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ISM / October 2023
http://vocesyritmosdelcaribe.blogspot.com/
Search Results for: Latin Music
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Legacy of the Cepeda family after eight generations
As all our readers may know, this is a space devoted entirely to the promotion of salsa and other derivative styles, but that does not mean we should leave out other Latin genres that also deserve to be promoted and recognized worldwide. Such is the case of bomba and plena, which we are going to talk about in the next lines.
Bomba and plena are two Puerto Rican musical genres that initially became popular at the local level, but little by little, they have received international notoriety thanks to certain groups of Puerto Ricans who have devoted considerable effort to take their culture to as many places as possible in the world. This is how we get to the theme of the Cepeda family and all that its members have done for bomba and plena.
The Cepeda Family
The Cepeda family is a cultural institution that has been given the task of promoting bomba and plena for eight generations, so that they can be heard and danced all over the world. Don Rafael Cepeda Atiles, a professional musician and composer with an extensive career who has left a great legacy thanks to his hard work during his lifetime, which keeps current thanks to his descendants.
When he married Caridad Brenes Caballero, he involved her in all his artistic activities and became a fundamental support for the musician in his work. The lady became a professional bomba and plena dancer, costume designer, and choreographer, which made her shine with her own light in every project directed by her talented husband.
During his career, Don Rafael created several musical groups and, over the years, he and his wife involved their children and other family members to collaborate in what would become a renowned family business.
One of the artist’s greatest achievements was the development of a cultural movement around the rescue and preservation of local traditions related to bomba and plena, which were thought to be lost. He was also decorated with the Smithsonian Institute’s National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for his contributions to music.
All this legacy remained in the hands of Don Rafael’s family and one of the first to do something about it was his son Modesto, who founded the Escuela de Bomba y Plena Don Rafael Cepeda in Santurce, Puerto Rico. This institution was created in order to teach bomba and plena in the areas of dance and percussion.
Those who would follow these steps would be Margarita ”Tata” Cepeda, granddaughter of Don Rafael and Caridad, and Barbara Liz Ortiz Sanchez, great-granddaughter of Don Rafael and Caridad. Margarita currently runs the Escuela de Bomba y Plena Doña Caridad Brenes de Cepeda and her daughter, Barbara Liz, runs the Escuela de Bomba y Plena Tata Cepeda in the state of Florida. It was precisely the latter with whom we had the pleasure to talk about this project and the plans she has for the future.
Barbara Liz from the Escuela de Bomba y Plena Tata Cepeda
Barbara Liz belongs to the seventh generation of the Cepeda family and her children, who also dance bomba and plena, would belong to the eighth generation. She says that each family member has tried to endorse Don Rafael’s legacy in their own way. In her particular case, she has spent five years running the Escuela de Bomba y Plena Tata Cepeda in Florida, which she decided to baptize with his mother’s nickname, which is Tata, to pay tribute to her in life.
Although the operation of her school and his mother’s are different, they usually work together in cases that require it. For example, if for some reason a student cannot pursue his education here because he is going to Puerto Rico, he can continue studying at the school located on the Island of Enchantment without any problem.
”We didn’t have a curriculum or educational program to follow to teach bomba and plena, but my mom was responsible for creating one so that we could teach dance and percussion with a clearer methodology,” said Bárbara Liz.
As a result of Hurricane Maria, many Puerto Rican families went to live in Florida due to the loss of their properties and material things, so the students of the school in Puerto Rico became able to enroll in the Florida school instead. It can be said that they are sister schools working together towards the same goal.
Percussion and dance in bomba and plena
Something Bárbara Liz wanted to highlight about this point is that many girls are enrolling in her school to learn to play percussion, something that did not happen very often.
At other times, it was believed that percussion in bomba and plena was exclusively for men and dance for women. In more conservative versions of these genres, women only sang and men were responsible for dancing and playing instruments.
That has been changing over time. Nowadays, there are many guys who are setting their sights on dancing and many girls are having an interest in the percussion part. Every day, the female part is becoming more and more relevant in the different areas of bomba and plena.
