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We welcome Patricio Angulo from Rumbaché to ISM

The San Francisco Bay Area, California, has a lot of talented artists, many of which we have had the privilege to interview in this section to learn all kinds of details about the Latin music scene in this area of the United States. This time, we managed to have an interesting conversation with Patricio Angulo, leader and founder of the orchestra Rumbaché, who kindly answered all the questions we had.

Rumbaché is one of the most important salsa and timba bands in the Bay Area and has a varied repertoire of salsa and contemporary Cuban music that enchants any audience that hears the group perform.

The following are some of the most important issues related to this Latin band and its history.

Patricio playing the timbales — Patricio Angulo playing the timbales on stage

Patricio Angulo’s beginnings in the music world

Patricio has had a long interest in music, which he developed by himself, since he did not have family musicians to encourage these activities in the little boy.

He started playing violin and trumpet, but it was not long before the young boy found he liked drums and orchestral percussion better. He also played some classical music and learned a lot about instruments used in this genre.

When he went to high school, there were several music programs from which Patricio could choose to develop this branch of art depending on his tastes and finally decided on a jazz group with which he started learning to play congas and timbales. This group wanted an extra Latin touch in their music and the boy was chosen for the role.

The musician was very inclined to Latin Jazz at the time, but then, he was listening to other Latin genres until he discovered Cuban and Caribbean Salsa, which would be very important in the musical future of the artist.

Recruiting talent for Rumbaché

For years, he group Rumbaché, previously called Quimbombó, was forming from musicians Patricio considered played well, since for him this is most important.

However, he emphasized that each orchestra has its own needs and highlighted the vocals as an example of that, as they are very necessary for dance music like the one they play. Likewise, professionalism and experience are two aspects taking into account by him when evaluating a candidate.

In another order of ideas, the musician considers that Latin roots are not a key element in playing salsa or other genres of this type very well, since there are many singers and musicians who have never had contact with Latin genres or instruments can learn to play them without any problem. It is a matter of effort and discipline.

Whole orchestra Rumbaché — This is the whole orchestra Rumbaché posing for the camera

Origin of the name Rumbaché and the Yoruba Religion

From what we have read about Rumbaché, the origin of the name and its relation with the Yoruba religion caught our attention. Rumbaché is a combination of the words ”rumba” (This word can mean ”party” and ”celebration”) and ”ache” (in the Cuyuní language, ”ache” is something very good and pleasant).

Something that Patricio wanted to clarify is that the music of his orchestra is not religious and has nothing to do with the Yoruba religion beyond some choruses and words as there are in many Cuban songs. In fact, they try to have a varied repertoire so as not to bore the audience.

Rumbaché’s activity in clubs

Rumbaché has featured heavily in festivals and renowned clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area such as Sausalito Seahorse, The Cigar Bar & Grill, Rassela’s Jazz Club, Moe’s Alley, Blue Note, among others. It is undeniable that the group has ample experience in performing in these types of venues.

That is why we took this opportunity to ask Patricio how the movement is going in these places when it comes to hiring orchestras in recent years, to which he replied that the presence of orchestras in local venues has decreased dramatically in recent years, especially after the pandemic.

Likewise, because of this same situation, there were many clubs that began to close their doors indefinitely, making it very difficult for Rumbaché to play live regularly.

Once the pandemic was relaxed, Patricio says that a few venues survived, but there were too many orchestras for the few available stages. This led them to opt for festivals, concert series and private shows.

Every night there was a pen club, but that has changed radically and Patricio and the other members of Rumbaché have had to adapt to the circumstances.

Rumbaché live — Rumbaché performing live

Oye Productions

In addition to Rumbaché, Patricio also has his own entertainment company called Oye Productions, with which he is responsible for providing live music for all kinds of events. Obviously, he gives priority to Rumbaché, but he also offers the services of guitarists, trios and all sorts of musicians.

What the company seeks to focus on is providing musical entertainment for private parties such as a business meeting or something more personal such as a wedding.

He always tries to hire musicians who play all kinds of instruments and genres to perform varied shows for each event. He also seeks to look for artists he knows beforehand and who he is sure will do an excellent job.

Activities outside Rumbaché

Patricio also indicated that one of his most important occupations outside Rumbaché was teaching congas, timbales and drums. He also teaches drums to children once a week.

