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Search Results for: Latin Tribute

How Birdland began operating and its role in Latin music

What is Birdland?

Birdland has been the place in which many of the most important New York’s stars of the show were born and has represented the beginning of many artistic careers that have achieved worldwide fame, so this spectacular venue deserves all the recognition and fame that it has accumulated over the years. 

This is a jazz club that began operations in December 1949 in Manhattan and was closed for a few years until its reopening in 1986. What happened was that a second location of the same name was opened in Manhattan and was not too far from the land on which the original club operated. Today, Birdland operates at the same facility as the headquarters of the famous local newspaper The New York Observer in the past. 

Stage at Birdland
Stage of the jazz club Birdland

Story about how the idea to create Birdland was born  

During the 1920s, there were a lot of musicians who had to move to New York City because it was there that the biggest jazz movement of the moment was being produced. It could be said that the birthplace of the most famous jazz styles of the last decades was the Big Apple and its surroundings. 

It was there where and when the musical career of Charlie Parker, affectionately known as Bird by most of his fans, emerged. Some time later, it would be this brilliant artist and talented saxophonist who would get one of the most popular jazz clubs in the city and the country in general named after him. This would be one of the many tributes received by Parker before and after his death in 1955. 

Once Birdland was opened in the late 1940s, the saxophonist began performing there on a regular basis along with many other music legends of the moment such as Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Lennie Tristano, Maxie Kaminsky and many more. Although Birdland was named to honour Charlie, that did not keep the artist from having some friction with Oscar Goodstein, one of the founders of the venue, who said that Parker was constantly asking for too much money. As the story goes, this was the reason why the musician did not perform as many times as expected. 

On the facade of the club, a neon sign could read Birdland, Jazz Corner of the World, making it clear what its customers would find once they entered the facility. Once inside, there was space for approximately 500 visitors and a full orchestra to lighten the mood that night. Birdland included a very long bar, spacious tables, stands with a wide variety of products, folding chairs, among other things. At that time, customers only had to pay a $1.50 fee to enjoy everything that the nightclub had to offer.   

It went on to have so much prestige that it had among its visitors Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Gary Cooper, among other personalities from the entertainment world. It has taken so much popularity in those years that composer George Shearing dedicated one of his greatest creations entitled Lullaby of Birdland to it, which was also inspired by Charlie Parker as well as the name of the place.  

Tommy Potter, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane at Birdland
Tommy Potter, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane performing at Birdland in 1951

The role of Birdland in Latin music 

Just as Birdland contributed to the emergence of important careers in the jazz music scene, it also did the same with a good number of Latin music singers who saw this corner of New York as an opportunity to make their art known to other audiences. One of them was world-famous bandleader, composer and musician Tito Puente, who performed at the venue on several occasions and improvised many sets with Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton. 

There is also the case of Tito Rodríguez, who made use of his great talent to record a spectacular live album entirely dedicated to Birdland and whose name was Live at Birdland. In addition, he featured incredible collaborations with great musicians such as Clark Terry, Al Conh, Zoot Sims, among others. 

Another of the great Latin music artists who came to perform at this venue was Cuban bandleader, arranger and trumpet player Chico O’Farrill. The artist played and recorded at the club on a wekly basis about the time he already had his own orchestra called Afrocuban Jazz Orchestra. Arturo O’Farrill, worthy son of his father, also performs regularly at Birdland with his orchestra The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. 

Announcement about Tito Puente's concert
Announcement of Tito Puente’s show at Birdland in 1999

Maestro Mario Ortiz Jr. Living legend of Latin music, a musician out of series

Then professionally with Tito Allen and Gunda Merced (Salsa Fever).

In 1977 he started with his father at the Caribe Hilton Hotel accompanying local and international figures.

In 1979 with Willie Rosario with whom he recorded 3 albums.  He directed the album Nuevo Horizontes which featured Gilberto Santa Rosa and Tony Vega.

In 1984 he started with Mario Ortiz y Su Orquesta with whom he recorded six albums.

Mario Ortiz Jr. studied at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music.

Mario Ortiz Jr. studied at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in music. From 1991 - 1994 he traveled extensively with Juan Luis Guerra.
Mario Ortiz All Star Band

From 1991 – 1994 he traveled extensively with Juan Luis Guerra.

