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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.
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 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”.
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
San Francisco as the capital of Latin music for three days
What the San Francisco SBK Congress is about
Throughout the United States, there is a number of Latin music events have been taking place and their main purpose is to inspire artists and dancers from all over the world to visit those cities and show everyone present how talented they are. Burlingame Village, California has certainly not been left out.
For the third consecutive year, the organizers of the San Francisco Salsa Bachata and Kizomba Congress have invested all their energy in providing one of the greatest Latin festivals that attendees have ever seen. Having had two extremely successful and widely attended previous editions, Those responsible for organizing the congress come back with a lot of very talented guests who are more than eager to share their dancing skills with those who wish to learn.
We are talking about a large group of instructors from several countries who are ready to give spectacular workshops and shows on the most popular Latin genres of the moment such as salsa, bachata, and kizomba. All this is accompanied by great parties and social gatherings where students will be able to put into practice what they learn during the three days of this great experience.
These workshops will be accompanied by fabulous shows where some of the best DJs will liven up the atmosphere, making use of a repertoire as diverse as it is lively. Of course, all the music used will be entirely based on the genres that will be taught during the dance classes.
What about the pandemic and costs
Although the previous editions were a resounding success and the organizers do what they can to make attendees wonder, it is also true that they are facing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused all of us to rethink our lives and projects rill things get better. As a result, the congress team has had to make a large package of changes in order to ensure that everyone who wants to attend the event feels safe and secure at all times. After ensuring that everything will be under control during the three days of the festival, they started the sale of tickets and reservations for rooms at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.
According to the websites that offer information on the San Francisco SBK Congress, the cost of tickets may vary from $30 to $210 depending on what each pass includes. It was also reported that there will not be any refund, so ticket sale is final. It is expected that the sale is carried out throughout the month until Friday, October 31, when purchases will no longer be accepted.
The dates scheduled for the congress will be 19, 20 and 21 November of the current year and the lucky ones to attend will have the opportunity to live with people from many other parts of the world, which makes this event a unique and unrepeatable experience.
For more information about the festival, please visit the official website www.sfsbkcongress.com. Here you will find all kinds of important information about tickets, costs, genres, instructors, guest DJs, location, and much more.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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Contacto: https://www.facebook.com/yarima.blanco.79
- Email: [email protected]
Latin America – September 2021