These activities bring happiness to the musician and he always looks for the opportunity for these youngsters he teaches to have some knowledge of Latin percussion and get to know our music much better.

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.

Bárbara and Margarita — Bárbara Liz Ortiz Sánchez and his mother Margarita ”Tata” Cepeda

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.

Bárbara and her bomba custome — Bárbara Liz wearing her bomba attire

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.

Bárbara and Kalindá — Bárbara Liz and her professional group Kalindá

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.

John Narváez and Elizabeth Rojas from Salsamania

John and Liz from Salsamania

Between days 23 and 25 March, 2023, the San Francisco Salsa Festival took place, which brought together some of the cream of The Bay Area Latin music scene. One of those attending this great event was the main editor of International Salsa Magazine, Mr. Eduardo Guilarte.

On site, he had the opportunity to share with other guests and some of the organizers such as Elizabeth Rojas, affectionately known as Liz, and John Narváez. We had the chance to talk with both dance professionals to know more about their beginnings, festivals and projects. Do not miss it!

John and Elizabeth — Colombian dancers John Narváez and Elizabeth Rojas

Beginnings

After several attempts to schedule a meeting with John and Liz, we finally managed to talk with these Colombian dancers and entrepreneurs, who began by thanking us for the contact and the opportunity to promote their passion for salsa and the community they represent.

This love they have for the aforementioned musical genre has much to do with their roots. Both were born in Colombia and left the country when they were 12 years old (they are the same age) because of the violent situation caused by the guerrilla that existed in those years.

Although those were hard times, John says these were very nice years from which he has fond memories. He remembers almost all his family members singing or playing an instrument, while he was the only dancer. All this influenced him in such a way that Latin music remains his north after so many years.

Moving to the United States

Since the social situation did not allow them to live in their country, they decided to move to the United States and apply for political asylum. At the beginning, it was not easy and the focus was on working hard to get ahead in this new country and to learn English. However, all that changed over time.

With the arrival of economic and family stability, priorities changed. John comments that his interest in music and dance perked back up due to the family gatherings that his relatives celebrated such as birthdays, quinceañeras, weddings, among others.

Although at the time dancing was not considered a serious profession, both John and Liz began to practice it at amateur level. Once they turned 21, they started going to the most popular salsa clubs, but it was all for recreational purposes. It was years later before they began to analyze all the technical and historical part of dancing to understand it better and take it more seriously.

John, Liz, and Barbara — John and Liz with Barbara on Despierta América

Dancing as a profession

John and Liz started to take dancing seriously in 1999. They both attended a three-day salsa event in Los Angeles, but what they did not know is that this was the first world salsa congress in America.

This gave them the opportunity to share with the best salsa dancers in the world and they saw such impressive things that they were inspired to return next year with a well-established dance team with which they could participate fully in these activities.

Being full of motivation, they decided to create Salsamania Dance Company and performed with their team at the festival. They started doing the same thing every year, which helped them gain experience and evolve their styles.

After earning the trust of the festival organizers thanks to their talent and professionalism, they were given the opportunity to start teaching salsa workshops at the aforementioned congress. This is how little by little John and Liz began to build the reputation and credibility they have today.

In 2004, it got to a point where John took the important decision to quit his job to devote himself to dancing and Liz was quick to do the same. His resignation came with the opportunity to take a three-month trip to Hong Kong to teach salsa in a community where people did not dance it.

They managed to build a community from nothing, since at that time, Hong Kong was not a place where people listened to salsa. However, everything went well and the dancers managed to seamlessly connect with the local audience. As John rightly said, ”salsa is a universal language and you don’t have to speak that language to feel the music”.

On returning to the Bay Area, they began to practice dancing as a profession in the United States.

On this point, Liz commented that her parents became very upset with her when she quit her job because of dancing, but today, they admit that it was the right decision and support her totally.

Liz and John dancing — Liz and John during a social dance in Boston

Salsamania Dance Company

Liz told us that it was difficult to create Salsamania Dance Company because it requires a lot of discipline and healthy coexistance between different types of personalities to create a group like this and keep it together. Fortunately, John is an industrial psychologist, so he helped to prevent these aspects to be a problem.

Basically, Liz is responsible for the company’s management and John is the one who takes care of the human part of all the staff.

They started the whole process like any regular company and drew up the contracts for all those who were going to work with them, making Salsamania a much more established, structured and serious project in the eyes of everyone else. Today, it is one of the largest companies in the Bay Area.

