Search Results for: Latin genres

Takashi Nakazato

Asia / Japan / Tokyo

Takashi Nakazato, Multi- percussionist specializing in various musical genres.

Takashi Nakazato born in Asakusa, Tokyo is a multi-percussionist specializing in various musical genres.

He has performed with numerous well-known artists throughout his career, as well as performing with “The Lion King, The Musical” for five years.

Nakazato has toured most of Europe and Asia with the Jaribu Afrobeat Orchestra, Jazztronik, Fried Pride (Tokyo Jazz Festival etc) Kyoto Jazz Massive (North Sea Jazz Festival, Tokyo Crossover Jazz Festival etc) and toured China with the Online Game Orchestra (Ro Legend 2016)

Takashi has also toured Japan with famed pianist, Yukie Nishimura and toured Mala in Cuba.

He was the only Japanese percussionist to be hired for the gig. Takashi studied for a long while in Cuban, learning Cuban folklore and Bata under the wing of greats like Adonis Panter Calderon, Barbaro Yordany Crespo Richard (Osain Del Monte) and Angel Boraño.

He studied the Conga drum under Tomas “El Panga” Ramos, Edger Martinez and Joaquin Pozo.

His timbal mentor was Juan Carlos Rojas. He made Santo, Obatala, while in Cuba.

Nakazato has his own fusion band, Piecework, and is also a member of 10 piece percussion group, Orquesta Nadge! Nadge! And Ayumigos (Japanese and Cuban members of Latin Jazz).

Nakazato released his first album “Clandestina,” which included guests Luisito Quintero, Robert Quintero, Calixto Oviedo, Karl Vanden Bossche and Olí Savill. His percussion instruction book & DVD was published in 2014.

He is currently a member of the orchestra of maestro Jimmy Bosch ¨The Trombon Criollo de La Salsa ¨ and at the same time is an exclusive artist of the percussion instrument brand Gon Bops in Los Angeles California.

https://www.facebook.com/takashi.nakazato.75

Omar Lugo

North America / Puerto Rico / San Juan

Omar Lugo “Young Promise of the Juvenile and Romantic Salsa of Puerto Rico”

Omar Lugo - Puerto Rico — Omar Lugo – Puerto Rico

With a modern, restorative and very representative style, the talented Puerto Rican Omar Lugo arrived to reinforce Latin music, offering a trend with a youthful and urban touch; who in addition to being a singer and performer of various musical instruments, is a composer.

Lugo, is a native of the beautiful Caribbean municipality of Arroyo, belonging to the free state of Isla del Encanto, Puerto Rico. This promise of salsa, was born on November 23, 1993 and tells us that, from a very young age, he showed interest and ability to vocalize from the age of 15, when he began to educate himself and train musically in the band of his beloved town of Arroyo and later in adolescence, he accompanied artists of various musical genres in Borinquen.

Let’s see Omar, since when did you start in composition?

“Friend, that was the product of compiling various experiences that I had in love and coincidentally gave me the opportunity to compose my first song “Si supieras”, which I recorded when I was 15 years old, under the arrangement and production of my older brother. Jayson Lugo; serving all this experience to start my artistic career at the age of 17.

That song is a declaration of love, and many identify with it by being able to gather the feelings that a person inspires in you, If you knew, it had, by the way, a lot of radio success, it is a letter that I wrote from the heart”-. This is how he told us for International Salsa Magazine.

The young Puerto Rican, Omar, is characterized by fusing urban and electronic sounds that identify his style for “la salsa”.

Omar Lugo - Mexico Salsa Sabor — Omar Lugo – Mexico Salsa Sabor

In addition, he has shared stages with artists from his country as main singer and musician, such as: Fabián, Juan Vélez, Three Son Salsa, Kimary Carrero, Ricky Luis, Barreto y su Plena, Víctor Manuelle, N’Klabe, Tito Nieves, NG2 , Charlie Cruz, Ken-Y, Keykon, Pirulo, Frankie Negrón, Boni & Kelly, Planéalo, Oscarito, Aníbal de Gracia and many more.

