Search Results for: Jazz

Yamira Blanco -Director and tresista of her group Son Latino

Many musical genres that emerged over the years, among them are the salsa genre which was a boom in the decade between the 60s and 70s, being a movement that mixes African and Caribbean sounds, which has been adopted by male artists already that in those times the woman who played a musical instrument was frowned upon and it was not accepted that they were in music, however this did not stop and the experience made the artist and she spent many years, female groups managed to exist in Salsa.

In this October 2021 edition, we have the opportunity to interview Yamira Blanco Ramos, a salsa singer who participated in the orchestra made up of fourteen women who cultivate Cuban popular music, fusing the most traditional rhythms with contemporary sound, also known as “Las Mulatísimas del Sabor ”, have achieved a seal that distinguishes them and are appreciated by both critics and dancers from all over Cuba and from various countries around the world.

Yamira Blanco - Photo — Photo by Yamira Blanco

He was in the hands of the prestigious guitarist Efraín Amador during his beginnings and in turn began his studies at the National School of Art (ENA) and then continues the same at the Higher Institute of Art of Havana (ISA), where he graduated with a Degree de Oro, during his student years he always stood out for his active participation in groups of different formats, from duos to septets; Later, he had the opportunity to participate in the 2001 Mujer International Guitar Festival in Costa Rica, where he performed with the Plectro trio, made up of guitar, tres and lute.

He joined the Anacaona group, starting in September 2006 with his tres to enrich the musical spectrum of the group and after a year (January 2007) he joined the Los Galanes quintet simultaneously, under the musical direction of Armando Vidal , vocalist of said group, with whom he performs a musical work based on traditional Cuban music.

In 2008 he recorded with the quintet the album Suena por mi Cuba with the Egrem label, and later with a small format of the Anacaona group, he recorded in 2008 the musical theme “Parampampan”, for the filmmaker’s musical film Chico y Rita Spanish Fernando Trueba; and after a year (2009) he participated with the Anacaona group in an artistic tour in Canada and also attended different jazz festivals and “World Music”, including the third edition of the Aruba Jazz Festival.

As of 2010 Yamira together with the Anacaona group, on their tour to Curacao they presented the show “Viva Cuba”, with the purpose of raising funds for the fight against breast cancer, organized by the Sinte Rose Foundation of said country. This tour brings the Aruba International Film Festival to a close.

Yamira Blanco in the music studio — Photo of Yamira Blanco posing at the piano

Later they resumed their participation with the Anacaona Orchestra in the Santa Lucía Jazz Festival in 2011, being its 20th edition, where they were together with leading jazz players from the international arena, shining for their improvisations on the different themes that they performed with the orchestra. both on the tres and on the guitar.

In 2012 they celebrated their 80th anniversary of this musical institution, making an extensive tour throughout the country in addition to multiple radio and television programs and in August they performed with the group at the PDVSA salsa festival. , in Venezuela, alternating with salsa groups from that country.

They began to record the album De Cuba soy, in 2013 under the Colibrí label, a phonogram dedicated to celebrating the eight decades of artistic life of the Anacaona group, then Yamira assumed the direction of the Quinteto Los Galanes, being appointed by its vocalist and founder, who decides to retire, so she poses new challenges in the music that is the inspiration of this young and talented Cuban tresera.

In 2015:

I participated in the documentary Mix The World by Grammy nominated filmmakers Alex Elena and Steve’s Baughman.
Son Latino, a music septet that he has directed since 2015, is made up of a format of three, guitar, double bass, bongos, tumbadora, singer, trumpet and minor percussion.
Works multiple genres such as son, song, cha cha cha, bolero, rumba, guaracha, bachata, merengue and the interpretation of current Cuban timba, starting from its purely traditional format.
It is a group that seeks to defend Cuban popular music from more contemporary harmonic and rhythmic sounds, with good taste and a high aesthetic sense in creation, seeking its own stamp with auditory and visual identity.

In 2020 Yarima Blanco becomes a Soundwear artist and records with several guests the CD Pa mi tres, a co-production between the Recording Company and Musical Editions, Egrem, and Soundwear Production that will have its presentation and launch in 2021.