Mario Jr. has participated in recordings for Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tony Vega, Oscar de Leon, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, Tommy Olivencia, Andy Montañez, and Willie Chirino among others.  He has accompanied artists such as Juan Gabriel, Raphael, Donna Summers, Gloria Estefan, Rocio Durcal, Julio Iglesias, José Luis Rodríguez, Frank Valli, Vic Damone, among other international artists.

His albums 45 Aniversario (2010), 50 Aniversario (2014), and 55 Aniversario (2019) have been nominated for a Latin Grammy.  For the past 23 years, he has worked in the public school system as a music teacher in Miami, Florida.

The late musician Mario Ortiz opened the doors of the artistic world to figures such as salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa. His contributions as musical director, instrumentalist, and arranger marked the careers of many artists, who did not hesitate to donate their talent for the making of the album Mario Ortiz All-Star Band, as a tribute to his 45 years of career.

Mario Ortiz, the son, summoned musicians and singers who shared with his father at a time when salsa was at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s.

The musician also managed to bring together Cheo Feliciano, Tony Vega, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Ismael Miranda, Richie Ray, Bobby Cruz, Roberto Roena, Andy Montañez, Elías Lopés and others in this record production.

“We recorded a tribute album, based on my father’s 1963 orchestra. Everyone told me that this group was ahead of its time. Some time ago, Gilberto gave me the LP On the Road (the orchestra’s first album), and that inspired me to make the record.

The first person I called was Elías Lopés and he told me to call everybody and that I would be surprised. And so it was because everyone was willing”, explained Mario Ortiz, son, in a press conference, attended by about twenty artists who recalled the times of the 60s and 70s.

The creator of the project said that the album contains 16 songs and an introduction featuring the original music of the All-Star Band, which became the first Puerto Rican orchestra to play at the Palladium in New York, where figures such as Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, and Frank “Machito” Grillo performed.

She mentioned that in the last track of the album, El Cid, she “played” the trumpet with her father thanks to technological advances.

Musical director Elías López and singers Gilberto Santa Rosa and Cheo Feliciano agreed that this production served as a pretext to recall anecdotes they lived together with the musician, who died on November 4, 1999.

“He was the only artist I have ever seen doing arrangements without piano and listening to other music on the other side. He had the virtue of concentrating and producing something well in advance,” said Elías Lopés.

“I had the joy of knowing Mario for a long time because he and Marito used to pick me up to go to school. I have always said that he is my dad in music…He told me to study because the music was a hobby, but when he realized my interest, he gave me that first opportunity,” commented El Caballero de la Salsa, adding that Mario Ortiz “was an outstanding musician and represents the heart of the career of many of us”.

Mario Ortiz, son, summoned musicians and singers who shared with his father at a time when salsa was at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mario Ortiz Jr.

Mario Ortiz All Star Band includes songs such as Chinita, with Gilberto Santa Rosa; Se acabó el bembé, with Ismael Miranda; Rumberito, with Bobby Cruz and Roberto Roena, and others.

Source: Primera Hora, Puerto Rico. By: Jaime Torres Torres

At the age of 64, trumpeter Mario Ortiz was a man brimming with health and life. Death took him by surprise on November 4, 1999.

Thus came down the curtain on one of the most brilliant careers in Puerto Rican salsa and jazz.

His wake was attended by practically all the musicians of the country to bid farewell to the virtuoso trumpet player, accomplished arranger, and experienced orchestra conductor.

His son Mario Jr. inherited part of his arrangements because the maestro was so generous that he gave his music to his friends and colleagues. To commemorate his memory on the 10th anniversary of his passing, Mario Jr. celebrates his father’s contribution to salsa and Latin jazz with the historic recording “Tribute”.

“I was able to transcribe the arrangements that I didn’t have and thus confirmed what the musicians at the wake were saying in terms of his music being ahead of its time. With the help of Lenny Prieto, Ernesto Sánchez, and Tito Rivera I was able to decipher what Papi did in terms of harmonics and rhythm,” said Mario Jr.