It is noteworthy that Omar has a number 1 on the Billboard Charts (Tropical Charts), with the single “Amor de Verdad” by Charlie Cruz, being Omar Lugo, one of the youngest salseros in history to reach that position. in the musical genre “salsa”.

He adds that, in 2017, he performed at the “El Aniversario de la Salsa” event, at the Paquito Montaner stadium, in Ponce, before more than 15,000 spectators, receiving a standing ovation for his performance. Finally, he told us that he is currently recording his first record production under the direction of his brother Jay, a fundamental and key piece in his musical growth, by the way, winner of the 2018 Latin Grammy.

It was an honor to have in International Salsa Magazine, as a special guest, this talented Puerto Rican Omar Lugo, who has been demonstrating with his music, the interest of attracting young people to salsa with modern touches in his songs.

Joe Bataan’s music remains in force

Joe Bataan in the Spaha Salsa Gallery

There are many artists of international stature have been in the Salsa Museum and left some valuable object in our facilities, and this month, it was the turn of American singer and musician Joe Bataan, who was kind enough to share with producer Johnny Cruz and his show partner Boris Calderón.

Joe Bataan and Johnny Cruz in the Spaha Salsa Gallery

In one of the videos taken during the visit, the artist mentioned that the place was awesome and had expanded so much that another building would have to be made soon for so many valuable acquisitions. Let’s remember that both the artists and their families have been donating all kinds of garments, instruments and things related to their careers to be exhibited in the museum with the purpose of showing the public this valuable part of our culture.

After such an extraordinary exchange, we believe it believe to talk a little about the story of this talented man and how he has reaped all the success obtained at the time.

Story of Joe Battan

Bataan Nitollano is a New York singer of African-American and Filipino origin from his parents, but he grew up in the neighborhood of Harlem, where he got in trouble with the law and was trained in music.

Joe Bataan signing a jacket in the Spaha Salsa Gallery

While he spent a short time in prison, he studied music, and trained in playing the piano, something that would be extremely important for his artistic career. Once he was released, he formally began his career as a singer and formed his first group, which he named ”Joe Bataan and the Latin Swingers”. At that time, the young man was heavily influenced by two genres that were very fashionable at the time, which are boogaloo and Afro-American Doo-wop.

Although Bataan was not the first to enter the aforementioned genres, his very particular talent made him worthy of the attention of the newly created record label Fania Records, which signed the artist in 1966 and released his first single ”Gypsy Woman” the following year. The song ended up being a huge hit in the Latin community in New York City and laid the foundation for what would end up becoming what we know today as Latin Soul.

During the time Joe worked with Fania, he recorded about eight albums, which became a true sensation due to their mix of Doo-wop in Latin rhythms with English soul, which was quite new at the time. Everything was going well until he had some frictions with the label manager Jerry Masucci concerning the economic issue, so the singer ended up leaving the company to launch his own label Ghetto Records.

The artist's signature — The artist’s signature

In the 1980s, he spent a long time away from music to devote himself to teaching at the same center where he was held and experienced some health declines that kept him silent for quite some time until he ws back in play in 2005, when he released his album ”Call My Name” whose rhythms were based on Latin soul and got many positive reviews. This album proved that Bataan was still a talented artist even though his genres are no longer the most popular.

Today, he is a person with extensive experience in the world of music who is always willing to give his everything to any fan who wants to listen to him. The Spaha Salsa Gallery team is pleased to have had his presence in recent days, so we hope that meetings like this one can be repeated.

Contact: Johnny Cruz. 917-747-8505. [email protected].

By Johnny Cruz, ISM Correspondent, New York, New York City

Origins of Kizomba

Kizomba is a very catchy musical genre that has its origin in Angola, Africa. It can be said that its birth was in the 1980s; but if we want to understand its history, we must look further back to the 50s and 60s.

