Search Results for: Latin Music

Who is Fausto Cuevas

Fausto Cuevas is a bandleader and percussionist from the state of Texas who is currently leading the orchestra Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna, which has been playing in a large number of nightclubs located in the state of California, where Fausto currently resides.

For its part, Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna is a salsa group whose purpose is to take the old Latin genres and provide a modern twist to them. While it is true that their main genre is and has been salsa, its members also experiment a lot with Cuban guaguancó, yambú, cumbia, son, cha cha chá, among others.

We are proud to have such an artist in our June edition and hope that this conversation will grace all our readers.

Fausto’s beginnings in music

Fausto grew up in Brownsville, a village in Texas very close to the southern border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where his father is from. Due to this territorial proximity to Mexico, the artist was always exposed to ranchera instruments and, in particular, drums. The latter would be very important in what would become his professional future.

At the age of 11, he entered the public school system and was assigned to play a snare drum in a symphonic style. It can be said that this is when his fascination for this type of instrument began and continues till this very day.

In fact, Fausto claimed to have not been interested in guitar, piano or bass. He was always very clear that his aspirations were focused on drums, and percussion.

These first steps led him to specialize in playing American music, rock and jazz. Until then, he had not had any contact with Latin or Afro-Cuban music, but that would eventually change.

Moving from Boston to California

Fausto tells us that his biggest dream was always to go to New York, since the music scene was vibrant there at that time, but he could never do it due to some personal issues he encountered, such as the birth of his daughter. This is what made him move to Los Angeles and give up on that dream.

When we asked him if he still wanted to live in ”The Big Apple”, he told us that he had already found his place in California and his career had already taken root in this part of the United States.

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna was created in a very particular way. One day, Fausto received a call from the department at Berkeley that does concerts for the Boston community and was asked if he had a salsa band to play at the Tito Puente Latin Music Series. He said yes to everything, although he had nothing prepared at the time.

What he did have was a group of friends who were related to music and happened to live in Boston. They were all so well-suited and had so many plans that things worked out in an extraordinary way. That was 25 years ago and they have stayed together to this day despite the obstacles.

Relationships with other artists and genres

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna have performed and toured with stars such as Marc Anthony, Jose Alberto ”El Canario”, Celia Cruz, Julio Iglesias, Santana, Tito Nieves, Tito Puente Jr., Stavie Wonder Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, among others.

One thing that Fausto feels he has learned from these artists is to be identifiable as a Latino in American genres. He says it is very interesting to create things, always identifying with Latin rhythms when playing soul, R&B or pop.

Having had so much contact with all these musical luminaries has helped him to rediscover himself and be much more creative when mixing Latin and American elements. In this sense, knowing the roots of the genres he plays has helped him a lot to know how to link both worlds.

It is precisely the knowledge of these roots which has made Fausto Y la Moderna stand out among other Californian groups.

Future projects

As to future projects, Fausto Y la Moderna plans to release a few singles this year and record the rest of the album in order to release the whole album in 2024.

He also pointed out that he is about to release an album with Gonzalo Grau Y La Clave Secreta, another group in which he is also involved, so he invites everyone to listen to his music through networks and digital platforms.

Read also: Great conversation with New York singer Ralphy Ray

A little of her story

Allyson Briggs ”La Rubia de La Salsa” is a bandleader and singer who has earned a lot of recognition in recent years. Currently, this talented woman leads the Fleur Seule orchestra, whose main musical genres are salsa, jazz, swing and ballroom dancing.

Also known as ”The Glamorous Girl of Jazz” is able to sing in seven different languages and several of her covers have been written by artists such as Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Marc Anthony, Héctor Lavoe, among others.

We feel very fortunate to have been able to interview Allyson, who has kindly agreed to tell us about her life and career so that readers of International Salsa Magazine can get to know her better.

How she became interested in music

When we hit the subject of her childhood, Allyson told us that her parents always played classical music. ”We listened to a lot of the classics, big bands, swing, blues, rock and roll, jazz, opera, among other genres,” she said. That’s how her love for these styles began, but the case of Latin music was different.

Her taste for Latin music is because she is married to a Puerto Rican, so she feels her husband and her in-laws have influenced her to end up falling in love with salsa, Puerto Rican music and its culture in general.

This inclusion of Latin rhythms has made her Fleur Seule orchestra collect a lot of fans who simply want to dance to these genres and, some of them, remember their roots.

How she learned to sing in Spanish

Long before she learned Spanish, Allyson began to learn German, which she considers her second language. This interest came from the German roots in her family, whose past always seemed very interesting to her. The same happened with French, as the artist also has French ancestors.

In the case of Spanish, she had some kind of contact with the language at school, but its actual use began when she got married and had to communicate in that way at home. In addition to that, Allyson has a lot of friends in New York, who have helped her a lot to understand certain things about the language.

Hispanic artists she likes the most are Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz and Javier Solis. As for covers, she commented that she always tries very hard to understand what a composer wants to say with his lyrics in order to make the interpretation as faithful as possible.

Why is she called ”La Rubia de La Salsa”?

