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La Muñeca de La Salsa or La Chica del Bling

For the second time, we have here Puerto Rican artist Almodovar. She is a salsa singer and other genres, composer and dancer. Pleasure to meet you, Melina, how are you doing? Glad to have you here.

Thank you, Karina. Thank you for the time and I’m super pumped to be here with you for international salsa magazine (laughs).

Melina Almodóvar is a salsa singer, composer, and dancer

Why do they call you La Muñeca de la Salsa or La Chica del Bling?

La Chica del Bling comes from maestro Bobby Cruz, who did a song with me in 2016. We made a recording that was called Salsa Factory Bunch. He wrote that song specifically for me, which was called El Bling. That’s how he starts calling me La Chica del Bling and, as there are so many people who know the trajectory of Mr. Bobby Cruz, those who know that he wrote the song for me identify me as La Chica del Bling. That is something very special for me, since he is one of my salsa icons from day one.

In the case of La Muñeca de La Salsa, when I moved here to Miami, I was looking for a nickname similar to El Caballero de La Salsa or El Niño Bonito de La Salsa. Seeing how my name is like that of another renowned singer in Puerto Rico Melina Leon, I wanted to find another name that would identify me and noticed that many Latino men called me muñeca (doll in English). That’s how I came up with the name La Muñeca de La Salsa.

Your family has always been closely related to arts. Your father was a singer, your mother was a dancer and your grandmother was an artisan. What did you get from each of them?

That’s an excellent question. I’m often asked that, but not that way. My dad was a bolero singer and like ballads and old music like Camilo Sesto, and it was thanks to one of his songs that I was named Melina. He also liked Marco Antonio Muñiz and all the singers from that era. He would go to bars to sing until five in the morning and he used to take me to these gatherings in Puerto Rico. He always had his guitar in his car and was invited to parties to sing because he did it for free.

My mom was a flamenco dancer, she studied dance all her life and wanted me to dance too. So, she put me in jazz ballet classes since I was little. I studied with a lady whose name was Sophy Sanfiorenzo, who was also Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Los Menudo’s teacher of that time. She was very well known in the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Dancing was something secondary for me, but my mom wanted me to take it more seriously. At the end, we made a deal and agreed that I would study salsa and Caribbean dancing.

My grandmother always wanted me to be an artist and pushed me to be what I am today. She does a lot of crafts such as sculptures and paintings. I didn’t inherit those skills (laughs). My aunt is an architect and also paints very well, while another aunt is also very good with crafts. My family is very artistic and I followed that road.

Melina Almodóvar is very proud to be boricua

Her referents

I understand that your grandmother gave you some cassettes with songs by Celia Cruz and Rubén Blades, did these artists influence you or were there others?

My grandmother gave me a Rubén Blades CD and my aunt was the one who introduced me to salsa music thanks to her taste for this genre. Most of the family liked bohemian songs made by Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, Bobby Capó, Sylvia Rexach, among others. My grandmother and the rest of my relatives liked bolero a lot. In my case, I like bolero very much and I have done concerts dedicated to this genre, but what moves and motivates me is salsa.

You always listened to tropical music as a kid in Puerto Rico, but I understood that I was cut out to sing salsa when started studying it and understand it deeply. In high school, I came to sing pop, jazz, country, merengue, bachata and many other genres. However, salsa is what I like the most.

You described your move from Puerto Rico to Memphis as a culture shock. What was the most shocking thing about that time?

It’s one thing to move from Puerto Rico to Los Angeles or New York or Florida where there are a lot of Latinos. When I moved, I was very young and went to live in the southern United States, where they listen to country and blues. For me, the most shocking thing was the culture. In Puerto Rico, everyone talks on the front doors and there was a lot of closeness. When we moved to Tennessee, we didn’t know anyone, so we had to start creating a new life and finding our way in this new city.

Melina Almodóvar performing at North Beach Bandshell

You were part of Orquesta Caliente. According to many, that was the first successful Latin salsa orchestra in Memphis. What do you think was the formula for success of this orchestra?

It was a combination of many things because I have been part of many groups and tried to organize orchestras in different places. After that experience, I tried to start an orchestra in Nashville, Tennessee, for a while and tried to start another one in Atlanta, Georgia.

When I was 17 years old, I was called and asked if I knew how to sing salsa, to which I replied yes. That’s when i was given a cassette tape with several songs made by Tito Puente, Ruben Blades, Celia Cruz, among others. I went home and started writing the songs down letter by letter to learn them by heart and audition for the orchestra. That day, I realized that all the musicians were American and extremely talented. I was 17 years old at the time and had no idea who I was playing with, which led me to look up their histories and they were really well trained and talented. Almost all of them were professors at the University of Memphis at the time, but they wanted to form a salsa orchestra.

