|
DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS Merry Christmas and Happy New Year |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| DECEMBER 2023 FESTIVALS | ||
|
|
 |
Euroson Latino World Salsa ChampionshipDec 04 / 09 2023 Hotel Grand Oasis Cancún Blvd. Kukulcan Km 16.5-Lt45-47, Zona Hotelera Cancun, Mexico, 77500 |
|
|
 |
Feria de Cali 2023Dec 25 / 30 2023 Parque de Las Banderas Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia |
Martin Franco is a talented New York’s producer, sound engineer, composer, vocalist, percussionist and saxophonist who has had a big trajectory in music, which he shared with us in a half-hour conversation we had.
The artist of Colombian parents has been kind enough to reveal some of the most important details of his artistic career and the process by which he has managed to become the professional in the music field he is today, so we hope the information revealed here will be liked by those who usually follow our publications.
Something important we did not know about Martín is that, although both his parents are Colombian, they moved to Mexico when he was little and he spent the first eight years of his childhood in that country, before moving to Laredo, Texas.
At his new school in the US, he and his classmates were allowed to choose the instrument they liked most to learn to play it and the boy chose the saxophone, as he thought it was ”the most beautiful” at the time.
When Martin began his training, he discovered that he had a real taste for music and began to see it as a pleasant pastime and not an obligation, which led his mother to buy him his own saxophone and tell him to ”throw forward to music” if that was what he liked.
When he turned 12, the family moved back to New York, where Martin started to take music more seriously and meet people related to the industry. That was when percussion and tropical music also caught his attention, as Texas was packed with Mexican cumbia and other such rhythms.
On the other hand, New York had an immense Puerto Rican community and even his own aunts had married Puerto Ricans. Since this was the dominant community in the city in those years, Martin began hearing the conga, the keyboard, the trombone, the timbales and all the music made by the Fania. It was then when his musical tastes and plans began to change.
When he arrived in New York, Martin was not old enough to start a professional career, so he was engaged to play with friends in the streets, houses, apartments and private parties. However, this time helped him a lot to gain experience and his family was a great support in all this.
Martín, his family and some of his friends used to go to see live Latin artists and orchestras such as Celia Cruz, Héctor Lavoe, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaría, among others. This also represented part of his motivation to do salsa in the future, although he also liked American jazz, which features the saxophone, his favorite instrument.
The mix of Latin and American genres resulted in the music that became popular in those years, and the music Martin makes today has much of what he learned back then. It was a mix of Caribbean tropical rhythms, jazz and American funk.
The musician considers that American and Latin rhythms have complimented each other over the years and he always tries to unite them in his performances, just like English and Spanish.
The name ”Mambo Soul Band” is a mixture of ”mambo”, which means ”to greet someone” or ”to communicate” in some African dialects, and ”soul” in English. This resulted in something like ”to communicate from the soul”, a concept that fascinated Martin. At the same time, both are the names for well-known musical genres, the one Latino and the other American.
He selected these genres as the name of his band because they contain what influenced him musically speaking. Latin jazz, soul and funk were the genres on which Martin based his songwriting for the band he was creating and he hired musicians who had experience with these rhythms. And in case they do not master any of them, he teaches them.
According to Martín, guitarists and bassists are the ones who usually have more problems when playing or learning to play these genres, while a percussionist usually has a greater dominion over these areas.
Another variant of the same project also led by Martín is Mambo Soul Jazz, which offers music and songs much more inclined to the American way. Mambo Soul Jazz is more aimed at quiet events where people do not usually dance much and just want background music to enjoy the evening.
The choose of one or the another will vary depending on the public of the day, although the basis of everything is always Latin music.
In the view of Martin based on his experience, one of the most challenging things for him and his musicians is the economic issue. At the level where they are, they do not make big profits from their work, which contrasts to the high cost of living in California.
This situation has led many of the musicians to have parallel jobs that allow them subsistence since it is very difficult to make a living from music. The only alternative is to constantly tour with famous groups, but not everyone is willing to do that, so they prefer to work on other things.