In addition to all this, the institution’s teachers also teach quite a bit about the emergence and history of these two genres, so that their students are not just dedicated to playing and dancing, but also know the origin of everything they learn now.
Differences and similarities between bomba and plena
When we wanted to know a little about the differences and similarities between bomba and plena, Bárbara Liz explained to us that both genres were very different from each other. The rhythms, the instruments used and the ways of dancing have many differences in both.
In the case of bomba, this is the oldest musical genre and dance in Puerto Rico and is born from a barrel-shaped instrument, which is one of its most representative elements. It is also known as the ”first sung newspaper”.
Similarly, it is the dancer who sets the pace for the percussionist, not the other way around. The musician should be guided by the footsteps of the dancer, which often gives rise to completely new rhythms.
Plena was born a few years later with certain variants of bomba and is called the ”second sung newspaper”. It was plena that inspired several of the Cepeda family members to create their own groups such as the Grupo Gracimá (a variant of bomba), which originated in the school owned by Margarita in Puerto Rico.
In contrast, Bárbara Liz named her professional group Kalindá in honor of one of the most popular variants of bomba.
Tributes
Something that makes Bárbara Liz very proud is that both she and her mother had the opportunity to go to the Smithsonian National Museum in March to pay tribute to their ancestors and the genres that her great-grandfather promoted so much in life.
At the time, Don Rafael donated some items related to bomba and plena such as barrels, a güiro and barrels However, some bomba costumes were missing to complete the collection, which were given by Bárbara Liz and Margarita to be exhibited in the institution, so anyone interested in learning more about Puerto Rican genres and musical culture can visit the place and cherish these valuables.
Read also: Yani Borrell ‘‘El Elegante de La Salsa”
José Hildemaro Hugas Amarista “El Sonero del Amor” from Venezuela to the world
José Hildemaro Hugas Amarista, better known artistically as “Hildemaro, El Sonero Del Amor”, was born on November 10, 1957 in Caripito, a city in the eastern Venezuelan state of Monagas.
He is a Venezuelan singer-songwriter whose interest in music began at a very young age, participating in various children’s programs on the radio station in his hometown and in Maturin, the capital of the state of Monagas.
In 1970 he won the first “Festival De La Canción Inédita” held in Caripito.
Then he moved to Carúpano, where he began to sing with different musical groups of that city, such as “Los Bravos” and “Soles De Media Noche”.
Later he was called by the “Combo Melorítmico” of Maturín, where he stayed for a year. He always wanted to sing in the capital.
In 1976 his dream came true when he was called to be a part of the Front Train Orchestra “Los Satélites”, for seven (7) months, the proposed goals began to be different and began to work to achieve them. In 1979 he joined the “Orquesta Ideal”, with which the song “Contigo Besos Salvajes” was played all over the country and was successively imposed among the first places.
In 1981 he joined the “Supercombo Los Tropicales” of Maracaibo, then the “Noche Caliente” orchestra and later the “Porfi Jimenez” orchestra.
In 1985 he joined the orchestra of Renato Capriles: “Los Melódicos”, which gave him the greatest and best experience, given the popularity, prestige and discipline imposed by its director.
In 1986, as a soloist, he recorded his first LP of tropical music under the name “El Jr. de la música tropical” for the record label “Sur Americana del Disco”, , with the name “El Jr. de la música tropical.”
In December 1987 he received a wonderful offer from the record label “Top Hit (T.H.. ) and in 1988 he records his first LP, as a “sensual salsero” for Venezuela, titled “Amanecí Contigo” under the pen of José “El Flaco” Bermúdez, who is also the creator of the style that pushes him towards the international market, where all his songs hit with great acceptance and have his greatest impact in Peru (his second home as he usually calls it), starting his successful career as “Hildemaro, El Sonero Del Amor”.
In 1989 he recorded his second LP entitled “Sin Tabú”, which went gold a few weeks after its release, and this album took him back to Peru, where he is considered one of the main idols of Salsa Sensual. Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, United States, Europe (Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Switzerland, among others), Asia (Japan), among many other countries, have joined his successful career.
