Search Results for: Latin Jazz

Chick Corea Pianist, composer, arranger, producer, teacher. Acoustic and Electric

Surrounded by music since childhood, Armando Anthony Corea walked a path in which he shone like few others, accompanied by musicians who make up an encyclopedia of jazz.

Pianist, composer, arranger, producer, teacher. Acoustic and electric. Chick Corea was one of the most influential musicians in the vast universe that is jazz and surely one of the most important figures in global music of this time. In addition to being artistically prolific, he was commercially successful. For this reason, it would also be impossible to explain the music of this time without the example of Chick Corea.

Chick Corea Pianist, composer, arranger, producer, teacher. Acoustic and Electric

Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1941, to a family of Calabrian origin. At the age of four, he began to play the piano, encouraged by his father, a jazz trumpeter who led a Dixieland band in Boston in the 1930s and 1940s.

Surrounded by music, young Armando was soon introduced to the heroes of bebop. The music of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young would leave a notable mark on his education. At the age of eight, he began studying classical piano with Salvatore Sullo, an Italian-born concert pianist who, in addition to his love of Mozart, opened up the world of composition to him.

Always tied to a confusing timeline, the first released recording of the original configuration of Return to Forever was actually its second session.

An initial ECM studio date made in February 1972 was not released until after the band had changed in 1975.

The Polydor/Verve recording from October 1972 is actually this 1973 release, which features the same band with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Joe Farrell, and Flora Purim. There is no need to make distinctions, as both are five-star albums, showcasing many of the keyboardist’s enduring, instantly recognizable and highly melodic compositions.

Farrell’s joyous flute, Purim’s wordless vocals, Airto’s electrifying percussion and Clarke’s deft electric bass lines are wrapped up in a stew of Brazilian samba and Corea’s Fender Rhodes electric piano, and certainly set the tone and the highest bar for the music of the groups that will come after. “Captain Marvel,” the seed of the Farrell- and Purim-less band that expanded into a full concept album with Stan Getz, is here as a vaporous fusion samba with Corea dancing on the keys.

By now, the beautiful “500 Miles High” has become Purim’s signature song with Neville Potter lyrics and Corea’s stabbing chords, and unfortunately became a hippie anti-drug anthem.

Perhaps Corea’s definitive song of all time, and covered ad infinitum by professional and school bands, “Spain” retains the quirky melody, clapping interlude, up-and-down dynamics, exciting improvisational section and variation in time, tempo and colourations that always spark interest despite a length of close to ten minutes.

“You’re Everything” is a romantic classic that has surely been heard at many a wedding, with another Potter lyric sung to heaven by Purim, while the title track is Purim’s lyrics in a looser musical framework, with Clarke’s graphic merging with Corea and Farrell’s piercing flute work.

Chick Corea - John Patitucci - Dave Weckl — Chick Corea – John Patitucci – Dave Weckl

As much as the others have become icons, Farrell’s extraordinary sound on this date should never be trivialised or underestimated.

The final track, “Children’s Song,” was a springboard for several of Corea’s full-length album projects, and is heard here for the first time in trio format with a slow, Christmas motif.

The expanded version of this recording includes many alternate takes of four of these selections, but also includes “Matrix,” which was not on any RTF album, and there are four versions of “What Game Shall We Play Today?”, which was only available on the ECM release.

From a historical perspective, this is the most important work of Corea’s career, very different from his earlier progressive or improvisational efforts, and the pivotal beginning of his career as the most popular contemporary jazz keyboardist in history. Michael G. Nasto.

Chick Corea And Return To Forever – Light As A Feather (1973)

Tracks:

You’re Everything
Light As A Feather
Captain Marvel
500 Miles High
Children’s Song
Spain

Musicians:

Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes, electric piano)

Stanley Clarke (Double bass)

Joe Farrell (Tenor sax, soprano sax, flute)

Flora Purim (Voice, percussion)

Airto Moreira (Drums)

Chick Corea And Return To Forever - Light As A Feather (1973) — Chick Corea And Return To Forever – Light As A Feather (1973)

Information provided (February 21, 2009)

Sources:

L’Òstia Latin Jazz

Santiago Giordano: He is a musician, teacher and music critic

Also Read: Yilian Cañizares, an excellent Cuban musician, studied in her hometown in the strictest tradition of the Russian school of violin

Momotombo SF with former members of Malo and Santana

There is no doubt that The Bay Area has many talents, so there are always groups and people to talk about. Today it was the turn of the talented American percussionist of Nicaraguan origin Leo Rosales, with whom we had the pleasure of chatting about his life and projects with both the group Malo and his current band Momotombo SF.

