Search Results for: Havana

Latin America – July 2022

Joseíto Mateo “They call me the Negrito del Batey, because work for me is an enemy”

Joseito was a consecrated Dominican merenguero who began his career in the 1930’s, better known as “El rey del merengue, El diablo Mateo”.

As a child he learned to sing and dance. He sang at the “Fiestas de la cruz” and at wakes, since at that time the deceased were prayed to with songs.

Mateo began his career as a singer during the 30’s, a period in which he was gaining the public’s favor.

Some time later he was requested by the record label “SEECO” to join the cast that in Havana would record with the Sonora Matancera.

Those were the years of the Trujillo Era in which Dominicans required an exit permit to travel abroad.

At first, this document was denied to Joseito.

As a consequence, in Havana, once the record was contracted and the pieces that would be part of it had been selected, including “El negrito del batey”, Joseito’s place was taken by the Dominican singer Alberto Beltrán, who was known since then by the Cuban public as “El negrito del batey”, instead of his true inspirer.

He was born on April 6, 1920 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).

In one of his later trips, he decided to stay in Cuba to sing in CMQ, together with Celia Cruz and La Sonora Matancera, a very popular group at that time.

After the assassination of Rafael Trujillo on May 30, 1961 and the end of his dictatorship, Joseito decided to try his luck in Puerto Rico.

In 1962, Joseíto participated as vocalist in the first tour of the “Gran Combo” to Panama, to promote the album ‘El Gran Combo con Joseíto Mateo’.

There he met the young singers Pellín Rodríguez and Andy Montañez, who ended up replacing him in the Puerto Rican group.

“El Gran Combo was very good to me, I adapted to sing plena, bomba, guaracha, boleros, but then I had to return to Santo Domingo to clear my name.

They were falling behind all those who were with Trujillo, and in the Republic they said I was a spy and was on the run”.

Mateo’s professional work has spanned more than 70 years and constitutes an important reference of the Dominican musical culture.

He was nourished by the roots of merengue and became a singular exponent of it. His innovative style was characterized by a stage participation enriched by his particular way of dancing and singing.

Some of his best known songs are Madame Chuchí, Dame la visa, La cotorra de Rosa and La patrulla, among others. Joseito is known as “El Rey del Merengue” (The King of Merengue).

On November 11, 2010, Mateo was recognized at the 11th Latin Grammy Awards with the Latin Recording Academy’s Musical Excellence Award for his contributions to Latin music.

He retired in 2001, close to his 82nd birthday and after recording 50 “elepes”.

Joseíto Mateo passed away on June 1, 2018 at the age of 98, due to leukemia. He spent his last days in the Hospital de las Fuerzas Armadas.

Source:

https://www.buscabiografias.com/biografia/verDetalle/8662/Joseito%20Mateo

The Tambor, Tumbadora or Conga is a percussion instrument of great importance in Latin music

The drum, tumbadora or conga as a soloist instrument in Cuban music or jazz bands, had as its first figure Chano Pozo, who, upon receiving the invitation of Mario Bauza and Dizzy Gillespie to participate in his big band, turned the world of jazz upside down.

This explosive union resulted in compositions such as Manteca or Tin Tin Deo.

They also created the roots of what is known today as Latin Jazz, which was originally called Afro Cuban Jazz “Cubop”.

After the surprising death of Chano Pozo, figures such as Cándido Camero, Carlos “Patato” Valdés, Mongo Santamaría, Armando Peraza, Tata Guines and Ray Barretto emerged who gave development and personality to the conga drum as a solo instrument.

It should be noted that Ray Barretto was born in New York and is of Puerto Rican descent.

He would be the first important figure in the world of conga drumming not born in Cuba. As a teenager, Barretto took care of his siblings in the evenings while his mother worked and spent hours listening to the radio.

There he was influenced by jazz and, in addition, his mother listened to Cuban and Puerto Rican music at home. This is how he formed his taste and love for music.

Mario Bauzá

He was a saxophonist in Justo Azpiazu’s orchestra and trumpet player in the Machín Quartet. Later, he joined Chick Webb’s orchestra as principal trumpet. In 1933 he was named director of the orchestra, and remained as such until 1937. Between 1937 and 1939 he played with the orchestras of Don Redman and Fletcher Henderson. And in 1938 he joined Cab Calloway’s band.

We can also affirm that Mario Bauzá is the musical godfather of two great jazz legends: Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Because it was Bauzá who made Calloway meet the then young trumpeter John Birks Gillespie, and Chick Webb incorporated Ella Fitzgerald into his band.

Chano Pozo

Luciano Pozo González, better known as Chano Pozo was born in Havana Cuba on January 7, 1915 and died in New York, December 3, 1948, was a Cuban percussionist, half brother of trumpeter Félix Chapolín.

Percussion instruments are instruments that produce sound when struck, shaken or percussed in some way.

This percussion can be done with drumsticks, with metal bars, with the hands, with keyboards or by striking two bodies against each other. This wide variety of possibilities allows for a wide range of sounds and types of instruments.

He shined shoes and sold newspapers, played music in many places and even danced in the well-known Havana comparsa of “Los Dandy”.

He belonged to the Abakuá Secret Society, which explains the perfect mastery he had of the drums of the rite. He had the habit of playing sacred rhythms on his congas, as well as singing Abakuá and Yoruba songs.

He worked in the public transmissions of the radio station Cadena Azul, together with figures of the stature of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, being with Dizzy when he popularized the well-known theme of “Manteca”.