The phonogram is a journey through the sounds of Cuban and Caribbean popular music based on 12 unpublished songs where the authorship of Yarima herself, the Puerto Rican Tomás Pérez and the Cubans Yunior Molina, César Lozada and Juan Antonio Gil stand out.

With musical production by the hand of the Latin Grammy award Roniel Alfonso Mella, they participate as special guests in several of the songs on the album: maestro Pancho Amat, Alain Pérez, Kelvis Ochoa, Rolando Luna, Bárbara Zamora, singer from Anacaona, among other important Cuban musicians.

Now if you want to know the exact list of the different activities that he carried out throughout his musical career, you can see them here:

Participation in Festivals:		Discography
2001	International Woman Guitar Festival, Costa Rica	2006	Cuba le canta a Serrat vol. 2, discography –Discmedi
2009	Aruba Jazz Festival	2007	No lo puedo Evitar, Anacaona -Bis Music
2009	Canadian Jazz Festivals	2008	Suena por mi Cuba– Quinteto “Los Galanes” – EGREM
2009	La Nuits D’Afrique Festival in Montreal Canada	2008	“Parampampan” – tema para el Largometraje Chico y Rita
2010	Aruba International Film Festival	2013	De Cuba soy – Anacaona – Colibrí
2011	20th edition of the Santa Lucia Jazz festival	2019	Lágrimas de la cantante Cassandra Nuñez –Egrem
2012	PDVSA Salsa Festival, Venezuela	2020	Pa mi tres, Egrem – Soundwear Production
2019	Salsa Festival in Bogotá Colombia Park
2020	Jazz Plaza Cuba Festival. Collaboration with Dominican-American Cassandra Núñez.
2020	Concerts and show in tribute to the bolero and its relationship between Mexico and Cuba, Mexico City, under the direction and musical production of Rosario Castro.

If you want to contact this great artist:

Contacto: https://www.facebook.com/yarima.blanco.79
Email: [email protected]

Heyzer Cabrera, brilliant and virtuoso Venezuelan percussionist

International Salsa Magazine / www.SalsaGoogle.com and its correspondent, Professor Carlos Colmenarez from Barquisimeto, Venezuela have the privilege to present one of the most important bastions of our Latin music in the Caribbean.

In this opportunity we honor in our salsa column, the Venezuelan percussionist Heyzer Cabrera, born in the city of Caracas, on May 3, who already has more than 30 years of musical career, because at the age of 7 years old he was part of the Venezuelan Children’s Choir, directed by Professor Raul Cabrera, his uncle.

At the age of 15 he began his interest in percussion, with the help of his great friend and also percussionist Juan Pablo Barrios and at 17 he began his career as a professional musician with the “Orquesta Canela” in 1994 and since then he has been part of many groups of the salsa genre, such as: “El Combo de Venezuela”, “La Negramenta” and accompanying international artists such as Andy Montañez, Van Lester and Pedro Arroyo.

At the age of 15 he began his interest in percussion, hand in hand with his great friend and percussionist Juan Pablo Barrios and at 17 he began his career as a professional musician with the "Orquesta Canela" in 1994 and since then he has been part of many groups of the salsa genre, such as: "El Combo de Venezuela", "La Negramenta" and accompanying international artists such as Andy Montañez, Van Lester and Pedro Arroyo. — Heyzer Cabrera, brilliant and virtuoso Venezuelan percussionist

In 2013, he began his project to make a recording studio, which is called “A Tempo Récords” and in parallel he studied sound engineering at the academy (Audio Place), under the guidance of Jesus Sanchez and Jean Sanchez. In his career as a sound technician he has participated as a producer of several orchestras and in 2019, he gets his first recognition by being nominated in the production “Con Todo” by Coco y su “Sabor Matancero”, for Record of the Year, Salsa Genre, at the Pepsi Music Awards in Caracas.

Heyzer, at the international level you have had presentations? Indeed Professor Carlos, in 2018 I had the pleasure of being in Cali, Colombia, with the orchestra “La Negramenta”, in La Topa Tolondra and the reaction of the public was of great emotion, chanting all the songs of the orchestra; later in 2019, I returned to Cali, but with the orchestra “Noche Caliente” and soon we will return to the neogranadino country.