In 1990 he recorded his third album called “Romantic and Sensual”, consolidating himself as one of the best voices of Latin American and Caribbean Salsa, qualities that were also reflected in his fourth production entitled “Lo Mejor De Mí” in 1991.
In 1993 he recorded his fifth album under the name “Al Natural”.
In 1994 he was invited to participate in the recording of the album “Con Ganas” by the Cuban Issac Delgado, where he performed a duet of a song composed by José L. Cortes called “Que Pasa Loco”, which quickly became an international success and took him to other latitudes.
In 1995 he released his sixth production with the title “Lo Que Siento”. One year later he signed a contract with the Mexican label “Balboa Records”, where he recorded the album “La Mejor Salsa Con Hildemaro”.
In 1999, he was invited by the Venezuelan group “Melody Gaita”, along with other artists, to record a tribute song to his friend and colleague Oscar D’ León.
In 2001, “Orquesta La Constelación” decided to record an album with several artists, in which he participated with two (2) songs (Peruvian waltzes), “Cuando Llora Mi Guitarra”, in duet with Andy Montañez, and “Jamás Impedirás”, which allowed him to sound nationally and internationally.
In 2002, he is called by another Venezuelan group “Pajarito Vola Show”, along with other artists, this time to participate in a well-deserved tribute to Betulio Medina. In 2002 and 2003 he burst in the national and international radio stations with two (2) singles “Corazón Loco” and “El Celular”.
In 2016, he begins to sound again in the radio stations with the song “Que Voy a Hacer Sin su Amor”.
In addition to his talent to sing Salsa Romántica, he is recognized for his interpretation of the Bolero. And on stage he has shared the stage with artists of the stature of: Oscar De León, Tito Rojas, Tito Gómez, Paquito Guzmán, Andy Montañez, Maelo Ruiz, Viti Ruiz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, David Pavón, Ismael Miranda, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Tony Vega, Nino Segarra, José Alberto “El Canario”, among many others.
Among his many facets is his love for sports, especially volleyball, which he has practiced since he was very young. He is an honorary member of the FUCUFOCA Foundation, which has been responsible for the organization of the Festival de la Canción Inédita de Caripito for fifty-one (51) years. Faithful collaborator of the Friends of Palencia Foundation and sponsor of several institutions.
Through his foundation HH Productions, he has carried out social actions such as Collaboration in the construction of the Virgen del Rosario Church in Caripito;
Donations of medicines and food to the needy, assistance to sports teams with equipment and clothing, organization of charity concerts and support of the “Amigos de la Palencia” Foundation.
Through his foundation HH Productions, he has carried out social actions such as Collaboration in the construction of the church “Virgen del Rosario” in Caripito;
Donations of medicine and food to people in need, help to sports teams with equipment and clothing; Realization of benefit concerts and concerts of popular attraction in collaboration with the end of year festivities of his hometown.
He has always given value to new talents, helping them in their first steps with his advice and teachings, such as Angel “Tu Angel”, Hildemaro Jr. “La Continuación”, Gilberto Hugas, among others.
Between the years 2022 and 2023 he will celebrate his forty (40) uninterrupted years of artistic life, with a long international tour in countries such as: Colombia, Bolivia,
Peru, Panama, United States, Canada and Europe. He is now promoting the songs “Si Tú Te Vas” and “Amigos Especiales” from his new production, which he is preparing with his inseparable director and producer, José “El Flaco” Bermúdez.
Also Read: Carlos “Nene” Quintero comes from a family of musical prodigies
Master Timbalero Luisito Quintero
North America / United States / New Jersey
Master Timbalero Luisito Quintero hails from Caracas, Venezuela.
Where his father, a respected percussionist in his own right, tutored and encouraged his son to become one of music’s best percussionists.
Luisito comes from a long line of outstanding musicians including his uncle, Carlos Nene Quintero and cousin Robert Quintero.
He studied at the respected Orquesta Sinfonica de Venezuela (The Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela) and his percussion technique soon garnered attention from his colleagues.
Luisito joined the popular music ensembles Grupo Guaco and Oscar D’Leon, where he enjoyed worldwide acclaim.