It was then that certain traditional dances of the African country and one of them was semba, began mixing with other rhythms both from its country of origin and other cultures after Africa was colonized by Europe in the 14th century. It is from there that a fusion of rhythms begins in which partner dancing takes center stage.

However, the old continent did not do all the work. Argentina and Cuba also played an essential role in the form in which semba must be danced.

In Portugal, the word Kizomba has its origin in all musical rhythms that derive from zouk, with which it is often constantly confused. It is a type of dancing laden with great sensuality and highly contagious that has become very popular with the passage of time, particularly in countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, among others. Many Latin Americans consider that this is a breath of fresh air because it does not seem like anything they previously knew in terms of dance.

One of the reasons that it became so famous around the world is that this dance is very easy to learn due to its softness and simple dance steps. If you want to learn to dance, kizomba is a very good option to begin with.

Kizomba lets the couple play the music they dance. The more intimate the members of the couple, the more likely that the dance will be much more sensual and there will be much more complicity between men and women who enjoy this pleasure.

How kizomba originated

As we have said previously, kizomba has its origin in Angola, which was a colony of Portugal in the mid-1970s. With the arrival of Cuban military personnel, certain rhythms came from the Caribbean island that started to be used by various Angolan artists for their musical projects. The result was a fabulous mix of fast local rhythms with much slower, romantic and partially synthetic sounds.

The resulting genre was danced with semba and merenque, which made it known as kizombadas and, subsequently, kizomba.

By the 90’s, the word kizomba started to be used in Portugal to refer to all African rhythms danced in the nightspots of the most important cities in the European country. With the passage of time, the term would be used to refer to the musical genre and many other sub-genres with which it shares history.

Once this type of dance began to take hold in the rest of Europe, it was in France where all these rhythms that resemble one another started to be called kizomba, leading to the controversy over whether it and soft zouk are the same. Given that on certain islands belonging to France they were the cradle of zouk, it can be assumed that this has kindled heated debate even further still.

At the beginning, kizomba was only able to spread throughout the African continent, but migration allowed it to reach Europe and America respectively where a lot of passionate dance groups of this genre began to appear. The number of followers accumulated by this genre in countries such as Portugal, France or Spain was very huge.

Currently, there are a number of exponents of this kind of music that became famous worldwide such as Nelson Freitas, Djodje, Anselmo Ralph, Matias Damasio, among many others.

Kizomba in Europe

It is incredible the number of places where you can enjoy this spectacular dance. One of them is the world famous Eiffel Tower, where there are many options to learn or improve the dance steps. In France, the genre has been very popular, so much so that many places for dancing celebrate exclusive kizomba nights known as kizomba soirées by the locals. Considering the major African influence on this dance, those wishing to find out more will be able to enjoy a wonderful mix of dance styles and cultures that will leave no one indifferent.

In these places, you can share with a very impressive amount of tourists and foreigners from around the world. This contributes enormously to linkages and friendships between people of other cultures and other ways of seeing the world, which may be very rewarding from all points of view.

In the case of Lisbon, Portugal, it can be said that this is another place that every lover of kizomba in Europe should visit. Besides being a city that receives all its visitors with genuine hospitality, the dancing and music are ever-present. Among the many places you can go to enjoy the dance, it is important to mention the Estudio Sabor & Dança dance studio, the Academy World Dance and the Kizomba Power Dance School.

Regarding Barcelona, Spain, what can be said is that this is one of the best European cities for dancing as there is a gigantic variety of musical styles that can be found there. There are always parties and events worth attending. One of those dances that can be found in the city’s nightlife is kizomba that has gained popularity in recent years.

Latin music events and festivals were based on salsa and bachata, but kizomba has completely changed that reality. Today, it is very common to find festivals and congresses dedicated exclusively to this dance and its most loyal lovers. If you want to learn to dance this genre, there are a number of schools and workshops that could be very useful such as Así se Baila, Seven Dance and Baila Barcelona.