And with Juan Pablo Barrios, you were part of his wonderful jazz-salsa band? Hey, yes, I was part of that wonderful orchestra for 8 years.

Heyzer, with which of the percussion instruments do you feel better for its execution? My friend Carlos, with all the irons equally, that is: timbales, congas and bongos.

Also, Heyzer Cabrera has just become part of the musical project “Ritmo Caliente”, the group formed by the musicians: Cheo Navarro, Alfredo Naranjo, Jhoán Muñoz, José Soto, Miguel Urbina, Rodrigo Mendoza on vocals and of course, Heyzer on percussion and also the first personal single entitled “Mi social”, was recorded in Cabrera’s studios.

For those who wish to contact and hire the excellent percussionist Heyzer Cabrera, you can do so at 0412-9782696, through Instagram: heyzer_drums, atemporecords. Facebook: Heyzer Cabrera and A Tempo Récords.

with all irons equally, i.e.: timbales, congas and bongos. — Heyzer Cabrera has just become part of the musical project “Ritmo Caliente”.

From Salsa Escrita, International Salsa Magazine / www.SalsaGoogle.com and all its staff, we wish the greatest success to this bastion of Venezuelan percussion.

Facebook: Heyzer Cabrera, brilliant and virtuoso Venezuelan percussionist

Everything prior to the 20th century is in the History of Salsa, since what happened in the Caribbean is common to mankind.

As in the rest of the world, salsa in Venezuela entered in the 60s from the new sounds created in New York, and driven by musicians like Federico Betancourt (Federico y su combo latino), or radio programs like La hora de la salsa, although rumba and Cuban son were already rooted since the 40s and 50s.

Article of Interest: Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr.

See you next time and let’s keep on salsaing!

By: Professor Carlos Colmenarez from Barquisimeto, Venezuela

International Area – September 2021

Vicente “Little Johnny” Rivero Conguero, Percussionist, Producer, Composer and Band Leader

“Tell me your name in leather, Little Johnny, Little Johnny” Hard Strike.

Conguero, percussionist, producer, composer, and conductor, Little Johnny Rivero has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific.

Born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, Rivero was attracted to Latin jazz and the sounds and rhythms of the New York area rumberos as a child.

At age 10, Johnny began practicing percussion and joined his school band.

Conguero, percussionist, producer, composer and bandleader, Little Johnny Rivero has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. — “Tell me your name in leather, Little Johnny, Little Johnny.”

Shortly thereafter, he took dance lessons, which eventually led him to stage performances with the bands of the time at such famous venues as the Manhattan Center, Colgate Garden, Copacabana, and the Palladium.

At age 14, Rivero joined Orquesta Colón, the youngest Latin band in New York City, and recorded two albums with them.

Shortly thereafter, he took dance classes, which eventually led him to perform on stage with the bands of the time in such famous venues as the Manhattan Center, Colgate Garden, Copacabana, and the Palladium.

In 1973, Rivero moved to Puerto Rico with his parents and joined Sonora Ponceña in 1974.

After playing bongos with them for a year and a half, he switched to congas, which rekindled the love he had for the instrument as a child.

Rivero attributes the rhythms and professional direction he learned from Quique Lucca and his son, Papo Lucca, as qualities that have made him what he is today.

During the 16 years that Rivero played with La Sonora Ponceña, he traveled all over the world and made 18 highly respected albums with them.

Rivero has recorded with producers such as Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch, and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

In May 1997, Rivero shared the stage with his inspiration and idol, José Mangual. Rivero’s credits also include work with Charlie Palmieri, Dave Valentín, Rubén Blades, Cheo Feliciano, Andy Montanez, Ismael Miranda, Celia Cruz, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ray Barretto, Patato Valdez, Changito, Tata Guines, John Santos, Sergio George, Bebo Valdes, Paquito D’Rivera, Tito Puente, and many other artists.

Rivero’s first solo effort, “Pasos Gigantes,” was well-received by critics and music fans.

He wrote and produced all the songs on that CD, showing off his skills as an arranger and musician.

