CANADADIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNITED STATESDIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS |
||
| CALIFORNIA | FLORIDA | ILLINOIS |
| MICHIGAN | NEW JERSEY | NEW YORK |
| OHIO | PENNSYLVANIA | TEXAS |
| VIRGINIA | WASHINGTON | |
| NOVEMBER 2023 FESTIVALS | ||
|
|
 |
San Francisco SBK Congress 2023Nov 17 / 19, 2023 1333 Old Bayshore Hwy, Burlingame CA, United States, 94010 |
|
|
 |
Love Bachata Congress 2023Nov 23 / 27,2023 165 Courtland St NE, Atlanta GA, United States, 30303 |
In a family that has produced several musicians, among them his brothers the former “Madera”, Ricardo and Jesús “Chu” Quintero, who died in the Orinoco tragedy; Rafael who lives in Marseille or his nephews Luisito (the “chamo Candela” of Daiquirí), Robert and Chuíto, who live in New York.
During his adolescence he was in several groups and then he played with Los Dementes, the Venezuelan group Pan suerte de Santana with César Monge (Dimensión Latina) and Alfredo Padilla (La Salsa Mayor), Porfi Jiménez, Frank Quintero and Los Balzehaguaos, Yordano and many others.
-What would be the five main moments of his career?
Nené lists them:
1- Having worked with people I went to see at a radio station and then I got to play with them. That was in the 70’s, in a place called Playboy in Altamira, with their bunnies and everything.
2- When I heard on the radio a song I recorded with Los Dementes: “Rómpelo”, which was very popular. I saw myself as a very famous person, I was heard on the radio for the first time.
3- When Eumir Deodato came and proposed me to go with him to the United States.
I was not in conditions to go because I was working very well, I was doing a lot of jingles, I had two children who were starting to study.
I was sacrificing something that was taking shape: my family. I told him I could go, work and come back. The surprise was when a letter arrived for a tour of Mexico and the United States.
Deodato is a very kind person, he gives you freedom to work, we communicated in “Spanglish” and “portuñol” and he loved beer.
4- Seeing Celia Cruz when I was a kid in Marin, going to visit friends like Johnny Perez, from Sonora Caracas, and some time later working with her, even in her last shows, in Montreal.
5- Working lately with my nephews Robert and Luisito gave me a lot of emotion: The three of us on the same stage in New York with Celia Cruz.
But there are more experiences. Eros Ramazzotti, for example. “I chose to go to New York and Miami when things got tough here. I worked with Gato Barbieri and with salsa people.
I would go back and forth, two months out and back. I was recording with a saxophonist who worked with Eros and, the following year while I was in Miami he called me for a six-month tour.
I said yes, they called me the following year again and I spent three years with Ramazzotti touring all over Europe, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Central America, Mexico and Miami.
-Any anecdotes with Ramazzotti? –
Once on his birthday he rented a track where they raced cars. We were drinking, driving, talking, talking, listening to music and they brought a cream cake for Eros.
At one point when he was very close to me with the cake in his hand, I put it in his face. It was a mess with everyone throwing things and pieces of cake at each other.
But I got the impression that he was upset and I went over to apologize and explain to him that it was something that could happen on any South American birthday, especially with a cream cake. He told me not to worry, that it was fine.
Other jobs came through Ramazzotti, such as with Jovanotti and Lucio Dalla.
-And how was it with Little Louie Vega, one of the producers and DJs of the moment?
-I met him through Luisito. We have been touring Europe, the United States and Japan for the last three years, and we recorded with Pushim, a Japanese woman, a song that was in the Japanese top ten.
“Working abroad is like working here, but in another language”, he reflects on the matter and says that he is preparing a method for percussionists to work with their feet as well as with their hands.
-What has seemed new to you lately in Europe or in these parts?
-Those jazz works in which there is no conventional group with drums or bass, like what I did with Gerry Weil and Pablo Gil at the Corp Group Cultural Center.
THE BATICONGA AND THE “MCGIVER SET”.
The baticonga is a hybrid: drums with conga. I use bass drum, hi-hat, cimbals, toms, snare and cymbals of various thicknesses.
It has a special redoblante with a rim that does not protrude from the leather so that it does not bother when hitting it like a tumbadora.
Then we did an unplugged set and it had to be acoustic with congas, bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat, cymbals.
The McGiver set is a djembe with brushes, cymbals with rivets, a conga that is just like a lid, like a tambourine, and I mount it on top of a snare drum stand and a cowbell. A set that does it all.
SIX INFLUENTIAL PERCUSSIONISTS
Alejandro Blanco Uribe and Airto Moreira: “I saw a lot of Gerry Weil with La Banda Municipal in the 70s and Alejandro as a multi-percussionist with effects and accessories.
That led me to look at Airto’s proposal and to fall in love with percussion at a time when I was playing guitar”.