They also took it a step further and built a salsa academic program with a thoroughness and detail that has not been seen in other projects of this kind.

San Francisco Salsa Festival

San Francisco Salsa Festival is one of the biggest salsa events in California and the United States in general and we were fortunate to have representation there with our editor Eduardo Guilarte.

It began to be celebrated in 2008 with the support of international salsa promoter Albert Torres, who was a fundamental piece in the development of the festival and talent recruitment for an event of this size, as there were many things John and Liz had to learn. That is why they are both incredibly grateful for what the congress organizer did for them back then.

To recruit artists, the dancers only require candidates to be good teachers, to share with the salsa community and to put on a good show for the audience.

They also often invite colleagues they have known for years and some recommended to whom they give them the opportunity to shine and make themselves known during those days.

Every year, they look for dancers, dance instructors, DJs and live orchestras. For Liz and John, the thing about live bands is very important, as they are concerned that there are so many clubs and venues that no longer hire these talents. This year, they focused on local bands that play on Thursdays and Fridays in San Francisco and were very happy with the results.

It is expected that the next San Francisco Salsa Festival is scheduled between days 22 and 24 March, 2024 at the same venue, which is the Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

The orchestras hired to perform for next year are Cabanijazz, The Latin Rhythm Boys and Orquesta Boyacán. The dancing couples are Alex and Judy from Colombia, Colombians Felipe from Colombia and Kathe and Mauricio and Danny from Mexico.

John, Liz, and Oscar D’ León — John and Liz with Venezuelan singer Oscar D’ León

Difficulties in the pandemic

As dancing is an activity with a lot of physical contact and closeness, we were curious to know how they lived the pandemic and what they did to keep their project afloat in this situation.

Though they admit that those months were not easy, they have always been very disciplined with their money and had enough to resist as long as possible without working.

They tried to make up for lost time by teaching classes via Zoom as did most of their colleagues and designing new choreographies to apply when they went back to their usual activities.

In addition to this, both had not spent time with their respective families in a long time, so they also took advantage of the absence of work to reunite with their loved ones and take up those important contacts that were lost due to stress and routine.

Son del Monte

North America / United Stated / New York

Son del Monte, Something more than a “Charanga”

It was one of those nights of meeting with friends, those friends with whom you share the same musical preferences among other things, you know, of those gatherings where only you and your friends can spend hours discussing the best songs of Héctor Lavoe or remembering the best hits of the Fania, and in which there is no other way to end the evening than with the deities that brings the good Salsa music from a live band to close the night with a flourish.

And so that was, when with the hours passed we came across one of these charming Latin clubs that fill the streets and every day prevail more in the city of New York, where, of course, they offered Live Salsa. Eureka! If you allow me to say it … It was the perfect place to “Echarnos un Pie” (colloquial term that we usually give in some Latin countries when we refer to dance).

Upon entering, the characteristic sound of the band wrapped up the entire venue, no doubt, captivated us. It was the harmony of an orchestra that played the typical Cuban music: “La Charanga“, which had its maximum exposure in the 20th century. We were all enthralled or if you want to say “delighted”, it was the mixture of wind instruments with percussion instruments but especially with the string instrument that most caught our attention, the Violin.

When we asked for the name of the orchestra, they told us: “Son del Monte”. It’s the ideal name for an orchestra of 12 Latin musicians who project their virtuosity before an audience eager for Caribbean Music that bathes the senses and awakens the joy of living.

Son Del Monte is a band based in New York City that presents unique tunes from various artists. This orchestra was born from the musical director and timbalero, Manny Rivera whose aspiration was to create a Charanga band with a hard New York sound that paid homage to the orchestras of the 60s, 70s and 80s. “Our music is captivating for the listeners and dancers. Fans from all over the world have come to love Son Del Monte: Una Charanga Con Algo Más and our incredible musical swing”, said Manny Rivera.

This band that combines the typical sound of Cuba with the mixture of flute, violins and trombones with three singers that create a distinctive harmony of three parts, have performed in so popular Salsa venues, such as: Maryland Live Casino, the Baltimore´s Latino Festival, the boardwalk of Coney Island, SOB’s, Empire City Casino in Yonkers, Gonzalez y Gonzalez, La Marqueta, the Latina Hats Society, Industry City, Harlem Mist, among other recognized Salsa venues.