He is currently working on his next CD, “Music in Me”, his first Latin Jazz album, which will include musicians, Brian Lynch on trumpet, Zaccai Curtis on piano and keyboards, Luques Curtis on bass, Louis Founche on saxophone, Andrei Matorin on violin, Ludwig Alfonso on drums, and Anthony Carrillo on bongo and bata drums.

Currently, Rivero is traveling internationally with Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri.

He also continues to record in-studio sessions and perform with many of the most respected acts in Latin music, including his own band.

Percussionist Johnny Rivero presents the album "Golpe Duro", with his band El Cartel de Nueva York. — Percussionist Johnny Rivero presents the album “Golpe Duro”, with his band El Cartel de Nueva York.

Legendary conguero, percussionist, producer, composer and bandleader Little Johnny Rivero is proud to present his latest album, Golpe Duro, with Anthony Almonte.

From New York and after moving to Puerto Rico, he spent sixteen years with the Sonora Ponceña band and recorded eighteen highly respected albums.

He has played with many of the biggest and most respected names in Latin music, including nine-time Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri.

During that same time, Little Johnny formed his salsa band and his Latin jazz band and continued to teach percussion at Kennedy High School in the Bronx, NY. It was there that Anthony Almonte, a high school student at the time, would become one of his music students.

Little Johnny has always had a passion for writing music and over the course of four years since his last album, he was inspired to write once again. He set out to create a danceable album that would highlight the roots of Son Montuno, Guaracha Mambo, and Latin jazz.

The only thing missing was a singer. In a rehearsal, his friend and colleague Jeffery Lopez mentioned that there was a talented “new guy” on the block. He came down, and here he was, Anthony Almonte from Kennedy HS. As they say “the rest is history” and the result of their collaboration is Little Johnny’s latest album, Golpe Duro.

Website: Little Johnny Rivero

Article of Interest: Eddie Palmieri: A Memorable Career

Yma America “We have done a good job, making our Music and Latin Culture known”

“Every time I go out to play, to sing, I show my training and above all I put the name of Venezuela up high and without talking too much”.

She reaffirms that; We have done a good job, making our music and Latin culture known.

It is indisputable the mark that many Venezuelan artists who have decided to settle abroad leave on their way around the world, because they are distinguished by their achievements and place the name of Venezuela in great, making their fellow citizens feel proud of their successes, such is the case of Yma America Martinez, born in Caracas and based in Germany for almost 30 years.

With a musical vein that she inherited from her parents who, she points out, were the fundamental pillar in her formation and career, and why not, for having grown up in one of the most musical parishes of Caracas, the San Agustin del Sur neighborhood, Marin sector, from where great characters have emerged including her uncle, the choreographer and dancer Carlos Enrique Orta (+), who toured with his dance company Coreoarte great stages around the world.

His musical beginnings were with a group created by his father “Los Azulitos Juveniles” where he sang aguinaldos with his sisters and neighbors, to later join the San Agustin Choir at the Don Pedro School “Fe y Alegria”. She received her academic preparation at the “José Ángel Lamas” Music School and at the “Simón Bolívar” National and Youth Orchestra, to continue her cello studies in Paris at the “Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris” and singing and composition at the CODARTS of the World Conservatory of Music in Rotterdam.

It reaffirms that; We have done a good job, making our music and Latin culture known. — Yma America “Every time I go out to play, to sing, I show my training and above all I put the name of Venezuela up high and without talking too much.”

Yma America is a singer, musician, composer, arranger, plays the cello and the cuatro. Her clear and powerful voice makes her very sought after throughout Europe. She has worked with different groups; Kimbiza, Latin Sampling, Francisco Zumaqué, Conexión Latina, Mirta & The Goalgetters, Dúo Ymaya, Cubop City Big Band, among others. He has participated in major jazz and classical music festivals such as the Ruhr Guitar Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the RuhrTriennale, the MusikTriennale Köln, and the Elblandfestspiele. In 2004 her perseverance made her the winner of the international competition “Voice and Guitar” in Saarbrücken-Germany, where she won the first prize together with the Colombian guitarist Andrés Mendoza Villamil.