This Latin rock legend has so much to tell and we are happy to hear him and make known his success and great struggles in the world of music.

Leo was born in San Francisco — Percussionist Leo Rosales was born in San Francisco, but his family is Nicaraguan

Leo’s beginnings in music

Leo’s interest in music began at home with his parents, who, as we have already said, come from Central America, which greatly the young man and the steps he would take a few years later.

It turns out that his father was a radio host at the station Radio Mundial and his uncle was a musician in the 1940s in Nicaragua, where both developed their careers linked to music for a long time. However, they decided that the Central American country did not offer them the opportunities they were seeking and decided to move to San Francisco and build their families there.

It was in San Francisco where Leo was born, his father decided to return to his job as a radio host at the station Coffee and his uncle met important musicians who helped him adapt to the musical environment in that place. All this coupled with the numerous family parties held at Leo’s house with Latin music aroused an enormous interest in the child for this world.

Tradictional music, salsa and Latin jazz inspired him to listen to all kinds of genres and bands, but not only in Spanish. He also became a big fan of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, among others.

He loved what he heard so much he even decided to learn to play the drums on his own by ear. Then, he started using cooking pots and sticks to rehearse at home in an improvised way until he had the opportunity to use professional instruments.

Leo playing — Leo Rosales playing the drums

Leo’s start in music professionally

Leo was so hell-bent on making a name for himself in music that he got yogether with some friends and colleagues with the same interests to create an improvised group with which he gradually managed to play at parties and small street festivals.

They also began to perform in larger events and to meet more and more important people in the industry. Also Leo and the other young people began to make friends with other groups, which led to new job opportunities for several of them.

Around the same time they met the world famous businessman and concert promoter Bill Graham, who stated taking musicians to all over to San Francisco. This gave Leo the opportunity to play at the Fillmore West as well as other famous bands such as Chicago, Cold Blood, The Doors, The Gratful Dead, among others.

There was a night when a friend invited him to see a band play that would completely change the vision Leo Rosales had of music because they did not just play rock, but also conga, timbales and other Latino-oriented instruments. That group turned out to be Carlos Santana’s band in 1968.

Leo was so impressed with the group that the way he conceived music changed completely and he decided that this was the same direction he wanted to pursue. That is how he started playing Santana’s songs in various nightclubs, which led him to meet his brother Jorge Santana.

Grupo Malo

By the time Leo met Jorge, he was leading the group Malo. It all happened when the young man was about 17 or 18 years old and the same friend who took him to see Carlos invited him to see Jorge play with his band. At the request of the friend’s brother, Leo was given the opportunity to play the timbales, which he learned to play in the rock genre thanks to having listened to Santana for so long.

After having played in several places with the group Malo and thanks to his high level as a musician, he was invited by one of the founders of the group, Arcelio García, to rehearse with the rest of the members. After rehearsing with them for a while, Leo became a permanent member of Malo and, shortly thereafter, he began touring the United States with them.

All these performances helped the artist to become much more professional in his trade and to meet many other prestigious musicians.

Co-founder of Malo and guitarist Gabriel Manzo

Momotombo SF

After being in the group Malo for a long time, the priorities of some of its members changed. While Arcelio and Jorge continued with the Malo project, Leo and one of the ex-guitarists, Gabriel Manzo wanted to continue playing the same music, but did not want to continue using the group’s name out of respect for those who were still there and in order to avoid legal problems.

That is when Leo talked to Arcelio and Jorge to ask for their opinion about it and they agreed that there was no problem with the birth of a new group, but it needed its nae changed. For this reason, the percussionist and his bandmates used one of Malo’s songs called Momotombo to refer to the new band they created.

`‘Momotombo” is a song written by composer Pablo Tellez that pays homage to the Nicaraguan volcano near the town of the same name. Then, they began to refer to themselves as ”Momotombo with former members of Malo & Santana” to make it clear where its members come from. This was more than five years ago.

”What we want is to keep alive the essence of Malo and Santana’s music with the same love with which we did it years ago, while respecting the original founders and those who were still there. On the contrary, we want to honor them and make it clear where we come from” said Leo, who evidently has full respect to Malo and its founders, who gave him the opportunity of his lifetime.

Today we talk with Susana Y Su Orquesta Adelante

There are so many descendants of Latinos who have fallen head and ears for their parents’ culture, so they always seek to leave their countries of origin on high with the tools they have at hand, especially music.

One of them is multi-instrumentalist Suzanne Cortez, who currently conducts Susana Y Su Orquesta Adelante and has many interesting things to say about her career.