Kizomba in Latin America

Many people who do not know the origin of the kizomba think that it originated in Latin America due to its type of dancing, but the fact is that this dance was not even known in most countries of the continent. In fact, its main boom started relatively recently in some places such as Colombia, where it began to be known not long ago. In that country, there are currently academies and teachers who are dedicated exclusively to this musical style, which has started to happen in other Latin nations.

In Venezuela, it is said that it has been danced for more than 10 years, but it began to be known a short while ago thanks to some videos on the major social networks after it became famous in Europe. The pioneers of this practice were a certain number of instructors born in the Caribbean country after being trained in Brazil. Following this, kizomba was the subject of a great deal of interest in many young Venezuelans who want to learn to dance it. There are not many records on places to dance where this genre may be found, but there is no doubt that soon it will be like this.

Kizomba in Asia

There are many events and congresses linked to kizomba in Asia, which have a great influx of visitors, even when it is commonly believed that Asians are not fans of this type of rhythm. Experience with congresses of the last years has given the impression that this is not true. In fact, there are many fans of this rhythm from the continent who want to know all events and competitions details that are carried out in their countries for the coming months.

Japan is one of the nations where this type of event can be found the most. Such is the case of the Japan Kizomba Festival that has been going on in the country for many years due to the high level of attendance of visitors.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WOVBNULkYc

Domi Dance, A New Brand for Dance Comes to New York

North America / United States / New York

Domi Dance a brand of dance products, designed by ex-dancers for dancers.

Domi Dance; the city of New York saw the birth in 2019 of a new brand of products for the dance world, a brand that seeks to reach all corners where music, rhythm and dance can be presented.

From the hand of Dorelys Rodriguez, a former dancer who Since she was 7 years old, she has evidenced the world of dance, going from ballet, flamenco, salsa among other genres, I always dream of achieving many things in the world of dance, hence it will never be possible to separate from this beautiful discipline.

In her professional studies and work experience in the world of Marketing, she was able to devise a proposal that would marry her great passions, her line of work in the world of sales and her passion for dance, from which DomiDance emerged.

In the United States, Dorelys saw the opportunity to exploit her abilities to create a brand, a product, an object that would give her a new entrepreneurial and business life, without forgetting the main point of her idea, to be what the dancer needs, to reach your punctual needs with a range of high quality products at affordable prices for everyone, from the professional to the beginner who ventures into any discipline of this art.

Domi Dance since 2019 managed to position itself in many of the corners of the dance, starting with its first product presented the openwork stockings, little by little it developed innovative strategies to enter the commercial game, facing large established brands in the American market, it was able to enter through of online sales, a channel that allowed it to reach many people due to the boom in purchases through the web.

The brand claims to present its products under a line of first-class raw materials, quality is the main object in its line, they seek to offer quality above any point, customers can be sure of acquiring an object that will not be easy to beat.

When it comes to bringing it to life on the stage and in the dance halls, Dorelys tells us ¨we do not want a dancer to be under pressure not to sit on the floor for fear of breaking the stocking or shoes on difficult floors, we do not sell products Unbreakable but difficult to beat¨.

Logo Domi Dance

Domi dance is not a sales space for other products, they are manufacturers, they are exclusive when designing products for their brand, they generate new ideas based on the direct experience of the dancer, they are concerned with investigating the experiences lived with the use of clothing and footwear in the scene, an element that drives them as a brand concerned with giving the artist what he needs.

To date, it has a top-level range of textiles, ballet shoes, urban clothing and much more, all aimed at meeting needs in many disciplines. They continue betting on their sales framework through digital platforms such as Amazon, Ebay, social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, among others.

They have already developed a point of sale for Latin America, established trade in Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela and heading to other latitudes.

For this 2020, the projects are focused on designing footwear for flamenco, tap, expanding its textile line in leotards and garments of greater demand, working with masculine elements and continuing to advance in its expansion project throughout America and Europe. Follow them on their social networks through @domi.dance.

By Jose Perez, ISM Correspondent, Caracas, Venezuela