So, we started playing in different places. Given that there was no internet and no social media, we had to create our own flyers by hand, make copies, go to the houses and put up them there. The first day we played, not a lot of people showed up, but it was a good start for us. After three months, not one more body fitted there.

For me, it was a beautiful experience because we started playing everywhere and were at plenty of festivals in South Florida. We were so into what we were doing and all the members wanted the music to work out spectacularly, so we were united in a common objective. I think that was the key to our success.

Tell me about the Hollywood Salsa Fest

We have been doing this festival for about seven years now and it was a dream come true because I never thought there would be more than 10,000 people there for throughout the day. It is a culmination of all the work we have done since I came to Miami. It was a great achievement.

This Hollywood Salsa Fest of this year included Maestro Charlie Aponte, Timba Live, Salsa Ballet de Cali, Maestro Bobby Cruz, Tito Puente Junior and many others.

Melina Almodóvar next to Oscar D’ León

This is our conversation with Marcus Hernández

We are here with the musical director of the Orchestra Fuego Marcus Hernandez. Nice to meet you, Mr. Hernandez. It’s a real pleasure to have you here.

Thank you. This is a real pleasure and a blessing to be here with you.

Marcus Hernández is the musical director of Orchestra Fuego

According to your website, there are many references to fire and colors red and yellow. Why hoose the name Fuego and use these tones?

Well, I had an orchestra in New York during the 1970’s whose name was Fuego 77. Fire and candela always had much to do with my style. When I moved to Florida, I launched an orchestra and decided to give it that name.

One of your latest singles is called Candela. Is it also to do with all this?

Yes, it is. I am always doing many things at the same time. When I was going to compose the song, I called my friend Carlos Infante, the guy from Miami who does all the arrangements for the orchestra. Since I grew up in New York, I grew up listening to that style of music in salsa.

Your website also reveals that your orchestra has a total of 12 members. Do you still have that number of people?

Most of the guys are still working with me. It is a blessing for me to have most of the guys who started the orchestra working with me. I want to stress that they are not only musicians, but active members of the orchestra. If you want to hire a musician, you call a guy and explain to him what he has to do, but my guys are members. We are always in touch and ask for feedback among ourserves. I think they are part of the orchestra, which is like a family.

Some of the guys leave and come back, but the vast majority of them have stayed in the group for seven years.

Marcus Hernández on stage

Of course, most of the musicians change groups a lot, but that’s not the case with you. Most of them are permanent members, right?

Of course! If my musicians get any job and we don’t have any performance for now, they can go work with other groups. However, when we have something to do, they know they have to play with us. The musicians know that I am always seeking the best for them. When we get contracts, we take care of them.

We have a team of managers that includes Tony de la Boga, Maria Caban, and my wife Silvia Hernandez. We always ensure that they have food, drink, water and everything they need to work. When we travel, they always come with us and we take care of the orchestra. That is a rare thing that almost no one does.

How have you kept such a large group together?

We always look for opportunities to play. We are the orchestra that plays the most throughout Florida. Our team of managers is always looking for places for us to play. I think that’s an example of the orchestra’s leadership, which I always take care of.

I am always looking for the best events for my musicians. They know I always have them on my mind and that’ss why they have stayed with me so long. They can play with other groups, but they know they must always be available for the Orchestra Fuego.

New projects (título 3)

I have understood that you are recording your next musical work and a new music video, could you tell us a little about that?

On April 18, our sixth album Candela was released along with its video. We have got a lot of attention these days because we have also released our second Christian song. We are not a Christian orchestra, but most of the guys are Christians. And then every once in a while, we do one or another Christian song, like one we did in a salsa version, that is to say, our style. Many churches have called us to do events with them because they have liked our work a lot.

Many artists prefer to release one song at a time because they say that releasing a full album is no longer profitable for them. In that sense, how are you working?

If you want to draw the attention of large companies like Sony, singles are good for artists who already have a career, but if you are a not so well known orchestra, they don’t take you seriously. So, these companies are looking for orchestras with full albums. We always make full albums containing 10 songs. In fact, our last album has 14.

Marcus Hernández when Orchestra Fuego won its Platinum Award Trophy from the LIT Talent Awards

Among the many recordings you have made, I noticed that you did a tribute to Celia Cruz. What does this artist represent for you?