Suzanne is a bassist — Suzanne is a multiinstrumentalist, but her main instrument is the bass

How Suzanne got interested in music in the first place

Suzanne became interested in music at a very young age when she saw her mother listening to many records of all genres, but her favorite group was Trio Los Panchos, which was very popular at the time. However, her mother also listened to The Beatles very often, to the point that Suzanne imitated them and pretended she was a member of the group.

From so much listening to music of varying genres, Suzanne learned to play herself, and it was the variety of genres she listened to that trained her to interact with all of them.

The artist enjoyed all types of music, but emphasized that her favorite genre was salsa. She assures that she can play any rhythm such as classical music, jazz, Latin jazz, Latin rock, R&B and many others, but none of them can be compared to what salsa makes her feel.

How her musical career began

Before forming what would become her own group Susana y Su Orquesta Adelante, she had a very interesting journey that prepared her to lead her own project later on.

At school, she took a few classical music lessons and her teacher called her one day to ask her if she was trained to learn to read music, to which she said no and that she had learned everything by ear and nothing else. This pleasantly surprised the educator and encouraged her to pursue a musical career beyond the boundaries of the classroom.

After that, Suzanne had the opportunity to be part of the women’s band Orquesta Sabrosita, in which she was the youngest of all the members. At that time, an all-female band was something very fresh in the Bay Area, so they drew a lot of attention from the public at the time. There were many female artists already, but they did not play salsa yet.

About this, the artist points out that reactions to them were mostly positive, although there were always people who still preferred all-male orchestras, which was the norm at the time.

Susana Y Su Orquesta Adelante

Suzanne officially created her own musical project Susana Y Su Orquesta Adelante in 2009. However, this was not her first attempt to form her own band, but in 2000. In that year, Suzanne and the rest of the musicians who accompanied her played in churches since for her the praises of God were very important and music was her vehicle to communicate with the Almighty.

In view of the great talent the band demonstrated every time they played one of their songs, some club owners wanted to invite the group to play in a café of their property and they did not have any problem with them having a repertoire based on Christian salsa.

It took Suzanne a while to make up her mind until finally, in 2009, she started playing with her group in cafes, clubs, restaurants, festivals, among other places.

There was also a point when the orchestra stopped playing purely Christian music, as the members wanted to vary their repertoire. In addition to that, Suzanne knew that, although they were not always playing religious music, God would be happy that they were making their listeners happy.

Challenges faced by Suzanne on this path

As much as Suzanne has achieved great things with her music, she has also had to face certain challenges that caused her to move away from her goals for some time.

Unfortunately, as with many artists, Suzanne turned to alcohol and drugs, which sent her into a deep depression and to left aside music for many years. These problems and her subsequent rehabilitation kept her away from the stage for more than 28 years, until she realized that it was time to try her luck once again with her great passion.

Unfortunately, most of the musicians who accompanied her in the beginning were making their lives out the music scene or had become part of other bands, so she had to look for new members for the orchestra she wanted to form.

However, the artist has absolutely no regrets about how things have turned out in her career and is grateful for the path she has traveled, despite the circumstances.

Pedro Bermúdez released his new Salsa album “ARRASANDO”

North America /  USA / New York

The Salsa pianist from Puerto Rico, Pedro Bermúdez, released his most recent record production “Arrasando” with the collaboration of the main Salsa legends and the New Salsera blood on June 5^th. This was announced by Bermúdez through his official Facebook account.

Arrasando is a heavy and hard traditional Salsa project that brings together a dream team of musicians and salsa legends from Puerto Rico and New York City, such as: Bobby Valentin (Bass), Reynaldo Jorge (Trombone), Frankie Vazquez (vocals), Eddie Montalvo (Congas), Ralph Irizarry (Timbales) and Jose Mangual (Bongos), among many others.

The 11 tracks of this album are original arrangements and lyrics. Arrasando also includes two Latin jazz composition in big band style with a lot of solos and “descargas” in each single.

Other Musicians presents on this recording are:

Trumpets: David “Piro” Rodríguez, Julito Alvarado, Angie Machado, Carlos Coamito Martínez, Jesús Alonzo, Nelson Jaime Gazu and Angel Segarra.

Trombones: Eliut Cintron, Danny Fuentes and Gamalier González.

Saxophones: Ivan Renta.

Bass: Rubén Rodríguez and Pedro Pérez.

Percussion: Carlos Maldonado Kachiro Thompson, Charlie Sierra, Miguel Aponte, Roberto Quintero, Tony Rosa and José Che Vega.

Coros: Luisito Carrión, Henry Santiago, Héctor Pichie Pérez, Rafu Warner and Joe González.