The name ”La Rubia de La Salsa” was not invented by Allyson herself, but by some concertgoers when she sang at La Marqueta, Spanish Harlem. The point is that no one could pronounce Fleur Seule, so they opted for something that everyone could pronounce with no problem.

Upon hearing it for the first time, she realized that this nickname captured her essence perfectly due to her physique, her costumes and the type of music she makes. For the same reason, she is still called by that name to this day.

Fleur Seule

Allyson revealed that she chose the name ”Fleur Seule” for her orchestra in honor of the French language. In addition to that, it sounds unique and elegant to anyone who hears it.

As for the beginning of her orchestra, she told that she met a guitarist with whom she started doing some musical projects. This same person provided her with certain recommendations in terms of singing and even language, which were taken into account until she was able to assemble a complete group.

Activity during and after the pandemic

Allyson told us that the pandemic gave her the opportunity to meet multiple people through social networks due to online concerts she offered twice a week. When things began to return to normal, there were many fans who told her that they got to know her music through digital platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

At the moment, she has some performances planned in Puerto Rico and the state of Florida after the success he had the last time she went to those places. He also mentioned that she would like to go to Colombia and Japan, as both countries are big salsa fans.

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La Poderosa 360

La Poderosa 360 is a radio and digital television station that is broadcast from Puerto Rico, specifically from the city of Arecibo, which is tuned in 24 hours a day through its official website. It offers Latin music, variety, preaching shows and much more.

In this edition, we were fortunate to interview its marketing director, Khary Ríos, and R&R Media Group’s president, Mayra Rivera, who were kind enough to tell us a little about the station, its function, its emergence, its programming, among other important aspects.

Beginnings

Once the introductions are completed, Khary Ríos went on to explain that La Poderosa 360 emerged amid the pandemic. Their objective was to open an FM station with local coverage, but then they decided to take advantage of their overseas businesses and advertising to launch the product in online format. Much to their surprise, it turned out to be very successful and popular among a vast audience.

Later, Mayra added that they had a wrestling company, but everything went down with the health emergency caused by COVID-19, so they had to find a way to reinvent themselves. That is when Khary had the idea to create something that could be enjoyed by the public from the comfort of the home. 

As for her work experience applied to the station, Rivera told us that she has a master’s degree in marketing, is a spokeswoman for a university and was the rector of an educational institution. All this made her get used to interviews and, now, she applies learning learning on her segment called ”Nosotras Sí Podemos”, which seeks to empower women and give them required tools to have a better quality of life.

For his part, Khary is currently finishing her studies in marketing and advertising, and he is also applying his knowledge to the company.

La Poderosa 360’s main mission and programming

When asked to talk about the main mission and programming, Ríos said he was very happy with the results obtained. In fact, they are already trying to conquer new markets such as fans of regional Mexican music and other genres in vogue.

They started the project by focusing on salsa, but they included reggaeton due to its great popularity in Puerto Rico. Of course, they care much that the lyrics do not contain bad words or those that are too offensive to certain audiences. Occasionally, they broadcast boleros, but the strength of La Poderosa 360 is tropical music, which will always have priority over other styles.

Sustainability

On the subject of sustainability, Khary Ríos told us that sponsors come on their own. ”At the beginning, it was complicated and we had to do a job of positioning the brand, but over time the sponsors have arrived, invested little by little and stayed indefinitely” said the marketing director.

Mayra added that, despite the change they made from the wrestling channel to the station, there were many loyal customers who continued to believe in them and maintain their support no matter what changes they had made. It was the investment of those customers and the one made by Khary and Mayra that got the project afloat.

They are very happy because many of the people who supported them understood the modifications. In fact, the host of one of the show ”Domingo de Alabanzas” comes from the wrestling scene and they are exploring the possibility of giving space to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) in La Poderosa 360, which makes it clear that those involved have adapted to the situation as well as possible.

For the time being, they are very comfortable in this musical atmosphere and do not think they will change it in the future. This new formula has worked well for them.

Countries with the best ratings

According to the data they have collected, the best ratings are in Puerto Rico, Florida (USA), Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Spain and Mexico. Colombia, Venezuela and Peru always ask for salsa, while Mexico asks for a lot of reggaeton. Puerto Rico is divided with salsa and reggaeton depending on the day.

In the state of Florida, you hear a lot of timba and Cuban music in general due to the large Cuban diaspora who lives there.

The only requirement demanded by La Poderosa 360 to play a song is that it has a ”clean” version, since curses and vulgarity are not accepted in the programming. In that sense, Mayra pointed out that there are song submissions that had to be returned due to the excessive amount of bad words, but if it is a reasonable amount, Khary can work with that material to censor the few bad words that are present.

Collaborations with other broadcasters and platforms

Both Khary and Mayra emphasized that they had a hard time taking the station to where it is, so they are very careful when choosing with whom to collaborate, as there are many people doing programming that they determine is vulgar and they do not want to get mixed up in that type of content.

They have done collaborations with several networks and have knocked on many doors, but they point out that the professional relationship that continued to this day has been with Edwin ”El Calvito” Reyes, who believed in the project from the beginning. Khary describes him as a serious man and a gentleman in every sense of the word.

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