The members of this Charanga orchestra with “Sabor” and electrifying sound are: Mauricio Smith Jr. (Flute), Eric Roberto Salazar and David Rimelis (Violins), Michael Pallas, Juanga Lakunza and Charlie Garcia (Trombones), Eli Rivera (Piano), Bert Castro (Bass), Joe Gonzalez (Conga), Manuel Rivera (Timbales / Musical Director / Leader) and Luis Ayala, Armando Jiménez Sonji and Luis Soto (Singers).

Since the beginning of this year (2019), Son del Monte has been working on their record proposal for the Latin market with unpublished themes, rhythmic and unique sound – contemporary. To date they already have two singles: “Rumba Omelenko” and “Vengo de Nueva York” availables in: CD Baby, Deezer, iTunes, Apple Music, and Spotify. Likewise, the song “Herman” is in the process of recording. So, get ready because this Charanga orchestra promises their CD ended with great compositions for the public later this year.

Undeniable, the acceptance of Son del Monte has been so extensive on the part of New Yorkers and all who are Salsa lovers that they were recently awarded with the TANAE Digital Media Award for Band of the Year 2018, giving recognition to an arduous musical performance, but above all of great cultural value that keeps alive our Latin idiosyncrasy.

Son del monte - Premios Tanae — Son del monte – Premios Tanae

Manuel Rivera (Musical Director / Manager/ Timbales):

Manuel Rivera, have been a professional musician for more than 40 years and now Son Del Monte’s Leader/ Musical Director. His musical career started playing Bongo in a Latin Workshop band which eventually became Orchestra Yambu. Yambu was known for its Latin Jazz style and Disco Hit “Sunny”, his first recording. Subsequently, I joined the original Charanga Orchestra Sublime of New York City, doubling up on Bongo and Timbales. He recorded on Sublime’s first two albums in 1977 and 1979.

In 2001, he rejoined Orchestra Sublime now known as “Sonsublime”. Manuel recorded on Sonsublime’s Gran Reserva and Bailando Con Sonsublime, their latest CDs. He studied various folkloric rhythms, Bata drums and sight reading at the Harbor’s Conservatory of Music in El Barrio in New York City under the guidance of the Master Louie Bauzo.

Manuel Rivera has performed with the Bassist: William Millan, of the original Conjunto Saoco, singers: Henry Fiol, Ray Ramos, and Luis Ayala. Also, he performed with Yerason and the MTG All Stars Orchestra under the direction of Hector Leguillow, Joe Quijano at Lincoln Center and other various artists throughout his musical career.

Next Shows:

Monday, Jult 15^TH

Venue: Cunanele Restaurant and Lounge. 1 Route 46 W, Totowa, NJ 07512

Saturday, August 17^TH

Venue: La Placita de la Marqueta. North trains between 111th and 112th Streets in East Harlem, “El Barrio” and uptown Manhattan, NY.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.SONDELMONTE.com

Or Follow them for their Social Channel:

https://www.facebook.com/MRSONDELMONTE/

Guantanamo music director, arranger and composer Julio Avila

Julio Avila Cuban Band

The Latin music scene in Canada is growing every day thanks to the large number of artists who have decided to move to this beautiful country to try their luck with their talent. Such is the case of Cuban musical director, arranger, composer and singer Julio Avila and the members of his great band Julio Avila Cuban Band.

Given that we thought his career was very interesting, we decided to contact him to learn more about his work and he was kind enough to accept the invitation. Here are the issues we touched on during this fascinating interview.

Julio Avila, musical director of Julio Avila Cuban Band

Life for Julio in Guantanamo, Cuba

Contrary to the answer we might expect, Julio told us that making music in Cuba at that time was not difficult, as life was not so expensive and the economic crisis was not as severe as it is now.

In his particular case, things were easier because his mother worked in a radio station and his father was a professional musician and the musical director of the popular music group Por Nuestros Campos for many years until he sadly passed away. It was undeniable that art ran through his veins.

His sister Isabelita was also involved in popular music for many years and was even awarded on several occasions at the local Eduardo Saborit Festival. Today she is retired, but she was very successful locally at the time.

Because all the brothers had a penchant for music, they decided to create a group called Los Hermanos Avila until they all went their separate ways and dedicated themselves to their own professions.