In “Tribute” Mario Jr. recorded without alterations the orchestrations and arrangements of “A quitarse”, “Yaré yaré”, “Chinita”, “Move”, “Se acabó el bembé”, “Mambo infierno”, “Güiro y pandereta”, “El soplo”, “Rumberito”, “Que bonito es Puerto Rico”, “Maina” and others.

“What I did to make them sound more harmonically updated was to extend the duration with more participation of the singers and with additional solos and moñas,” he explained.

Coining the name “All Star Band”, as his father’s group was known during the 1960s, Mario Jr. brought together a core of the most respected soneros and instrumentalists in salsa.

On “Tribute”, arguably the Afro-Antillean music album of the year, Cheo Feliciano, Andy Montañez, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Ismael Miranda, Adalberto Santiago, Tony Vega, Chico Rivera, Pedro Brull, Tito Allen, Primi Cruz, Anthony Cruz, Ismaelito Rivera and Bobby Cruz joined their talents.

And, representing the musicians, he recruited as soloists Papo Lucca, Bobby Valentín, Richie Ray, Elías López, Roberto Roena, and others.

None of the artists were paid, out of respect for Mario’s memory and in reciprocation of their friendship.

“It’s incredible. Elías was the first one I told to do this. He was so happy that he suggested I call everyone who knew Mario. And Gilbertito quickly said yes because his first recording was with Papi.”

The presentation of “Tribute”, in honor of the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the All-Stars Band, was held yesterday at the Alquimia Bistro Restaurant in Condado.

The album, a Zamora Music Group production, will be distributed by Sony Music. The first single is titled “Chinita” and is performed by Gilberto Santa Rosa.

“Sony is interested in my project because Gilbertito interceded on my behalf. He wanted to release it with his label Camínalo, but he thought it would have more possibilities with a multinational”.

Mario Ortiz y Su Orquesta "Ritmo Y Sabor" 1985
Mario Ortiz y Su Orquesta “Ritmo Y Sabor” 1985

Source: https://www.radioelsalsero.com/2009/09/se-viene-la-mario-ortiz-all-stars-band.html

Articles of Interest: Celso Clemente Torres is considered one of the best sounding bongos in the world

By: Diana Marie International Salsa Magazine Correspondent

Tribute to Jerry Gerónimo García and other things to come

Ray Carrion & The Latin AllStars at the tribute to event promoter Jerry Geronimo Garcia 

Poster for the tribute to Gerónimo García
Poster for the tribute to Jerry Gerónimo García

On September 12 this year, the steak house Steve’s Steak House & Seafood House meat restaurant put on its finest to receive the tribute to the great event promoter Jerry Geronimo Garcia, who is highly respected in the entertainment industry. Garcia has been in charge of hosting all kinds of concerts and musical events at the aforementioned venue, so the place presented a tribute to both this important figure for the restaurant and his family. 

The celebration of the life and legacy of this promoter was highlighted by the presence of the noted musician and event organizer Ray Carrion & The Latin AllStars. Both Carrion and his band once again showed how talented they are on stage, letting us see their gratitude to the promoter for each and every one of the artists and groups he made famous by keeping them in mind for any of the performances planned for the restaurant.   

Garcia gave many the opportunity they needed to shine on stage when no one else would. As the promotional poster indicates, it was time for him to be compensated for what he has done for so many people. 

This is Ersi Arvisu
Ersi Arvisu performing

Conversation with Ray Carrión about this and other upcoming projects 

During a telephone conversation with Carrion, he said he was honored to be part of the event and highlighted the great role that Jerry has had in the emergence of new generations of Latin music artists in recent years. He also spoke of other projects to be undertaken for the coming months. One of them is a concert entitled Ladies Rule, which will feature a group of famous female performers whose talent will vibrate the audience at the VFW Hall Post 1944. 

Among the stars who will be present that night, one in particular stands out and that is Ersi Arvisu, the leader of the group El Chicano. This rock group has also mixed their work with jazz, R&B and Latin rhythms of East Los Angeles, which is why they have always been well-loved and well received by the Latino community in the aforementioned city. That is why there is no doubt that the public will open its arms to her in this and all the presentations that are to come. 

