora organized the World Peace Music Festival benefit concert due to the 911 incident in New York and return for the immense affection and support of Latinos in the United States. This concert was the catalyst for the reunion of La Orquesta de la Luz and by the beginning of 2021, the band has 23 countries already visited.

Recently, this famous star awarded the United Nations Peace Medal in 1993, together with the Orchestra, released the album “Gracias Salseros” in commemoration of their more than 30th anniversary. (This CD can be downloaded and listened to through the different digital platforms).

In the last 10 years, La Orquesta de la Luz has toured Japan twice and has participated in consecutive years in the Billboard Live in Tokyo and Osaka. You can also see them perform at local festivals, children’s schools, and through their official Facebook page with their live-streamed rehearsal videos that have a total of 9 000 000 views.

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