Another relevant fact in the life of this artist can be seen in the song “Juégalo”, a song she composed and sang for the Bacardi company commercial, which became a hit in the summer of 1998 and 2000. He participated in the musical “King of The Lions”, with WDR Big Band in the main role of the Lilipuz children’s concert “Die schlaue Mama Sambona”; and has performed more than 30 times with the production “Adventure Weltumrundung” of the Fly & Help Foundation.

She has on her shoulders the responsibility of a great project that she is carrying in Germany and wishes to realize in her native country, making music with percussion for deaf people called “FEEL SOUNDS”, because of this proposal in 2010 she was awarded with the Disability Policy of the Innovation Prize of Cologne (KIB).

She assures us that; “The language of music is the same all over the planet”, with this phrase we enter to discover the virtues, dreams, and desires of the interviewee.

How does Yma America define herself?

“It is not easy to answer this, but I think I am a very patient and calm person, too much I would say. I don’t give myself a bad life, fortunately, I have done what I have wanted and desired, thanks to the support of my parents and family in general.” “I am a character to whom, thank the god’s things and opportunities have been offered to me, some I have taken advantage of, others not, there are some which I have not realized in time that they have been there waiting for me and I have lost them. But I can say that I have lived my life, with the ups and downs, good and bad, without involving anyone and that is how I have been leading it and learning”.

Yma America is a singer, musician, composer, arranger, plays the cello and the cuatro. — His musical beginnings were with a group created by his father “Los Azulitos Juveniles”.

Part of his training was obtained through the “José Ángel Lamas” Conservatory of Music and the “Simón Bolívar” National and Youth Orchestra. What do you thank them for and how do you give back your training with them?

“I thank them for part of my training as a musician than I am, because the other part I owe to my family and my people where I come from.” “-Give back-“, I think that every time I go out to play, to sing, I show my training and above all I put the name of Venezuela up high and without talking too much”.

What do you think of the phrase “No one is a prophet in his own land”?

“-I honestly don’t know what it means-“. “I don’t think I would have started singing professionally if I had stayed in Venezuela. I played cello in the National and Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, I played and substituted for the cellists in the Philharmonic Orchestra of Venezuela and in the Municipal Orchestra of Caracas, I sang solo at every party and family celebration, and in reality, I was very quiet at home”.

“I don’t think I am a “prophet” where I am, I always do the best I can and people value it and many times also criticize it, of course”.

Why did you choose Germany and not another Latin American country? How many years have you been living in Cologne?

“I left Caracas in 1986 for Paris-France, thanks to the fact that my grandmother worked for a wealthy family and they offered to help a relative to study abroad, specifically in France because they had relatives there. First, my uncle Carlos Enrique Orta, a choreographer-dancer with a long international career, went many years before, and then I wanted to “take him up on it” after a while”.

“Actually I wanted to study cello for 1 year in Paris and return to Venezuela, but when I finished my 1st year of study at the “Ècole Normale de Musique de Paris”, they offered me to stay and I didn’t refuse. The last year of studies in Paris I didn’t have much money to live and in Köln-Germany lived the musicians of COREOARTE (a Dance Company created by my uncle Carlos Enrique Orta with dancers and musicians from San Agustin), at that time I went every weekend, on Fridays after classes, from Paris to Köln and I returned on Mondays at 6 am and arrived directly to classes in the afternoon, I did that because we played; Renis Mendoza, Felipe “Mandingo” Rengifo, Charles Peñalver, Orlando “El Diablo” Blanco and me in the street to collect a little money and cheer up the streets and faces of the Germans, and with that I could buy food for the whole week in Paris until the following Friday when I returned to Köln. … and so on for many months until when I finished my studies, I decided to move to Köln and the first months I lived with Renis Mendoza who shared his apartment with another boy from Corporate and then I got my room sharing an apartment with a German girl”.

Part of his training was obtained through the "José Ángel Lamas" Conservatory of Music and the "Simón Bolívar" National and Youth Orchestra. — Part of his training was obtained through the “José Ángel Lamas” Conservatory of Music and the “Simón Bolívar” National and Youth Orchestra.