The concert will also have the participation of other great talents such as Brittany Nicole, Elvia Cadena, Nira, and DJ Arlene Soulera. It was reported that Nira will be sharing the stage with Ray Carrion & The Latin AllStars at the same time to perform a common song. 

It was also announced that the general admission will be $40 and the VIP ticket will be $50. It is important to note that returns will not be accepted because the sale of tickets is final, so attendees are asked to plan accordingly in order to avoid any inconvenience at the gates of the show.   

This is Ray Carrion
Ray Carrion with his guitar

For more information about this and other events related to Carrion and his band, please visit his website www.carrionevents.com or call 323-895-2836. 

By: Bryan “scorpio” Astrachan correspondent of International Salsa magazine Los Ángeles, California

Yamira Blanco -Director and tresista of her group Son Latino

Many musical genres that emerged over the years, among them are the salsa genre which was a boom in the decade between the 60s and 70s, being a movement that mixes African and Caribbean sounds, which has been adopted by male artists already that in those times the woman who played a musical instrument was frowned upon and it was not accepted that they were in music, however this did not stop and the experience made the artist and she spent many years, female groups managed to exist in Salsa.

In this October 2021 edition, we have the opportunity to interview Yamira Blanco Ramos, a salsa singer who participated in the orchestra made up of fourteen women who cultivate Cuban popular music, fusing the most traditional rhythms with contemporary sound, also known as “Las Mulatísimas del Sabor ”, have achieved a seal that distinguishes them and are appreciated by both critics and dancers from all over Cuba and from various countries around the world.

Yamira Blanco - Photo
Photo by Yamira Blanco

He was in the hands of the prestigious guitarist Efraín Amador during his beginnings and in turn began his studies at the National School of Art (ENA) and then continues the same at the Higher Institute of Art of Havana (ISA), where he graduated with a Degree de Oro, during his student years he always stood out for his active participation in groups of different formats, from duos to septets; Later, he had the opportunity to participate in the 2001 Mujer International Guitar Festival in Costa Rica, where he performed with the Plectro trio, made up of guitar, tres and lute.

He joined the Anacaona group, starting in September 2006 with his tres to enrich the musical spectrum of the group and after a year (January 2007) he joined the Los Galanes quintet simultaneously, under the musical direction of Armando Vidal , vocalist of said group, with whom he performs a musical work based on traditional Cuban music.

In 2008 he recorded with the quintet the album Suena por mi Cuba with the Egrem label, and later with a small format of the Anacaona group, he recorded in 2008 the musical theme “Parampampan”, for the filmmaker’s musical film Chico y Rita Spanish Fernando Trueba; and after a year (2009) he participated with the Anacaona group in an artistic tour in Canada and also attended different jazz festivals and “World Music”, including the third edition of the Aruba Jazz Festival.

As of 2010 Yamira together with the Anacaona group, on their tour to Curacao they presented the show “Viva Cuba”, with the purpose of raising funds for the fight against breast cancer, organized by the Sinte Rose Foundation of said country. This tour brings the Aruba International Film Festival to a close.

Yamira Blanco in the music studio
Photo of Yamira Blanco posing at the piano

Later they resumed their participation with the Anacaona Orchestra in the Santa Lucía Jazz Festival in 2011, being its 20th edition, where they were together with leading jazz players from the international arena, shining for their improvisations on the different themes that they performed with the orchestra. both on the tres and on the guitar.

In 2012 they celebrated their 80th anniversary of this musical institution, making an extensive tour throughout the country in addition to multiple radio and television programs and in August they performed with the group at the PDVSA salsa festival. , in Venezuela, alternating with salsa groups from that country.

They began to record the album De Cuba soy, in 2013 under the Colibrí label, a phonogram dedicated to celebrating the eight decades of artistic life of the Anacaona group, then Yamira assumed the direction of the Quinteto Los Galanes, being appointed by its vocalist and founder, who decides to retire, so she poses new challenges in the music that is the inspiration of this young and talented Cuban tresera.