Trilok Gurtu: “For his fusion of oriental music with rock and jazz. I’ve been hearing him since Oregon, and when I heard him with John McLaughlin on the live album in London my jaw dropped.”
Jack DeJohnette: “As a drummer he has a very floaty groove, he can do with the beats what he wants and the rhythm is always there.”
Tony Williams: “Another drummer. I saw a video that aroused my interest because his technique is like the one I use with the baticonga”.
CANADADIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| OCTOBER 2023 FESTIVALS | ||
|
|
||
UNITED STATESDIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS |
||
| CALIFORNIA | FLORIDA | ILLINOIS |
| MICHIGAN | NEW JERSEY | NEW YORK |
| OHIO | PENNSYLVANIA | TEXAS |
| VIRGINIA | WASHINGTON | |
| OCTOBER 2023 FESTIVALS | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latin talent has expanded all over the world to the point that there is a significant presence of these groups in Hawaii. Today we have talked to Eddie Ortiz, one of its leaders, who tells us his interesting story.
Eddie Ortiz, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, began his journey through music when still a child, which led him to become the musical director of one of the main Latin orchestras in Honolulu.
The following are the most salient aspects of his life and musical career.
Eddie’s first contact with music was in school, when he began taking trumpet lessons for a few years until he moved with his family to Tampa, Florida, where his life would change radically.
While there, he joined the Navy and served for more than 20 years, time in which the artist took the opportunity to join the Marine band and hone his skills as a musician.
It was in those years he served as a trumpet player and played for several military bands being in the armed forces.
During his military career, he was forced to visit many countries and Hawaii was his last stop. About three years before retiring, he decided to create Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe, a group he still plays with today.
As for Hawaii, he liked the place, the weather and the people so much that he did not want to return to the United States. That was over 27 years in total. He still thinks it was the best decision he could have made personally and professionally.
Something very interesting about Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe is that they play Latin music, but most of the members are not Latino. The group has people from Japan, China, Portugal and Hawaii. In fact, some of them were with Eddie in the navy and, today, support him in this great project.
A very particular case is that of Cynthia Romero, the band’s vocalist, who was born in Manila, Philippines, and speaks six languages, but Spanish is not one of them. However, she is perfectly capable of singing in that language without any problem, since she practices a lot the songs at the phonic level to avoid mistakes.
Whenever there are original songs, Cynthia usually asks Eddie what a song is about and he explains it to her in detail so she can perform it and live out it properly. She also takes the trouble to translate all the content and learn it to avoid any failure in the studio or on stage.
In the case of the genres, a different level of preparation for each one is always required, so Eddie and Cynthia always rehearse alone at first, while the musicians prepare themselves separately. It is then that they all join together to see how the band sounds as a whole.
The members of Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe have had the opportunity to share the stage with Ismael Miranda, Celia Cruz, Johnny Polanco, Tito Puente Jr, Luisito Rosario, and many more. When asked what he and his musicians have learned from these great artists, Eddie replied that the opportunity to accompany these personalities and open their shows have been a blessing and an immense honor.
”Each one of these artists has a very unique style and, whenever we accompany one of them, there are always new things to learn in order to be able to interpret those styles in the future. All of these things that we see in others are incorporated into our own music as we see fit” said Eddie.
With respect to the media, Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe has had a presence in various magazines and channels such as Honolulu Magazine, KS TV, 88 Tee, University of Hawaii Sports Television, among others.
Eddie said they did not expect this media exposure, but it has been very well received. They have been asked to make music for one or two radio stations or channels, which has given them the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and be known among a wider audience.
The best thing is that this gave them the opportunity to explore other genres, as the aforementioned media have asked for pop, traditional Hawaiian music and other genres requested at that time.
Eddie also told us that his band usually performs live on various entertainment places about four times a week, so they should try to have a repertoire as different as possible every night so as not to bore the audience.
Regarding covers, there are always certain songs that people usually ask for, so the band always takes them into account to satisfy those attending.
They also try to make a balance of all the genres they play such as salsa, bachata, merengue, cha cha chá, cumbia, Latin pop and many more.
Although the band’s strength is in Hawaii, their audience is not centred on the island and they have also managed to tour Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and the Philippines. In those places, the reception of the public towards Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe has been phenomenal because there are many lovers of Latin music and culture in general there.
Because of this, these countries usually have relatively large salsa events and festivals where they always take this band and other groups of this kind into account. Of course, they are also supported by dancers and DJs in order to liven up the atmosphere even more.
Eddie remembers attending an event called ”Isla De Salsa”, which featured El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, Juan Luis Guerra, Havana De Cuba and many others. This shows how much Latin music is valued in those places and the large number of followers it gathered.
To end the conversation, Eddie pointed out that they have a large audience in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, so they also have plans and are making the appropriate arrangements to go there soon and meet their fans. They will also perform an anniversary concert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the orchestra and will have Luisito Rosario as a guest.
Read also: Jimmy Rodríguez ”El Salsero Mexicano” talked to ISM about his career