Luisito Quintero has worked and recorded with many of music’s legends including The Rolling Stones, Vanessa Williams, Paul Simon, Santana, Jack De Johnette, David Sanborn, George Benson, Joe Sample, Bill Cosby, the late Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, Cachao, Eddie Palmieri, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Richard Bona, Ravi Coltrane, Nathalie Cole, Diana Krall, Giovanni Hidalgo, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Spanish Harlem, Willie Colon and countless others. One of his recent projects finds him as musical director for Louie Vega and the Elements of Life Band, as well as extensive work with Jack DeJohnette’s Latin Project. He has also had the privilege to tour and record with the Tony & Grammy award winning Jazz artist, Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Quintero himself has earned more than thirteen Grammy certificate awards for his participation in numerous recordings.
Luisito Quintero has two solo projects under Vega Records/BBE, entitled “Percussion Maddness” and “Percussion Maddness Revisited”.
Scheduled for release in the spring of 2013, his upcoming production entitled “3rd Element”, features guest artists Gato Barbieri, Oscar Hernandez, Doug Beavers, Richie Flores, Steve Khan, Reynaldo Jorge and his cousin Roberto Quintero. Currently, Luisito is the touring & recording percussionist for the legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea and for Spanish Harlem.
Colombia’s legendary Grupo Niche and its founder Jairo Varela
Grupo Niche was founded in 1979 in Bogotá, Colombia, by Jairo Varela, born on December 9, 1949 in Quibdó, Chocó, and Alexis Lozano, who played trombone and was an arranger, later leaving Grupo Niche to form Orquesta Guayacán de Colombia.
That same year, the group released its first album under the Daro label, entitled Al Pasito, with Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano as directors, Nicolás Cristancho “Macabí” on piano, Francisco García on bass, Luis Pacheco on congas and singers Jorge Bazán, Saulo Sánchez and Héctor Viveros.
Two years later, Niche’s second production, Querer es poder, was released. The song “Buenaventura y Caney”, included in the album, became the first composition of the group to become a hit in Colombia, said Jairo Varela.
In 1983 After a tour of the United States in which they performed before several colonies of Colombians and a short stay in Buenaventura, the group decided to settle in Cali in 1983.
In 1984 and after releasing the albums Prepárate (1982) and ¡Directo desde Nueva York! (1983), Jairo Varela composed and produced the song “Cali Pachanguero”, which brought the group to national and international stardom.
The song, included in the 1984 album No hay quinto malo, was chosen as the official song of the Cali Fair.
After the success of No hay quinto malo, the group began to tour constantly throughout Colombia and other Latin American countries, becoming the most important orchestra in Colombia.
The album Triunfo, Niche’s sixth discographic production, was released in
1985 The song “Ana Milé”, sung by Jairo Varela, became a radio hit. A year later the group incorporated the renowned Puerto Rican singer Tito Gómez, who had previously worked with La Sonora Ponceña and Ray Barretto, the godfather of Latin jazz.
The inclusion of Gómez further boosted the group’s career throughout Latin America. That same year the album Me huele a matrimonio was released, with Gómez and Varela sharing the lead vocal duties.
Later, another Puerto Rican joined the group, pianist Israel Tanenbaum, who would eventually leave the group to join a parallel group to Niche, Orquesta Guayacán.
Taking advantage of the group’s growing popularity, in 1987 an album of new versions of songs previously released by the group entitled Historia Musical was released.
That year, the director Jairo Varela fired a group of musicians due to their claims for high fees.
Varela hired some new musicians and recorded the album Tapando el hueco, a production that became an instant hit especially for the songs “Nuestro sueño” and “Cómo podré Disimular”.
After the release of the album, Grupo Niche became a sensation in Latin America, especially in countries such as Venezuela and Peru.
In 1989, the group gave a concert at the Campo de Marte in Lima, where it attracted more than one million people, a record number in that country.
To thank the Peruvian people for their incredible welcome, the band released the album Me sabe a Perú that same year. 1989 also saw the release of the album Sutil y contundente, a production that revalidated the group’s good form, especially with songs such as “Mi hijo y yo” and “Miserable”.