In 2015:

  • I participated in the documentary Mix The World by Grammy nominated filmmakers Alex Elena and Steve’s Baughman.
  • Son Latino, a music septet that he has directed since 2015, is made up of a format of three, guitar, double bass, bongos, tumbadora, singer, trumpet and minor percussion.
  • Works multiple genres such as son, song, cha cha cha, bolero, rumba, guaracha, bachata, merengue and the interpretation of current Cuban timba, starting from its purely traditional format.
  • It is a group that seeks to defend Cuban popular music from more contemporary harmonic and rhythmic sounds, with good taste and a high aesthetic sense in creation, seeking its own stamp with auditory and visual identity.

In 2020 Yarima Blanco becomes a Soundwear artist and records with several guests the CD Pa mi tres, a co-production between the Recording Company and Musical Editions, Egrem, and Soundwear Production that will have its presentation and launch in 2021.

The phonogram is a journey through the sounds of Cuban and Caribbean popular music based on 12 unpublished songs where the authorship of Yarima herself, the Puerto Rican Tomás Pérez and the Cubans Yunior Molina, César Lozada and Juan Antonio Gil stand out.

With musical production by the hand of the Latin Grammy award Roniel Alfonso Mella, they participate as special guests in several of the songs on the album: maestro Pancho Amat, Alain Pérez, Kelvis Ochoa, Rolando Luna, Bárbara Zamora, singer from Anacaona, among other important Cuban musicians.

Yamira Blanco
Photo of Yamira Blanco Live

Now if you want to know the exact list of the different activities that he carried out throughout his musical career, you can see them here:

Participation in Festivals: Discography
2001 International Woman Guitar Festival, Costa Rica 2006 Cuba le canta a Serrat vol. 2, discography –Discmedi
2009 Aruba Jazz Festival 2007 No lo puedo Evitar, Anacaona -Bis Music
2009 Canadian Jazz Festivals 2008 Suena por mi Cuba– Quinteto “Los Galanes” – EGREM
2009 La Nuits D’Afrique Festival in Montreal Canada 2008  “Parampampan” – tema para el Largometraje Chico y Rita
2010 Aruba International Film Festival 2013 De Cuba soy – Anacaona – Colibrí
2011 20th edition of the Santa Lucia Jazz festival 2019 Lágrimas de la cantante Cassandra Nuñez –Egrem
2012 PDVSA Salsa Festival, Venezuela 2020 Pa mi tres, Egrem – Soundwear Production
2019 Salsa Festival in Bogotá Colombia Park    
2020 Jazz Plaza Cuba Festival. Collaboration with Dominican-American Cassandra Núñez.    
2020 Concerts and show in tribute to the bolero and its relationship between Mexico and Cuba, Mexico City, under the direction and musical production of Rosario Castro.    

 

 

If you want to contact this great artist:


  • Contacto: https://www.facebook.com/yarima.blanco.79

  • Email: [email protected]

Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. Growing Up in Latin Dance Music and Jazz

Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez Jr. is a salsa legend and world-renown, pioneering bongocero.

His “Dream Team” is currently regarded as the hottest salsa “conjunto” performing In New York City.

It is rare, and ever increasingly so, that a musician would spend a lifetime in a band. But percussionist Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. who was a teenager when he was allowed to sit in with the Tito Puente Orchestra and be an apprentice for a few months before earning a place in its rhythm section, was also there at the end, playing alongside Puente until his death, after a concert on May 31st, 2000.

“I went from being a kid, coming into the band as a 16-year-old to being the man running the band at the end,” said Rodríguez, 70, in a conversation from his home in Las Vegas.

Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez Jr. Growing up in Latin dance and jazz music
Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr.

Between that beginning and end, Rodríguez also contributed, in prolonged stints, to the sound of the Tito Rodríguez Orchestra, Ray Barretto, his own band, Típica ‘73, and more.

The son of Johnny “La Vaca” Rodríguez Sr., a respected percussionist who also played with the Puente and Rodríguez orchestras, “Dandy” Rodríguez is one of those essential musicians who have created and shaped the sound of contemporary Latin Jazz yet are little known by the public at large.