Singers: Rico Walker, Pedro Brull, Osvaldo Noel Muñoz, Kayvan Vega, Joe González.

ARRASANDO is available NOW in all digital platforms!!!

Pedro Bermúdez released his new Salsa album “ARRASANDO”

Release: June 5th, 2018

Tracks:
Hablador	6. Reunión (Feat. Reynaldo Jorge & Eddie Montalvo)
2. Las Rabietas de Marcela (Feat. Frankie Vázquez, José Mangual Jr. & Eddie Montalvo)	7. Mentiras No Quiero (Feat. José Mangual Jr)
3. Acere Guaribombó (Feat. José Mangual Jr. & Ralph Irrizary)	8. Ya No Soy Gente
4. Repartiendo Fuete (Feat. Bobby Valentin, Ralph Irrizary & Frankie Vázquez)	9. Vete de Aquí (Feat. Eddie Montalvo)
5. Te Lo Dije Casera (Feat. Reynaldo Jorge)	10. Mambo to My Friends (Feat. Reynaldo Jorge) 11. Groovin’

For more information, please like him on Facebook www.facebook.com/pedrobermudezpiano Or Download “Arrasando” HERE → https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/pedrobermudez1

Link de Video: https://www.facebook.com/pedrobermudezpiano/videos/1867607530205899/

Isidro Infante is one of the most successful producers and arrangers in the history of Salsa

Born August 12, 1952, San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a professional pianist, arranger, composer and music producer, working in genres such as Classical Music, Rock, Pop Rock, Latin Ballad, Rock in Spanish, Salsa, Latin Jazz etc.

In addition, he has 5 awards and 47 Grammy nominations and several Billboard projects, Lo Nuestro Awards and Ace & Paoli Awards.

His parents were Dr. Isidoro Infante and Carmen Santiago.

From a young age Isidro was influenced by listening to his father play the violin, getting involved with music at age 14 when he participated in a band that played songs by Santana and Chicago.

At the age of 15 he formed his band “Carpe Diem” (Live Life), a Rock/Salsa group that played Rock’n’Roll, Pop, Salsa and included Tommy Villarini on trumpet, Cuto Soto on trombone and guitarist Manolo Sastre.

With this band Isidro wrote his first arrangement “Tiempo De Ti”.

Two years later, Infante was in charge of the background music for Myrta Silva’s television show.

After taking private piano lessons with the famous pianist Carmen Socorro Duclerc, he studied at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and at the University of Puerto Rico, obtaining bachelor’s degrees in music and chemistry.

Although he was inclined towards medicine because it was his father’s profession, he decided to delve into music and graduated in composition and arrangements at Temple University in Philadelphia in the late 1970s.

In 1995, Isidro Infante and ‘La Élite’ signed a contract with RMM Records as an exclusive artist. Isidro also signed as A&R director for RMM records.

With him he gained experience, quality and evident success in his productions for the label. His work with La India earned him double platinum sales and a Grammy nomination for their album “Sobre El Fuego.”

Within just four years of its founding, La Élite became a dominant force in the Salsa music industry. The band’s first release earned a gold record as well as awards from AS, Paoli and Diplo.

Isidro Infante He also has 5 Grammy awards and 47 nominations and several Billboard projects, Lo Nuestro Awards and Ace & Paoli Awards.

The hit songs “Que Tengo de Ti,” “Nave de Papel,” “Ganas” and “Has Quedado Retratada” all topped the Tropical Salsa charts.

On Isidro Infante y La Élite II, the group’s second production, Isidro added vocalist Maggie Ramos. This helped him create an album with an exceptional variety of music.

Songs like “Quítame ese Hombre” and “Santo Militar y Montuno” made Isidro Infante a favorite of many.

Along with Louie Ramírez, Infante was credited as one of the creators and pioneers in the Salsa movement. Romantic Salsa.

In 1998, his production “Licencia Para Engañar” was released, which was the result of his creativity and flexibility as a musician. In his orchestra, Isidro Infante y La Élite, Jennifer Jiménez and Guillermo Duval participate as vocalists.

In his first album “Secretos”, Kevin Ceballo made his debut as a soloist in “Licencia Para Engañar”, produced by Isidro Infante.

His work as a producer earned his album “India’s Sola” a Grammy nomination. Venezuelan Oscar D’León also received a nomination for “La Fórmula Original” which Isidro also produced.

Isidro’s commitment to everything related to the Latin community prompted him to produce the event “Canto Para La Guaira”.

The concert was held with the purpose of raising funds for the victims of the disaster that affected thousands in Venezuela and thus “Poliedro de Caracas” has been filled to full capacity.