“I lived first in Paris from 1986 until 1990, 4 years and from 1990 until today in Köln, next year I will be 30 years based in Germany, I say “I have my bed in Köln”, because in reality I am almost never at home, thanks to music and life that has given me so much.”

“I never thought, nor have I ever imagined living in another Latin American country, I think that from here, I’m going home… To Venezuela!”.

How has the German public been receptive to Latin rhythms, has there been no resistance?

“At this moment there is a stagnation in the development of activities with Latin music, but in the same way there is more and more receptivity, I know we have done a good job, making known our music and Latin culture, there are several Salsa bands with German musicians, there are more and more dancers, more dance classes, many have understood the message and others interpret it to their wave but there is much atmosphere and places with Latin music, with Dj of Salsa-Merengue and the crap they call Reggaeton music”.

“I must say that some years ago there were more Salsa orchestras with German musicians and there were more Salsa Festivals that unfortunately has been reduced by the phenomenon “Salsa Dj” I think and I’m almost sure, because it is cheaper and people dance the same. That has done a lot of damage to live music”.

What memories do you have of being under the baton of these great maestros Abreu, Aldermaro Romero, Carlos Riazuelo and Yehudi Menuhin?

“I don’t really remember at the moment any particular experience or directly with them. Although I had more contact with maestro José Antonio Abreu, the experience was the same as with many of the members of the ONJV. But of all of them I was always struck by the confidence with which they could dominate and control the number of musicians that an orchestra has and above all that in classical style and pieces the feeling that is transmitted is that of the conductor and not that of the musician or the performer. Of course, they were wonderful experiences”.

How many compositions have you made?

“Honestly, not many, approximately 12 but that have been arranged, played and recorded, only 4.”

Your parents have been promoters of your career, what do you thank them for?

-Chacha!

“My parents are the reason for my profession, it is from them that this Yma America that you are interviewing for my work has come out. Thanks to their way of being, to their offspring, to their education, I thank them for what I am and what I have done… My life”.

Are you still constantly growing, what anecdotes do you have from your time at the “Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris” and the “Conservatoire de Musique du Monde”?

“In Paris, I think, having to change the mentality of learning everything little by little and without haste in Venezuela, to the need to put my batteries because here they do not wait, you have to give it hard and meet daily, plus that prompted me to learn French faster”. “And in Holland to go from being a student to being the singer of the Cubop City Big Band of the conservatory Prof. Martin Verdonk (percussion), Leslie Lopez (bassist) and directed by Prof. Lucas van Merkwijk drums that was strong, especially at the beginning that was to understand how they interpreted Latin music that is something other than Latin Jazz, then we started with Mambo de una, and as Leslie Lopez was the bassist of Puerto Rico there was a balance and there we were learning and getting experiences all equally”.

Working with Lucas and with those wonderful musicians, people with an extraordinary musical level, is very relaxed, zero stress, we have all learned there, the failures and successes have gone hand in hand with everyone. — She works alongside Dutch percussionist and producer Lucas Van Merwijk and is the lead singer of the successful “Cubop City Bing Band”.

How does it feel to work alongside Dutch percussionist and producer Lucas Van Merwijk and to be the lead singer of the successful “Cubop City Bing Band”?

-It’s great!

“Working with Lucas and those wonderful musicians, people with an extraordinary musical level, is very relaxed, zero stress, we have all learned there, the failures and successes have gone hand in hand with everyone. Next year (2020), with CUBOP CITY Big Band we will celebrate 25 years together and for sure something good will be done, something wonderful is being cooked, with the maestro Edy Martinez -pianist, composer and Colombian arranger-, of course, also thanks to Lucas’ wife, Roosje who does a great job, she is the organizer/manager of that crowd and of all the tours”.

Have you surrounded yourself and trained with musicians that due to their quality and trajectory are considered the best, what do you think you have yet to do?

“I have done and learned many things in life, both personally and musically, I think and I know that I still have a lot to do and to learn”.

Hasn’t the language been an obstacle?

“No, musically speaking, no, the language of music is the same all over the planet.” “The French language I had to learn quickly because I came from Venezuela directly to the Conservatory of music, in Holland the classes are in English and I did not have to learn Dutch and the German language has been strong in other daily situations or life in general.”