We have always liked her style, which included the costumes, the show on stage, among other things. I have seen her many times, in fact, I recorded my first album with Fania Records. So, I always saw her when it was her turn to get into the studio.

The orchestra Fiego’s vision was to be a show band, which means that we were not only musicians, we are also dancers. One thing people like a lot is that we use uniforms and are always well dressed. Another thing people also like is that the guys dance and have choreographies.

We played with Grupo Niche at the House of Blues before the pandemic, something that only those who have a long career in music can do. We have been able to play there thanks to our talent and characteristics.

On your website, you talk about old school salsa. From your point of view, what are the differences between old school salsa and modern salsa?

I think modern or romantic salsa is not part of my style. Our new album include several romantic songs, but my style will always be New York City Salsa, which was created for the dancer.

I saw that you already have dates to perform in the United States. Do you have any international tour planned?

Yes, we are going to tour with Grupo Niche. We are planning to go to Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, etc. Diego Galé is also going to play with us and we are also going to tour with him in Mexico and other countries.

What formula do you feel has not worked for you?

We tried to experiment with romantic music, but those songs did not have the results that we expected, which tells us that people want to hear us play salsa brava. We made the cessary changes in the fifth and sixth albums which are based on what works for us.

Lead singer Miguel Guerrero, and backup vocalists Kharina Rovira, and Betsy Lopez

Your website and social networks

Website: orchestrafuego.com

Facebook: Orchestra Fuego

Instagram: Orchestra Fuego

Where did Ismael Miranda’s artistic nickname “El Niño Bonito de la Salsa” (The Pretty Boy of Salsa), with which he became known, come from?

I liked to dress up and look nice for the presentations on one occasion I went to the hairdresser’s and bought a suit for the show when I arrived at the hotel, Johnny Pacheco said to me: ‘How nice, the pretty boy is late! As always.

And from that day on they called me “El niño bonito de la salsa” (the pretty boy of salsa). Pacheco gave the nicknames to everyone in the Fania All Stars.

Johnny Pacheco had a lot of faith when he came up with the idea of making this movie and it was a success.

People vibrated with our songs and we took advantage of 4 emblematic concerts to record it.

That’s how we have to walk through life. It is enough to know that we are doing things right to reap triumphs. Said the trumpet player and composer.

Perico also took the opportunity to tell where all that tasty Caribbean rhythm comes from, of which they are such good exponents. “The folklore of Latin American music was born in Africa”. He recalled the first time he arrived with La Fania to this continent. He still has in his mind the gesture of the Africans when he saw people from other parts of the world playing the congas like masters. We all felt proud, he said.

Miranda also recalled that on August 6, 1980, he arrived for the first time in Barranquilla to present a concert with Héctor Lavoe.

“We were used to performing on huge stages and singing with a well achieved sound; in Barranquilla there was nothing like that, but something magical happened, the affection and joy of the people infected us.

Hector and I gave a show of height, at the end we realized that we enjoyed it completely with all the people of Barranquilla.

During the conference, Perico Ortiz explained why he never recorded an album with Las Estrella de la Fania.

“I never recorded an album, but I participated in many concerts. At that moment I felt in my heart that it was time to sing and I told Jerry Masucci to give me the opportunity, but he did not see me as an artist, but as a trumpet player and arranger, so I decided to retire from La Fania and concentrated on recording my first album as a soloist in 1977 titled My Own Image”.

Ismael was born in Aguada, in western Puerto Rico, but as a child his family settled in New York. He began singing in English in school plays when he was only eight years old, and was even part of a children’s group called “Little Junior in the Class Mate”.

Soon after, he began taking singing lessons at a music school at 46th and Broadway, and then to improve his singing skills he studied with a music teacher recommended to him by Tito Rodriguez.

The environment in which he grew up helped him cultivate his love for music. First he wanted to be a percussionist and not a vocalist. That is why at the age of 10 he told his mother of his desire to buy a conga. Later he acquired a bongo, which resounded throughout the neighborhood. He got to play the conga in Andy Harlow’s sextet, and was part of the Sexteto Pipo y su Combo. But he finally turned to singing, for which he was assisted by Ismael Rivera.

He made his first recording in 1967 with José Luis Pastrana Santos, a musician, composer and timbalero from Santurce, known as Joey Pastrana, on the album Let’s Ball.

This album, recorded for the Cotique label, contains Ismael Miranda’s first big hit, the song “Rumbón melón”.

Facebook: Ismael Miranda