In his particular case, he can afford to live only from music because he is the leader of the orchestra and the one who is in charge of getting contracts and shows for the group.
What we took from the conversation
From the beginning, we have noticed that Martin is a man absolutely passionate about his Latin roots and all that comes with them, especially the musical part. He always stressed that everything he does is for his love of music.
It is our pleasure to have the opportunity to talk with this great exponent of Latin and Afro-Caribbean music and we offer him our best wishes for success from now on.
Omslig D’ León enters the world of musical art hand in hand with his father Oscar D’ León, who works functionally as a dancer, choreographer, percussionist, background singer and singer, this young Venezuelan talent has already traveled the world in its breadth and length, through almost all the countries of North America, Europe and Latin America.
“He recently toured Europe for more than two months, including performances in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Istanbul”.
“And with you, the sonero of the world, Oscar D’ León. Any Venezuelan or fan of the emblematic salsero from Caracas would be thrilled to hear such a presentation, but when you carry his blood, the adrenaline is even greater. His son, Omslig, explained it this way.
It was inevitable that I would become a musician. It’s not just my father, Oscar, it’s my mother, it’s my whole family that has music in their blood,” said the son of one of the most important salsa musicians in history.
Omslig, who began his musical career at the age of 16 as a lectern player in his father’s orchestra, with which he toured the world for 23 years, was in Panama to promote his solo career, which recently took him on a European tour that included Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Istanbul, among other countries.
He will stay a while longer in the isthmus, a country that he says has treated him wonderfully, and then he will travel to Peru and Colombia. “People will think that I am 100% influenced by my father.
Not everything is rosy.
Being the son of Oscar D’ León can be very good, but it can also be difficult. He recalled that in the past there were people who “wanted to throw his last name in his face.
“Don’t think that because you’re Oscar’s son it’s going to be easy. I don’t think you sing the same as your father. Things like that have been said to me, but I have moved forward and thank God with his support and a unique style,” he explained.
For those who think that everything has been handed to him on a silver platter, he wanted to leave this anecdote from when he was in Oscar D’ León’s band. “We were in the Canary Islands, we had already finished the show and the next day, very early, we had to take the ferry to another island.
I fell asleep and my dad dropped me off. In the lobby he left me a note saying ‘you have to learn to be responsible’ and that marked me. Then I was able to make it, but I had to pay for everything.
¿Reencuentro de Leones?
“A few days ago my dad called me to tell me that why don’t we do something together and the truth is that it would be great. We’ll see, but it was there and something important is going to happen,” he explained.
For now, Omslig is concentrating on his work as a soloist, with several confirmed performances, and continuing his work as a father, already with three children and happily married.
“I will continue to sing my father’s songs, I will continue to keep his name high, but with the tasty and fusion style of Omslig D’ León,” concluded the 42-year-old native of Caracas.
In a few words
One place: Milan, Italy.
One food: lasagna.
Artist: Luis Enrique.
A person you admire: Will Smith.
A musician: Robert Vilera.
Hobby: Painting.
Why Omslig: Oscar, Moises (paternal grandfather) and Ligia (mother).
Also Read: Freddy de Jesús Ortega Ruiz “Coco & su Sabor Matancero”
Sources:
| DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| NOVEMBER 2023 FESTIVALS | ||
|
|
 |
Memories Miramar La Habana HotelNov 19 2023 – Nov 24 2023 4H56+4VQ, Quinta avenida entre 72 y 76 Fraccionamiento Miramar, La Habana 11300, Cuba |
|
|
|
BIG Salsa Festival Caribbean CancunNov 02 2023 – Nov 06 2023 368C+H7, km 17, Blvd. Kukulcan, Zona Hotelera, 77500 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico
Tijuana Salsa Bachata Kizomba FestivalNov 09 2023 – Nov 13 2023 Hotel Gamma De Fiesta Inn Otay Tijuana , Mexico, 22430 |
|
|
 |
Uruguay Salsa CongressNov 21 2023 – Nov 26 2023 Punta del Este Convention Center Punta del Este, Uruguay |
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”.