Julio considers that today they would not have been able to devote to this branch of the arts due to the political and economic situation that the island is enduring, and he is thankful that it was not so.

According to his words, the money was enough to buy the instruments in those times, but things become so complicated that developing an artistic career in the Caribbean country is much more difficult.

All the members — All the band members with their instruments

Changüí

Although he says he has played changüí because of his Guantanamo origins, he was never in a group that based its music on this traditional Cuban dance, as the artist has always liked popular music and salsa.

”Changüí is a genre born in the province of Guantánamo that did not get much popularity, but today, it is impressive the large number of young people who play this dance, since they got a taste for it. In spite of all the years after it was created, there are guys who do not let it die, which makes me very happy” said Julio on this issue.

When we wanted to know why he thinks that these young musicians have opted for this genre and not for other more modern ones such as trap or reggaeton, he replied that the latter two sound a lot in Cuba, but there have been music teachers and schools that have not let changüí die. They continue to teach it to their students and promote it whenever they can.

In addition, there are always groups interested in preserving it in time and uniting it with son and other traditional Cuban genres. They even add flutes and violins, which were not present in the original changüí, in order to give it a unique and modern touch.

Academic background

Julio started playing the guitar being a child of five years old, as he had always seen his parents and older brothers involved in everything that had to do with music. Therefore, it all started in a very natural way and basically on instinct. It was later that both he and his siblings decided to educate themselves in order to become more complete professionals.

In Guantánamo itself, he studied at a music school to become a bassist and began working fully on popular music, which had always been to his liking.

With all that gained knowledge, he decided to move to the city of Havana, to get involved in other projects there and to compose his own material.

Since he was 16, he earned a living as a bassist in a popular music group, which activity he alternated with his secondary education. It can be said that this is the formal beginning of Julio’s musical career.

Julio Avila Cuban Band performing at The Carnaval Del Sol in July 2023

Sonora Universal and Brisas Del Palmar

Before forming his own orchestra, Julio worked with La Sonora Universal and Brisas Del Palmar, which were his first opportunities to shine in the music world.

When the artist was working in a quintet, a trio from the city of Santiago (Brisas Del Palmar) went to a music festival in Guantanamo and thet had the opportunity to meet in a club in 1999. ‘’The musical director of the trio saw us playing and liked the way I played the bass. He told me about the possibility of playing with them, but it did not happen until 2001 when I went to Havana and we met by chance,” Julio said.

After having some time worked with the trio, this musical director met the talented tresista Cesar Echevarría, director of Sonora Universal, who needed a bassist because his stayed in Germany. It was then that he told him about Julio and asked him to see him play, which led them to meet and start working together.

Within a few weeks, Julio was already traveling to Europe with Cesar to tour Germany, Denmark, Holland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. This trip is the one that began to open new doors for him and make him develop as an artist.

Definitive departure from Cuba

When Julio had some time with La Sonora Universal, the director of Brisas Del Mar again asked him to join the group for a tour of Canada in 2005. When he was included, the group went from being a trio to a quartet.

Receptivity from Canadian businessmen was so good that he decided to stay with Brisas Del Palmar permanently until he decided to move from Cuba in 2014 due to the situation which the island was going through.

The latter coincided with the beginning of his love relationship with the Serbian citizen Natasha Marjanovic, who today is his wife, manager of his orchestra and a great life support. It was she who convinced him to stay in Vancouver, a decision he says it was the right one.

Singer of Julio Avila Cuban Band Isidora Bosanovic

Beginnings of Julio Avila Cuban Band

It all started when Julio needed a pianist for Brisas Del Mar and hired Ernesto Benitez, who, once in Canada, told him that he was not going back to Cuba. That is when he saw the opportunity to start creating his own orchestra from himself and this musician.

The next to be included was percussionist Norman García, with whom Julio and Ernesto formed a trio and began performing at festivals until Isidora Bosanovic, singer and his wife Natasha’s niece, arrived. Her case is very particular because she did not speak Spanish, but she learned it so she could sing in the orchestra. Today, she speaks and sings in Spanish very well.

Finally, the band included Denis Barzaga, another musician originating from Guantánamo, who currently lives in Spain, but when required, travels to Canada to play with the orchestra in Vancouver.

Recently, kettle – drum player Julio Paredes was included to replace Barzaga, who was unable to travel for the time being.