In 1990, after the departure of singer Tito Gómez, the group released the album Cielo de tambores, Grupo Niche’s most successful production to date. The same year of its release, Cielo de tambores ranked third on Billboard magazine’s tropical music chart in the United States.
The album’s success was based on the quality of compositions such as “Busca por dentro”, “Sin sentimiento”, “Debiera olvidarla” and “Cali ají” and the massive popularity of the song “Una aventura”. Charlie Cardona and Javier Vásquez provided the vocals for the album.
From that moment on, the group enjoyed international popularity, touring constantly in countries such as the United States, Peru, Mexico and Colombia, as well as making some presentations in Europe.
In 1992 the group released another successful album entitled Llegando al 100% with Charlie Cardona as lead vocalist. The songs “Hagamos lo que diga el corazón” and “No tuve a quién decirle amor” stand out from this production.
After the release of two compilation albums, the group released Etnia, an album recognized especially for the compositions “La Canoa ranchá” and “La magia de tus besos”. The vocalists on this production were Willy García, Álvaro Granobles and Javier Vásquez.
Jairo Varela was captured and imprisoned in 1995 after returning from a tour of the United States.
The musician was accused of front man and illicit enrichment for allegedly receiving payments from the account of a sister of drug trafficker Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, corresponding to the presentations of Grupo Niche at the Caseta Carnaval del Norte, an event where artists such as Sergio Vargas and Oscar D’León el sonero del mundo also performed.
His experience in jail was reflected in the lyrics of several songs on the next Niche album. 1997’s A prueba de fuego became another commercially successful production for the group.
The song “Eres”, sung by Willy García, achieved strong radio airplay and its video clip was equally popular.
A year later the album Señales de humo was released, which could not match the success of the previous production.
The group closed the 1990s with the release of the album A golpe de folklore, an album in which the group returned to its musical roots, exploring the folklore of the Pacific coast and emphasizing the “salsa brava dura”.
In 2001, Jairo Varela decided to move Grupo Niche’s headquarters to Miami in order to better focus on the group’s international touring demands.
That year the group published Propuesta, an album that was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the “Best Salsa Album” category, along with productions by prominent artists such as Isaac Delgado, Oscar D’León, Tito Puente, Gilberto Santa Rosa and Tito Rojas, great salsa artists.
In 2005 the group performs for the first time in Japan. That same year the album Alive was released.
In 2007 Varela suffers a heart attack that forces him to quit smoking. Two years later he released a new album entitled Robando sueños, promoted by the single “Un día después” with Elvis Magno on lead vocals. Jairo Varela stated that it was the best song he had ever written in his life.
The death of Jairo Varela.
On August 8, 2012 Jairo Varela suffered another heart attack in his apartment in southern Cali, dying at the age of 62, while he was writing a novel titled “Luces negras”, a story based on the Colombian Pacific that he was unable to finish.
After his death, a large number of songs were recorded on demos and written down on sheets of paper.
Some of these compositions were recorded and included in the posthumous 2013 album Tocando el cielo con las manos.
Yanila Varela, Jairo’s daughter, succeeded him as the group’s director.
At the end of 2014, the group shared the stage with the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In August 2015 José Aguirre took over the musical direction of Grupo Niche replacing Richie Valdés. That same year the idea of releasing an album with songs composed by Varela that failed to become hits arose.
The idea was finally embodied in a new record production released on October 2, 2015 titled 35 Aniversario, promoted with the single “Niche como yo”, a song composed by Jairo Varela in 1978.
The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album, a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Salsa Album and a Lo Nuestro Award nomination for Album of the Year in the Tropical category.
New stage 2020
Grupo Niche is currently formed by singers Alex Torres, Luis Araque and Alejandro Iñigo, percussionists Juanito Murillo, Fabio Celorio and Diego Camacho, pianist Víctor González, bassist Sergio Munera and musicians Edgardo Manuel, Edward Montoya, Carlos Zapata, Oswaldo Salazar and Paul Gordillo on wind instruments, under the direction of José Aguirre. At the end of the year, Grupo Niche won a Latin Grammy award for the best salsa album of 2020 with “40” and in March 2021 they will win the Anglo Grammy.