In which festivals have you participated both in Europe and Venezuela?

-I can’t tell you exactly how many, but in these 30 years living in Germany and making music professionally there have been many, in almost all of Europe”.

You have a project with deaf people in Germany, which we hope can also be realized in Venezuela. Tell us about this musical project and why did you decide to make this the theme?

“TO FEEL – SOUNDS, but as a proper name I named it “FEEL SOUNDS” in view of the fact that the sense of touch is much more developed in deaf people and my work is based on making music with percussion, so the vibration of the sound is what they feel.”

Gestern abend war sehr schön !!! Yma America and Marco Antonio Sanchez Ramirez

“It is a project that I have had in mind for many, many years, exactly 1980, when I was studying “Hotel and Tourism Administration” at the University College of Caracas and doing field work in San Jose de Rio Chico, at the end of my activity and visiting people, they made me a party, drums and fulias until dawn, they were 5 drummers, the father and 4 children and at the end the father tells me that one of them was deaf. And the young man played very well, I never imagined that he could be deaf, he played perfectly and we even danced salsa. And from there I had the idea of working and teaching percussion to the deaf.”

“After all that time, in one of those twists and turns of life, I had courage and started to study “German Sign Language” and planned my workshops, I went to the deaf schools in Köln, many percussionist friends helped me, Renis lent me his drums and plays with us every presentation at the end of the workshops, other friends lent me their rehearsal room to give the classes, my Sign Language teacher supported me looking for money to keep going. … and so, this year I celebrate 10 years of having developed it here in Germany and the experience has been wonderful, every day I learn more and more of this world that I can not imagine, but to see the face of everyone when they feel the vibration of the sound when playing a drum, even hearing people, people without hearing problems, that feeling is unique, fascinating!

Working with children and adults with special conditions is a great challenge, how does it feel to see this experience become a reality?

“I have already been invited to several cities in Germany, Holland and Poland and I want to continue doing it, take it to my country and fulfill my desire to develop it there, carry it out, execute it and make it known in my Venezuela. Although several years ago I attended a conference held by FEVENSOR Federation of the Deaf of Venezuela, with the assistance of several Latin American countries, Spain and Australia, I made an exhibition and presentation of several young deaf people who attended, with the participation and collaboration of Naifer Hernandez and Juan Carlos “El Indio” Betancourt percussionists of San Agustin / Marin, but everything stayed there. Of course I must always be present to be able to move forward, that’s how it is. I lack the economic support because the program, the project, the subjects, the desire, the yearning and the yearnings are already there, but I keep moving and insisting, searching and “curucuteando” until I find the proper support”.

What new projects are on the way?

“We recently started a new Latin American Music Trio project, let’s say from Mexico to Argentina, with Prof. Thomas Böttcher, German pianist, Renis Mendoza, Venezuelan percussionist, also from San Agustín/Marín and me singing and playing Violoncello, we are in the preparations, making videos, propaganda, looking for a program and composing, also in conversations and looking for an agency to sell it and take it forward. The 25th anniversary of Cubop City Big band next year, finish looking for the musical program for those celebration concerts.”

“Continue with my musical project “FEEL SOUNDS”, giving my classes and music workshops to groups of deaf children, youth and adults and from January I start to give talks about this new proposal to students of “Special Education and Pedagogy” to continue moving forward with this and take it forward until I get to Venezuela and the whole world.”

What does St. Augustine Parish mean to you?

“It is the neighborhood where I was born, there is all my childhood and adolescence, I love and respect its inhabitants very much, besides my family whom I love with all my being, there have always been many valuable people there and that multiplies more and more, thanks to the work that artists have been doing and all that educated and fighting generation that lives and has always maintained that contact of training and information with the new generations. San Agustín is the good people who live there, the rest is everywhere on the planet”.

Venezuela in one word?

“-MUSIC-” in capital letters.

Facebook: Yma América

By: Eiling Blanco Correspondent in Venezuela

Article of Interest: Renis Mendoza “San Agustín is like a continent and Marín is its capital”.