Dizzy Gillespie

He was born on October 21, 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina.

Son of a bricklayer and occasional musician who treated him very badly.

The young Gillespie hit on everyone: “I was a devil, a strong devil”.

At the age of fourteen, he began playing the trombone, but soon switched to the trumpet, which he was already playing proficiently when his family moved to Philadelphia in 1935. There he got his first important contract with Frank Fairfax’s orchestra.

His life changed as he transformed from a thug in his youth to a true citizen of the world, supporting social causes such as racial integration.

Ray Barretto

Of Puerto Rican parents from Aguadilla, Raymundo Barretto Pagan was born on April 29, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. He spent his childhood and youth in the Bronx and Spanish Harlem.

He grew up with his mother Dolores Pagan and his siblings Cecilia and Ricardo.

As a child, when he was only 10 years old, he listened to Arsenio Rodríguez, Machito, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Los Panchos, Pedro Flores, Daniel Santos and Miguelito Valdez.

At the age of 17, in 1946, he joined the U.S. Army.

In Germany he discovered his taste for music represented in Bebop, listening to the songs “Shaw Nuff” by Charlie Parker with Dizzy Gillespie and “Manteca” by Dizzy Gillespie with the Cuban Chano Pozo, who became his source of inspiration. It was at that time that he became thoroughly acquainted with jazz.

“The word percussion comes from the Latin percussio, a variation of the word percussus, which refers to the action of striking, shaking or vibrating something repeatedly.”

Percussion instruments have a great importance in music because, within a group of instruments, their usual function is to mark the rhythm of the piece. This means that they are often seen as the heartbeat of a musical composition.

Because of their primary role in creating and maintaining the rhythm of a piece, percussion instruments often work in conjunction with bass instruments, including the double bass or electric bass.

There are a large number of percussion instruments that can be classified according to different criteria. In this article you can find the most important classifications used today.

Many of these instruments are simple and rudimentary. It is due to their simplicity that percussion instruments are the oldest in the history of mankind.

The evolution of technology and music gradually allowed the development of more complex instruments, among which are wind instruments and stringed instruments.

Sources:

https://www.instrumentosdepercusion.com/

http://clasica.latinastereo.com/Salsero-del-mes/Mario-Bauza

http://old.latinastereo.com/html/genteLatina/salseroMes/RayBarretto/cronologia.shtm

Concerts: Servando & Florentino and Los Van Van in London

The two Salsa bands will perform at the Electric Brixton´s stage in the English capital

Servando & Florentino are descendants of Alí Primera (singer-songwriter of social themes)

The duo Servando & Florentino will visit London with their “En Tu Ciudad” tour on Sunday, July 17^th at the Electric Brixton https://www.electricbrixton.uk.com/ located at 1 Town Hall Parade SW2 1RJ London, United Kingdom. Ticket prices are £41.25 and those under 14 must be accompanied by a representative. In Your City Tour 2022, it will also arrive during this month of July in four cities in Spain (Valencia, Tenerife, Barcelona, and Vigo) and will step on the stage of The Button Factory in Dublin (Ireland) on July 18^th.

“Europe, we will also see you in Your City! We are very excited to meet all of you and that you can enjoy the Primera Experience that we have prepared.” The publication was made by the duet on April 20^th on their Facebook page. Online tickets have been available since April 22^nd, and you can get them on their Los Primera website. www.losprimera.com

The Servando & Florentino brothers were born in the early 1980s in the popular area of Valle in Caracas (Venezuela) and began their careers at a very early age as main members of the Salserín orchestra in the mid-1990s.

The Primera brothers with this orchestra led by the singer and composer, Manuel Guerra, had great hits such as “De Sol a Sol” and “Yo sin ti” from the studio album Salserín con mucho swing released in 1996. With this success, they became a youth phenomenon equaled to the Pop group, Menudo. Salserín crossed the Venezuelan borders achieving the same fury in countries like Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mongolia, Italy, Spain, and Mexico, managing to gather up to 500,000 people in some concerts.

Years later, they continue their careers abandoning this youthful salsa phenomenon, and began their internationalization as a Salsa/Pop duo signing with the record label Hecho a Mano belonging to the artist Ricardo Montaner. With him, they made the albums: Los Primera (1997) and Muchacho Solitario (1999) then followed by Paso a Paso (2000), for a total of seven record productions with different record labels.

After twelve years, the Primera brothers meet again with their salsa audience in Europe, and you can’t miss it.

“London! We are waiting for you VanVaneros. The Train is Normal but a little Accelerated.” Text published by the orchestra on their Facebook account

On the other hand, Los Van Van will also be performing on this same stage located in south London on Sunday, July 31^st with their Havana To London concert. Tickets cost £35.50 and an ID is required to access the show. The doors will be open to welcome you from 8 PM.

Los Van Van has been called by many the “Rolling Stones of Salsa”. This band was founded in 1969 by bassist and composer Juan Formell, a legend of Cuban music, accompanied by José Luis Quintana known as “Changuito”, and César “Pupy” Pedroso invented the “Songo”, a Cuban rhythm predecessor of “Timba” or “Salsa Cubana”, which would generate “Salsa – Son” with a Cuban sound that has made generations dance.

In 2018, they recorded their first record production “Legado” since the physical departure of Juan Formell in 2014. This tribute album has 14 songs with 3 new versions of the international singles Te extraño, Por qué lo haces y Amiga mía.