"When they called me to talk about the concert I thought it was a great idea," Rodriguez says.
Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. y Pedro Bermúdez en New York

While some of the great players in Duke Ellington or Count Basie bands have long been recognized for their contributions, their counterparts in the Latin orchestras, for the most part, have not.  Rodriguez will be honored by Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in their concert “Tribute to the Great Sidemen of Latin Jazz” alongside Sonny Bravo, Ray Santos, Papo Vázquez, Reynaldo Jorge, José Madera, Joe González, and Bobby Porcelli at Symphony Space, in New York City, January 29th and 30th.

“When they called me about the concert I thought it was such a great idea,” says Rodriguez.

Johnny Rodríguez
Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez Jr. is a salsa legend and a world-renowned pioneer bongocero.

“Usually people just know the name of the bandleader and it’s fine,” he says. “But they must remember that there is a good team behind that leader which makes him look so much better.

There’s a way of playing that music that makes it sound the way they wrote it and the way they wanted it and these guys knew it and they knew how to do it.”

Rodríguez grew up in Spanish Harlem, Manhattan, in a house with “a great music collection, a good, what was then called, hi-fi system and always full of musicians,” he recalls.

“It was great but I was interested in baseball, in stickball. I didn’t get involved with music until later, but the music was always in the background, in my house.” By the time he was in junior high, Rodríguez played bongos, congas, timbales, and set drums and, as he puts it, “started to get into it.”

“Remember, I lived in El Barrio and back in those days, in that area, there was a lot of music in the air.

There would be speakers outside the furniture store or the bodega or the record shop, and music would be playing. This shop would be playing this radio station, the butcher would have another, so walking one block you’d be hearing three different pieces of music. It was an environment full of music.”

During the first two decades of the new century, the musical work of maestro Johnny Rodriguez continued; thus, his musical imprint has remained in other publications with The Latin-Jazz Coalition, Frankie Morales, Eddie Palmieri, Gilberto Santa Rosa, George Delgado, Victor Manuelle, Rick Arroyo, Orestes Vilató, Mitch Frohman, Cita Rodriguez, Doug Beaver, Adalberto Santiago and Jeremy Bosch.

In addition, special mention must be made of the participation of maestro Johnny Rodríguez with a group called The Latin Giants Of Jazz, in the best style of the classic Big Bands, made up of great teachers, among them, some of the former members of the band of maestro Tito Puente; with this group they have released four albums; this project gave rise to another band called The Mambo Legends, who recorded the album titled: Watch Out! ¡Ten Cuidao!

John Rodriguez is, without any doubt, one of the most prolific percussionists in the world of Latin music called Salsa; the nickname “Dandy” goes back to his childhood, when the car in which he was taken was bought in a warehouse or a store called “Dandy”, and people said: look how cute the “Dandy”, and from there he kept that nickname. In music he is better known as Johnny instead of John.

In the (year 2022) the experienced Johnny Rodriguez had three or four groups with which he is playing, among them Dandy Rodriguez and his Dream Team, and at the same time he teaches percussion classes over the Internet. He is part of the true legends of Latin music, not to mention that his talent has also been reflected in recordings for other musical genres such as: Electronic, Folk Rock, Folk, World & Country, Funk / Soul, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Stage & Screen, Jazz-Funk, Merengue and Pop.

In his very extensive artistic career, the master Johnny Rodriguez took part in historical and iconic recordings of our musical culture, some of these albums have been worthy of awards such as the Grammy Award, among which are:

Homenaje a Beny Moré – Year 1978.
On Broadway – 1983
El Rey: Tito Puente & His Latin Ensemble – Year 1984
Mambo Diablo – 1985
Goza Mi Timbal – Year 1990
Mambo Birdland – Year 1999
Masterpiece / Masterpiece Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri – Year 2000.

“In 2008, Johhny entrusted LP’s Research and Development Department with the design of the John “Dandy” Rodriguez Jr. bongoes in the Legends series. John is proud that these drums, which bear his name, feature such outstanding sound and visual characteristics.”

He died on August 17, 2024 in New York City of a stroke.

 

Facebook: John Rodriguez(Dandy)

Article of Interest: José Madera Timbal de Machito and his Afro-Cubans, Tito Puente, Mambo Legends Orchestra and Fania Record Co.

Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez Jr. y Frankie "El Sonero del Barrio" Vázquez
Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. y Frankie “El Sonero del Barrio” Vázquez

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International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.