Among the RMM artists who performed were Kevin Ceballo, Ray Sepúlveda, Cheo Feliciano, Tito Nieves, Roberto Avellanet, Michael Stuart and Tony Vega.

In 1981, Ramírez and Infante were approached with the idea of producing an album of famous ballads with Salsa arrangements.

Both found the project interesting and ambitious, so they accepted the challenge. Isidro added his experience in the field of ballads, acquired through his work with José Luis Rodríguez, Camilo Sesto and Yolandita Monge, to Ramírez’s knowledge of Latin jazz.

The result was “Noche Caliente”, the first album in the genre to sell over a million copies.

Memories at El Corso Night Club in New York City with my friend and mentor, Master Louie Ramirez, producer, arranger, vibraphonist, timpanist, marimba player

Isidro Infante is one of the most sought-after arrangers in Salsa.

Venturing into a genre other than salsa, he also participated in Willennium, Will Smith’s most recent recording where Isidro played piano and keyboards.

Isidro Infante was working with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert, Gloria Estefan, Dizzy Gillespie, Dionne Warwick, Patty La Belle, Will Smith, Wyclef Jean, Clark Terry, Jon Anderson & Yes, Vangellis, Sheila E., Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Machito, Marc Anthony, La India, Fania All-Stars, Oscar D’Leon, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Larry Harlow, Roberto Roena, Johnny Pacheco, Pete El Conde Rodriguez, Louie Ramirez, Ray De La Paz, Jose Alberto “El Canario”, Adalberto Santiago, Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodriguez, Paquito Guzman, Marvin Santiago, Domingo Quinones, Camilo Azuquita, Kako, Rafael Cortijo, Ismael Rivera, Manny Manuel, Raul Marrero, Vitin Aviles, Papaito, Tony Vega, Puerto Rico All Stars, Ralphy Leavitt & La Selecta, The Latin Corporation, Jose Mangual Jr,Jr. Gonzalez, Ramon Rodriguez,Orquesta La Terrifica, German Olivera, Wichy Camacho, Johnny Ventura, Sergio Vargas, Cuco Valoy, Ramon Orlando, Los Hermanos Rosario, Los Niches, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Little Louie Vega, Robert Avellanet, Michael Stuart, Yanko, Kevin Ceballo Danny Rivera, Sophy, Mirta Silva, Ivy Queen, Tego Calderon, Mickey Perfecto, TNT and many more.

Among his compositions are “Viejo Pachanguero”, “Vicio de Quererte”, “Esa Niña” etc.

With more than 2,500 arrangements in his resume, Isidro is one of the most successful producers and arrangers in the history of Salsa.

Isidro Infante has been working for major record labels such as Sony BMG (Epic, Sony Discos, Sony International, etc.), Universal EMI Capitol TH Records Salsa International Velvet (Venezuela), Co Discos (Colombia), J&N Records, Univision Poligram, Luna Records Fonovisa, Sono Tone, Caiman Records, Faisán Records, GB Records, Ibero- Records, Salsoul Records and many more.

Isidro Infante produced the Special for Banco Popular 2010: Truibuto Al Gran Combo on CD & DVD which achieved platinum sales.

The project included the participation of El Gran Combo, Ismael Miranda, La India, José Alberto, Isaac Delgado, Michael Stuart, Domingo Quiñones, NG2, Luisito Carrión, Sammy García and El Sabor de Puerto Rico.

He was sharing the Fania All-Stars as musical director with maestro Johnny Pacheco in several concerts throughout Latin America and was involved in musical projects with the Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel.

In 2010, Isidro Infante and Iván Joy established the new company Artist System Inc. which is in collaboration with Diamond Music and has gained important positions in the market of digital production and promotion and also has a lot of experience in the creation and management of digital content.

Con India y La Cantante cubana, Laritza Bacallao

The company is working with such artists as Isidro Infante, Lucecita Benítez “La Voz Nacional De Puerto Rico”, Lunna, Lourdes Robles, Conjunto Canayón, Сorporación Latina, Manolo Lezcano, Lou Briel, Jowell & Randy, Arcángel, Tego Calderón, Jadiel, Endo, Guelo Star, Kastrofobia, Los Metalicoz and many more.

Awards

5-time Grammy winner

47 Grammy nominations and several Billboard projects

Premios Lo Nuestro and Ace & Paoli Awards.

Also Read: Ezequiel Lino Frías Gómez was an excellent musician, pianist, arranger and composer.

Source and Collaboration: Marino de Jesus (1588) from Salsa History of the Dominican Republic